Moms Rock! at the Diane Snyder Run to Remember

Overall Production:
This was a nice community event based around the Mother’s Day Holiday (if the title didn’t give it away). They offered three distances with a 10K, 5K and 1 Miler. It featured a total of 463 runners with the majority (330) of them running the 5K. However, the 10K still had over 100 runners and the 1 Miler mustered only slightly more than 25 total.

Packet Pick-Up:
They offered day-before pick-up at the Red Rock Running Company store on the north side of Las Vegas. It was only a brief 3 hour window, however. Race-day pick-up was also available and was likely the better option, as there was a line but it moved very quickly. The packet itself came in a disposable plastic bag with the runner’s bib, pins, and a few advertisements from event sponsors and for a future run as well. They also handed out the t-shirts at that time.

Swag (T-Shirts):
The race shirt was actually pretty nice and made of technical materials. It was a kind of mint color and, as a guy, I felt it was kind of girly. Then again, this WAS a Mother’s Day Race so It’s really not a complaint and more so an observation. It’s still a nice shirt that I’ll use on some training runs.

Pre-Race Administration:
The race was run entirely in a park, so most people spent the pre-race time hanging out in the grass and on picnic tables. The race did have a DJ playing music when I arrived (about an hour early) and people were busy getting ready. They also led a dynamic stretching effort prior to the run to loosen people up. My one major objection was the blatant shortage of toilets. As the event was at a park, the run organizers must have felt that the existing toilets would be sufficient. However, this amounted to only four toilets at the start/finish line (with one whose door would not lock or remain shut). We all know that prior to a run, most people like to go one last time. This made for two exceptionally long lines of 30-40 people on either side of the building, each waiting for a pair of toilets. With only 5 minutes before the start of the race there were still at least 15 people waiting in line. The irony was that there were another six toilets only a 5 minutes walk away. However, without any announcements or signage notifying people, they instead waited in vain for the closer ones. The race director should likely contract for a handful of port-a-potties at the start/finish and also provide signage letting people know about the other facilities. It was a big problem and a major oversight.

The Course:
The course was very easy and the signage was solid. Total elevation gain for the 5K course was only 38 feet, making for an exceptionally flat terrain. The course was a mix of paved and very nice trails. There was nothing technical in the slightest about the trails though and I did it in road shoes without issue. One thing of note is that the course had a large number of walkers. I saw a lot of family groups doing it together with people of all ages. The race management made no effort to separate the runners and the walkers at the start. Unfortunately, I started in the middle of the pack, which meant I spent a fair amount of effort during the first portion fo the race weaving through strollers and walkers. Definitely something that they can easily fix, but they need to think through next time. The first mile of the course itself was through a nice park with large trees for shade and even a small pond with people actively fishing in it. However, after that the course became more boring with less interesting terrain and few visually interesting landmarks. We ran around a large depression that was filled about 1/3 of the way with brown water from a recent rain. The course was an out and back, but only the last mile was repeated by the runners – and that was the prettiest and best part anyways. All and all it was a decent course.

Water and Aid Stations:
These seemed to be well managed. Usually on a 5K run you only see 1 aid station, but this run actually offered 2 opportunities at miles 1.5 and 2.2. They each had plenty of volunteers and both water and gatorade. The 10K runners actually had four opportunties to hit aid stations at miles 1.5, 2.2, 3.75 and 5.3. The race company (Jus Run) did a good job of notifying runners in advance about the aid stations through advance emails and was good to their word on them.

Crowd Support:
Towards the start and finish was the only place that we really had any crowd support. On the course itself the volunteers at the aid stations were very nice, but we never saw any additional people. Still, everybody was nice and cheering us on.

Finisher’s Medal:
I like the finisher’s medal a lot and I feel they did a great job. It was actually quite large, and features a the race logo on a large white square (with rounded edges). I’ll attach a picture. It displays the date of the run, but does not distinguish between the three distances. While the medal itself is excellent, the ribbon is just the basic kind. Overall, a great medal!

Post-Race Snacks:
The race offered the usuals like water, gatorade and bananas. They also had been sponsored by a local restaurant that brought out small baked goods like muffins. The runners were also able to drive about 10 minutes to the same restaurant and be treated to complimentary mimosas or champagne. Alternatively, you could purchase discounted smoothies for $3 each.

Results:
As a free service, Jus Run offered a free text message to each of the runners at the end of the race, giving you your results. It gave out your official time and pace, but not how you placed. They also had two computers on site which allowed you to type in your bib number and see time, pace and how you placed overall and in your AG. The race was registered in Athlinks as well, and the results were available on that site by the time I got home. Good job! (Edit: While the results showed up on Athlinks, they were just in a “pending” status. I assume there is some requirement for the race director to then go and approve those times. I just happened to open my Athlinks account and at 2 1/2 weeks later the results are still “pending.” They’re clearly using an automated process – hence the texts – that is also pinging Athlinks. But they’re not closing the loops very efficiently for those that care about this sort of thing).

History of the Event:
I always like to understand the history of the runs I’m doing, as it can be fun to realize that an event has been going on a long time. This race was particularly confusing, however, in its presentation. The “Moms Rock!” event is on its 10th Anniversary and has been a consistent Mothers Day event for a decade. However, the Diane Snyder Run to Remember has, at times, been its own independent run (occuring in October), and at others has been combined with the Moms Rock! event in May. However, it has skipped years where it didn’t occur at all. The last time they were combined was 2016, and the Diane Snyder Run to Remember last occurred in 2017 as an independent event. Additionally, the course has changed over time as well. In previous years this was run closer to downtown Las Vegas around the Smith Center for the Performing Arts. So it’s unclear if the run will continue to occur at Floyd Lamb park or at an entirely different location. They’ve also had a live band in the past apparently, as opposed to just the DJ this year. These were likely changes intended to drive costs down.

So would I do it again?
Possibly, depending on other options. For me it was located on the far side of town and required a 45 minute drive to get there. While it wasn’t a bad race in any way (and actually a pretty fast course where I PR’d), I probably would prefer to try something different around this time next year instead. However, given that racing options start to thin out considerably this time of year in Las Vegas, as the summer heat is imminent, this is a good option for a late season run.