Not to bash races, but...

In the words of my Aussie friend Kylie, "It's not a knock-back, it's feedback."

I recently completed 2 races that were, in my opinion, total let-downs. The first was local, the Rugged Maniac.

Source: Rugged Maniac

The RM promised adventure, fire, mud, and a test of strength. As I said in an earlier post, I'm pretty sure just trying to get there provided me with the biggest adrenaline rush of the day. No fire or mud was found anywhere on the course. The course map, which is still listed (incompletely, btw) on the website, promised obstacles such as these:

These obstacles are still hiding somewhere in that sports complex. I'm convinced!

The obstacles we completed were different. Some were flat-out haphazard. In the second to last obstacle, racers hopped into dumpsters full of water with a tarp lining the inside. I think it was supposed to mimic an obstacle we completed at the Merrell Down n Dirty where we ran through the ocean for maybe 100 yards-ish. The RM version was lame, weird, and gross. I'm pretty sure we weren't that far from the actual ocean, y'all. There were also no barrels for me to hop on like in the above photo. There was no mud pit and no fire jumping. A few days after the race we received an email from RM clarifying the situation with this explanation: "we understand that some people were confused by the lack of mud and fire on the course so we’d like to take this opportunity to explain why those obstacles were missing.  We chose to hold the race on land owned by the National Park Service, which forbade us from digging any holes or pits, and later also banned the use of fire and barbed wire." This was followed by some condescending explanation of how us city-folk should have been happy just to see soil that wasn't in a potted plant. Kiss my grits. 

While I appreciate that RM took it upon themselves to clarify this misstep, you know what? Don't promise what you can't deliver. That's Customer Service 101. You should've been aware of the limitations of the NPS-owned land and adjusted the posted race map and obstacles accordingly. Mud runs are expensive (usually $75+). I expect companies to deliver a product that is worth its price. RM, in my opinion, was not. This was their first year in Brooklyn and hopefully they will get it together next time. 

The second race was the Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Half & Full Marathon. Thank god. I'm not good at typing the word obstacle. If you've read anything about this race, you know it was a disaster. 

Problems I encountered: 

1) Corral Hoppers. There was virtually no enforcement of assigned corrals. In one of my race photos, I am passing a woman whose bib is in the 34000s. Mine was in the 9000s. She is walking. She was supposed to start among the final racers. Shame on you, lady, and shame on RnR for not enforcing corrals. You know what I loved about a race I recently did? Your D-Tag would only activate at the start line if you started with the appropriate corral. BEST IDEA EVER. Nothing says be where you're supposed to be or else like null and void race results. 

2) The Merge. I feel terrible for the full marathon participants. They were screwed completely by Competitor. When I saw that the full marathon started at 4:00 and the half started at 5:30 and merged almost immediately, I thought, how's that going to work? I assumed a barricade, perhaps, like at the Baltimore Running Festival. A)It did not work B)No Barricade. Simply orange cones 100 feet apart or so directing half participants to keep left. There is video on the website (that I'm apparently in, but I can't see myself because it's nighttime and people don't show up well in video at night) of my group in the half marathon lane. The 3:20 marathon pacer is trying to fight his way through us. 2 hour half participants and 3:20 full participants shouldn't be merging together. Congruent times is key, RnR. It was so crowded. Blerg. 

3)The Water: it was foul. Apparently, it was also from fire hydrants and poured into new garbage cans (which everyone knows are just 50 gallon drinking cups). Competitor has tried to claim that "all big marathons do this." Negative. Proof. Thanks for poisoning me RnR, I didn't get my appetite back for days. 

4)The Finish Line Area. I barely crossed the finish line before I had to come to a grinding halt and march in place furiously to keep from completely passing out. It was unbelievably crowded. If you're going to allow 44,000 participants in a race, you need to be able to accommodate them. I grabbed my food and squeezed out of there ASAP. I couldn't even tell you what was there, other than Cytomax, medals (for some people), water, go-gurt, snickers marathon bars, and green bananas. 

Problems I heard about but did not encounter myself: 

1) They ran out of t-shirts and medals for a race that was "sold out" for ages. 

2) Apparently, Mandalay Bay got really crowded and the shuttles weren't getting people back to their hotels for hours. This is why I always, always, always stay within walking distance of the start/finish line. I'm not saying y'all deserved to be stuck there for hours--it wasn't right. But seriously. Stay within walking distance. Problem solved. 

3) The website allowed too many people to register and the last 400 or so people who registered, apparently, were told it was an error. 

Things that were cool: 

1)Running the strip at night. It's all lit up and shiny. 

Things that were not as fun as I thought: 

1)Running at night. I HATED waiting around all day for this dang thing to start. 

As my roommate and I watched the news the next day, we heard the reporters touting the race as a "success" and stating that Competitor wanted to expand the field to 60,000. 

Dear Competitor, 

What did 5 fingers say to the face?  SLAP. 

NO means no. 

You couldn't take care of 44,000. You have no business with 60,000. Oh, and thanks for "making it up to me" by offering $50 off a race I'm already registered for. Super excited to see your organizational skills again! Bastards. 

No Love,

xx Mandie