Jell-O Half Marathon & 7K
Le Roy, NY
- Half Marathon, 7K
- Road (Paved)
- Official race website
After two fun years, Willow Running is excited to offer this wonderful event once again! Participants loved the course, the cool venue, the fun swag, the after party with BBQ from our friends at Smokin’ Eagle and of course the jello (non-alcoholic!) shots on the course! The Jello Half Marathon … MORE
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You’ll be Jell-ous of the Jell-o Swag
This is a 7K or Half Marathon in LeRoy, NY which is the birthplace of Jell-o dessert and is a small town between Rochester and Buffalo. I did the 7K … MORE
This is a 7K or Half Marathon in LeRoy, NY which is the birthplace of Jell-o dessert and is a small town between Rochester and Buffalo. I did the 7K a couple years ago when I was living in Rochester. I was going back to the area for the Wineglass Half on Sunday so decided to do this race on Saturday to make it a double weekend. It is produced by Willow Running and is a smaller race with a couple hundred participants. Overall everything was fine but it’s a pretty lackluster race. There is adequate pre-race communication with a few emails and updated race website. Since it’s a smaller race, logistics are easy. I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Victor, NY. This is about 45 minutes away from the race but en route from New England. I like to get to my hotel by midnight and Victor is as far west as I can go and get there before midnight which is why I chose it but there are likely closer hotels. Batavia is probably the best place for lodging but you could also stay in Rochester or Buffalo. Race morning is easy as you just park at the Jell-o Barn and there is race day packet pick-up if you can’t get it earlier. I obviously did race day. Along with the bib you get a really fun, long sleeved, hooded tech shirt with the jell-o theme. In comparing the race companies around Rochester I find Willow Running events are a little more bare-bones production wise but have the best swag around. The race itself was pretty bare bones. We just started on a road and it is chip timed at the finish not start. The course is through country roads which were open. The scenery is nice, farmland scenery but gets repetitive. The course is described as flat which it is definitely not though I also wouldn’t call it hilly. There is a mean hill just after the half way point but most of the rest of the hills are doable. The biggest difficulty is the second half is more uphill than the first half. Production is adequate. One thing I liked that they fixed this year was they used mile markers for the half marathon and km markers for the 7K which was helpful as the races have different start lines and the last time I did it both the mile and km markers were off for the 7K until the end when the races merge. Though the roads are open they are pretty quiet and there are course marshals at the biggest intersections. I didn’t think there were enough aid stations. There were 4 and they were pretty spread out in the beginning. They had water, Gatorade and Jell-o. It was nice weather though the course is unshaded and it got a bit hot by the end of the race and I would’ve needed more water if I wasn’t carrying a water bottle. There also aren’t a lot of spectators which added to the boringness. Course was marked well enough though I do think you could get lost if you weren’t paying attention. Despite some hills I had a really fast time and had my fastest race of the year. I guess I run fast through the farmlands of Western NY as my previously fastest half was also in a similar location. The finish line was a bit disappointing especially after I was feeling so great with my finishing time. There is a nice finish arch, you are cheered on by race staff and get a cool Jell-o medal. However the food was picked over with limited vegetarian options. It also seemed most of the celebration was over even though there were still quite a few runners behind me. There were a few cookies but they were kind of stuck together, a few cups of Jell-o and some BBQ. Since I’m vegetarian I grabbed like half a cookie as I couldn’t eat anything else. Someone I know who finished about 10 minutes after me and ate the BBQ said it was completely cold. I was starving after my fast performance and needed more than half a cookie but luckily I found a vegan cafe called Eden Cafe in Batavia about 20 minutes away which was delicious. Overall this is an okay race with great swag. I also felt it was a better 7K than half marathon as the flaws were more apparent in a longer race. This is a race I’d recommend to locals or to those traveling to Wineglass who want to do a double but there are much better options for NY for 50 staters unless you really, really love Jell-o and need Jell-o swag.
