So I was reading something online today and it mentioned a "Running Resume." This got me thinking about how I can't really recall off the top of my head all of the races that I've done. Maybe it would be really helpful to create a race resume!
So that is how I have just spent the last 40+ minutes of my life. And to be perfectly honest, I've spent much worse 40+ minutes doing much more horrible things.
I know I've probably missed a few, but here we go so far:
RACES
Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run – April 2008 1:28:53
Marine Corps Marathon – October 2008 4:23:00
Jingle All the Way 10k – December 2008 00:54:45
SunTrust National Half Marathon – March 2009 1:56:11
Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run – April 2009 1:29:32
Nation’s Triathlon – September 2009 3:37:00
Nike Women’s Marathon – October 2009 4:42:26
SunTrust National Marathon – March 2010 3:59:36
Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run – April 2010 1:44:15
Back On My Feet 20in24 Ultramarathon – July 2010 42.28 miles
Marine Corps Marathon – October 2010 4:15:40
SunTrust National Marathon – March 2011 4:40:58
Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run – April 2011 1:41:10
Pacers 5k Friday Series – April 2011 00:22:20 (best time)
Baltimore 10 Mile Race – June 2011 1:29:08
Back On My Feet 20in24 Ultramarathon – July 2011 50.73 miles
9-11Memorial 5k – September 2011 00:23:30
Philadelphia Rock n Roll Half Marathon – September 2011 1:46:32
Hershey Half Marathon – October 2011 1:46:19
Chester County 5k Turkey Trot – November 2011 00:21:44
Hot Chocolate 15k – December 2011 1:12:58
Jingle All the Way 8k – December 2011 00:52:21
UPCOMING RACES
SunTrust National Marathon – March 2012
Pacers 5k Friday Series – April 2012
GW Parkway Classic 10 Mile Run – April 2012
Flying Pig Marathon – May 2012
Back On My Feet 20in24 Ultramarathon – July 2012
Marine Corps Marathon – October 2012
Jingle All the Way 8k – December 2012
I think that everyone who runs should keep something like this because it really shows progress and by the end, you really feel accomplished. Even if you didn't accomplish anything except wasting 40+ minutes of your day :)
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Monday, December 5, 2011
Why I'll NEVER Run Another RAM Race
This past weekend was the Hot Chocolate 15k. It was a distance I hadn't done before, so I figured it would be fun. In retrospect, the poorly designed and unhelpful website should have been an indicator of how this race would go. At the packet pickup, I felt like maybe I should just skip the race. I ended up going anyway and all I can say is, at least now I have a race horror story to share with the world (and everyone needs one of those).
Let's start with the packet pickup. They would not allow race day pickup, which to me is a little goofy considering that it was a 5k/15k race. It wasn't like it was a marathon or something. But boyfriend agreed to drive me out, which was a good thing because the pickup AND the race were not metro accessible.
Okay, let's back up. This race was advertised as a Hot Chocolate Race in Washington, DC. I swear when I signed up, there was no race course up on their website. And so imagine my surprise when I looked up packet pickup and discovered that the location was the National Harbor...in Maryland. This makes absolutely no sense to me, because DC is a great city and there are some fantastic places to run here. There's no need to hold a race so far away that it's not accesible by metro.
Back to packet pickup. It was SO congested and crowded that it took us over an hour just to get into a parking garage. There were no signs anywhere, no indicators of where to go, what to do. The website remained spectacularly unhelpful and the organizers posted an "aerial view" of the National Harbor on their facebook page in a sad attempt to direct the rows and rows of cars trying to merge into one lane. It failed. It was utter chaos. They also forgot to mention that there were tons of non-race related events happening at the National Harbor on Friday, which just added to the chaos. Once we got in to pick up our packets, I was really sad to see the pathetic jacket they handed out. That was it. Jacket, bib, safety pins. It was the worst race packet I've ever had! I stopped by a woman who was handing out corral stickers for bibs. She didn't check my claim that I could run 8 minute miles. And she also told me that even if I didn't get a sticker, I could get into the corral on race morning. I took a B sticker and then we hightailed it out of there.
On race morning, my friend, her brother, and I walked out to catch a shuttle from Crystal City. It was before 6am. We were going to be on time, gosh darn it! We walked a few blocks from my apartment and found...rows of old school buses. I haven't been on a school bus for years and let me tell you, they have not improved. For a $65 race fee, I really expected something a lot nicer.
The traffic was horrendous. We stood at a standstill until our driver dangerously cut off several cars and smashed her way through the highway. I hear we got lucky, because apparently a lot of the bus drivers got really lost and people had to sit on those buses for hours.
Which may not have been so bad after all. When we arrived, we dropped off some bags at the gear check and after huddling in a tent for a while, we went down to get lined up. Runners were supposed to be lined up by 7:45am, with the race starting at 8. I headed to my B corral and took my friends with me. Where they were promptly stopped by a volunteer who wouldn't let them in the corral because their bibs didn't have a sticker. Look, I understand that people don't like to have to pass slow runners. But no matter how far in the front you are (unless you're on of the VERY FIRST people), you're always going to be passing someone. Anyway, my friends can run about the same pace as me. But the volunteer SCREAMED at my friend, "are you going to run 6 minute miles?!? These people are going to run 6 minute miles. You're going to get TRAMPLED!" What can anyone say to that? I was left alone in my lame little B corral, feeling shaken by how mean a volunteer could be.
