My daughter wanted to run her first 5K race and this race caught her eye due to the Super Hero aspect. It's always fun to run a relaxed, family friendly … MORE
My daughter wanted to run her first 5K race and this race caught her eye due to the Super Hero aspect. It’s always fun to run a relaxed, family friendly race in costume.
Email notifications for packet pickup and the race were good and there was a map to the race location on the website. Packet pickup was at a pub in downtown Milwaukee in the evening, which was different. The pickup went smoothly. Race swag was a “super hero” cape in the color of your choice (first come first serve, but we had no issues picking our colors). There was no timing chip on the bib, and we were just handed a random bib so I figured the race was not timed. Some bags had safety pins for the bib, some didn’t.
It would have been nice to have some signs to direct you at the park. The parking lot filled quickly so we parked on the street, which also happened to be the course for the race. There was a man leading a warm-up routine for the race, which was fun. For some reason, a couple of tow trucks came and parked at the race start right before the race began. The start was a bit rocky due to dodging the tow trucks and congestion at the beginning. But it was a fun run, so not a big deal to me.
We ran out onto the street, which was blocked at one end. That was the first turnaround. We then ran and looked for a cone for the second turnaround. I had my Garmin on and knew we were going long but I didn’t want to cut the course short. Eventually I told my daughter we had to turn around. I saw many people keep going. I stopped my Garmin at the 3.12 mile mark since she did have a time goal.
As we were running back, one of the ladies working the race had driven out to the course and apologized to us. It sounds like the turnaround may have been marked on the ground. There was no one there to point it out. There were no water stops on the course, which I was prepared for by bringing my own water since I knew my daughter likes to sip on water while she runs. I heard a lot of complaints about this though, since it was a warm August summer day and there were a fair number of walkers and families with small kids.
We walked the remaining half mile back to the finish. When we got to the finish line there was no one there, though we saw people with medals. We saw no one there that looked like they worked for the race or any race volunteers. Eventually someone told us that the lady with the medals was the one that went out on the course and she took the medals with her.
There were bottles of water and a pile of granola bars on tables at the finish. We eventually did get medals. There was a nice backdrop and a few props for taking your own photos.
My 8 year old daughter complained about the disorganized race, so I guess it was pretty bad. 🙂 I can’t say that we didn’t have any fun though. Signs to direct people to the start line, more workers/volunteers, a water stop, and mile markers would have been great.
This was a nationwide race, so I am assuming the race organizers were not familiar with the area. Working with an area race organizer might be suggested for a future race. I think this race could have drawn a lot more participants. The two ladies I dealt with at packet pickup and during the race were very friendly though.
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Bumpy start for this race
My daughter wanted to run her first 5K race and this race caught her eye due to the Super Hero aspect. It's always fun to run a relaxed, family friendly … MORE
My daughter wanted to run her first 5K race and this race caught her eye due to the Super Hero aspect. It’s always fun to run a relaxed, family friendly race in costume.
Email notifications for packet pickup and the race were good and there was a map to the race location on the website. Packet pickup was at a pub in downtown Milwaukee in the evening, which was different. The pickup went smoothly. Race swag was a “super hero” cape in the color of your choice (first come first serve, but we had no issues picking our colors). There was no timing chip on the bib, and we were just handed a random bib so I figured the race was not timed. Some bags had safety pins for the bib, some didn’t.
It would have been nice to have some signs to direct you at the park. The parking lot filled quickly so we parked on the street, which also happened to be the course for the race. There was a man leading a warm-up routine for the race, which was fun. For some reason, a couple of tow trucks came and parked at the race start right before the race began. The start was a bit rocky due to dodging the tow trucks and congestion at the beginning. But it was a fun run, so not a big deal to me.
We ran out onto the street, which was blocked at one end. That was the first turnaround. We then ran and looked for a cone for the second turnaround. I had my Garmin on and knew we were going long but I didn’t want to cut the course short. Eventually I told my daughter we had to turn around. I saw many people keep going. I stopped my Garmin at the 3.12 mile mark since she did have a time goal.
As we were running back, one of the ladies working the race had driven out to the course and apologized to us. It sounds like the turnaround may have been marked on the ground. There was no one there to point it out. There were no water stops on the course, which I was prepared for by bringing my own water since I knew my daughter likes to sip on water while she runs. I heard a lot of complaints about this though, since it was a warm August summer day and there were a fair number of walkers and families with small kids.
We walked the remaining half mile back to the finish. When we got to the finish line there was no one there, though we saw people with medals. We saw no one there that looked like they worked for the race or any race volunteers. Eventually someone told us that the lady with the medals was the one that went out on the course and she took the medals with her.
There were bottles of water and a pile of granola bars on tables at the finish. We eventually did get medals. There was a nice backdrop and a few props for taking your own photos.
My 8 year old daughter complained about the disorganized race, so I guess it was pretty bad. 🙂 I can’t say that we didn’t have any fun though. Signs to direct people to the start line, more workers/volunteers, a water stop, and mile markers would have been great.
This was a nationwide race, so I am assuming the race organizers were not familiar with the area. Working with an area race organizer might be suggested for a future race. I think this race could have drawn a lot more participants. The two ladies I dealt with at packet pickup and during the race were very friendly though.