Beautiful Run in the World of Jell-O!
This was my second half marathon. The weather was great. Packet pick-up was in Rochester about a half hour away from LeRoy but it was very easy and quick. I … MORE
This was my second half marathon. The weather was great. Packet pick-up was in Rochester about a half hour away from LeRoy but it was very easy and quick. I really enjoyed the course. It was pretty flat but there were some uphill climbs and curves in the roads. Running on a gravel path in between cornfields was really neat. There were several beverage stations with water, gatorade and of course Jell-O! The volunteers were so nice and there were a few fans along the way cheering us on. At mile 9, my back started bothering me from the five hour drive I had to get there so I had to walk for a bit. But I finished strong and got my second best time. (I really wanted to ring the Jell-O bell for my fastest time but I guess there is always another race!) They also had some BBQ at the finish with bottled water and of course Jell-O! Fun race and would definitely recommend. The medal and the race shirt were absolutely the coolest! Just wish I lived a little closer!
Quirky Distance for a Quirky Race
Le Roy, NY which is inbetween Rochester and Buffalo is the birthplace of Jell-o and even has a Jell-o museum. This was the inaugural year for this event and there … MORE
Le Roy, NY which is inbetween Rochester and Buffalo is the birthplace of Jell-o and even has a Jell-o museum. This was the inaugural year for this event and there was the option for a 7K or half marathon. I was on-call this weekend so chose the 7K but I kind of needed a rest before my next set of back to back halfs next week so may have chosen the 7K anyways. This was a pretty small race with about 100 people doing each distance. I got my packet the day of the race but there was also early packet pick-up options. Parking was easy on a field and there were attendants and they gave good directions. It started at the “Jell-o Barn” with packet pick-up in the barn. Packet pick-up included bib and one of the craziest, most colorful long sleeved tech shirts I’ve seen. My only crazier one is from the Earth day race by the same running company. Start was kind of laid back. The half started at 8:30 and the 7K at 8:45. The half started about 1/4 mile before the 7K. Each had a different color start flag. There was no timing mat at the start just the end. One minor production complaint is they literally just told us to go. No countdown or anything. Especially for a race without a timing mat at the start it’d be nice to get a countdown or something so we can be in running mode. It took a few extra seconds since people were just standing since they weren’t quite ready to start. Race was well marked and was basically just a square course back to the barn. It was open to traffic but on very quiet country roads. There were maybe 3 or 4 cars so not a big deal. The scenery was okay. There was some nice fall foliage but a lot of it was farmland and it was kind of boring. A few houses but it was too rural for many spectators. The best part was going past some very judgmental looking cows judging us for eating their hooves in the jell-o. One other relatively minor production complaint is there were some km and mile markers but not for every km and mile and also the 1st km and 1st mile marker came early since they were in the location for the half which as I said started a bit behind the 7K. There was an aid station a little past half way with water, gatorade and jell-o (but beware of judgy cows coming up if you take it). There were 2 big hills but the rest was relatively easy. Pretty average difficulty course. Finish line was behind the barn. My finishing time was pretty good and I was easily under my goal of 1 hour. You get your medal which is very fun but rubber but it kind of works for Jell-o. There were cookies and jell-o or pudding cups at the end. You also got a $3 coupon for a local BBQ but there was nothing vegetarian let alone vegan on the menu and I had to leave for work so I didn’t take it. Overall I thought this was a fun race with great swag. It wasn’t the best course and I’d imagine the half marathon would get a little lonely with so few spectators and small field. This is one I would recommend for locals or big Jell-o fans. If it grows bigger it will likely be even better. I’d consider this one again but there are other even closer races this weekend as well. Unfortunately on my way home my car broke down (don’t worry it was right by my house, I am fine and I was already planning on getting a new car that will be ready in a few weeks) but I am going to have to skip my race planned for tomorrow and may need to change some travel plans if I don’t get my new car soon. Luckily I am flying out of Rochester to my races next weekend.