And then, we waited. And waited. 8am passed. 8:15. 8:30. We didn't start the race until AFTER 9am. By that point, we were all freezing and HUNGRY. Runners don't eat a huge breakfast buffet before running 9 miles. I couldn't believe how hungry I was by the time we started and after the first mile, I realized that I was a little light headed. Which was really not good because the first 5 miles of the race were in a single lane on the HIGHWAY. With the other lane open to traffic. It was a loop, which means that runners were going in both directions. There was no way an ambulance could have made it through if there had been an emergency. We were all inhaling exhaust fumes and trying not to run into each other. Also, I think it goes without saying that it was incredibly UGLY. Why on earth would someone advertise a race in DC and then have us run on a highway in the middle of Maryland? RAM Racing, that's who.
After the first five miles, the course continued to narrow. It was like jogging on a path made for 2 people, not 20,000. Except that there were 20,000 people on the path. It was unbelievable.
The race was definitely not a 15k. People kept saying that their garmin was registering it as 9.1 miles instead of 9.3 and I completely believe that. The finish line was only moments away from the 9 mile marker and as someone who runs marathons, I know that .2 miles can be a ways away, let alone .3. That was a disappointment, but not as disappointing as the "chocolate festival" that followed.
First, we had to walk up a gravelly hill to get to the chocolate. That was not pretty. Then we walked through a tent where we were handed a plate that consisted of: half a browned banana, a pretzel rod, one marshmallow, 3 apple slices, and 2 tiny pieces of a rice krispie treat. These had been sitting out for hours. Then we walked to the "chocolate fondue"...which was melted chocolate congealing in large troughs. Volunteers scooped some out onto our plates and then we were booted out of the tent. The hot chocolate was fine, but nothing special. Everyone was alloted ONE cup only. I hopped right back on a school bus, which was the smart thing to do because apparently the lines later were so long that people had to wait over an hour just to get on a bus.
The response from organizers has been unsatisfying to say the least. They have been deleting negative comments from the Facebook page (rule #1 of social media: do NOT delete any comments unless they are vulgar or have bad words). The letter that they sent out to participants blamed the police, a traffic accident, and the parking company. They took zero responsibility and obviously are not planning on refunding anyone's money (did I mention that the poor people who drove had to pay $10 for a parking pass that no one checked on race day? what a scam).
RAM Racing has proven to be incompetent, unresponsive, and rude. I definitely will not trust them to plan any other race and I encourage all of you to avoid their races as well. There are so many great races out there in the DC area. You do not need to waste your time on any event hosted by RAM.
Here's the Jingle All the Way 8k this weekend, a tried and true, well-done, organized event that I am looking forward to!
Let's start with the packet pickup. They would not allow race day pickup, which to me is a little goofy considering that it was a 5k/15k race. It wasn't like it was a marathon or something. But boyfriend agreed to drive me out, which was a good thing because the pickup AND the race were not metro accessible.
Okay, let's back up. This race was advertised as a Hot Chocolate Race in Washington, DC. I swear when I signed up, there was no race course up on their website. And so imagine my surprise when I looked up packet pickup and discovered that the location was the National Harbor...in Maryland. This makes absolutely no sense to me, because DC is a great city and there are some fantastic places to run here. There's no need to hold a race so far away that it's not accesible by metro.
Back to packet pickup. It was SO congested and crowded that it took us over an hour just to get into a parking garage. There were no signs anywhere, no indicators of where to go, what to do. The website remained spectacularly unhelpful and the organizers posted an "aerial view" of the National Harbor on their facebook page in a sad attempt to direct the rows and rows of cars trying to merge into one lane. It failed. It was utter chaos. They also forgot to mention that there were tons of non-race related events happening at the National Harbor on Friday, which just added to the chaos. Once we got in to pick up our packets, I was really sad to see the pathetic jacket they handed out. That was it. Jacket, bib, safety pins. It was the worst race packet I've ever had! I stopped by a woman who was handing out corral stickers for bibs. She didn't check my claim that I could run 8 minute miles. And she also told me that even if I didn't get a sticker, I could get into the corral on race morning. I took a B sticker and then we hightailed it out of there.
On race morning, my friend, her brother, and I walked out to catch a shuttle from Crystal City. It was before 6am. We were going to be on time, gosh darn it! We walked a few blocks from my apartment and found...rows of old school buses. I haven't been on a school bus for years and let me tell you, they have not improved. For a $65 race fee, I really expected something a lot nicer.
The traffic was horrendous. We stood at a standstill until our driver dangerously cut off several cars and smashed her way through the highway. I hear we got lucky, because apparently a lot of the bus drivers got really lost and people had to sit on those buses for hours.
Which may not have been so bad after all. When we arrived, we dropped off some bags at the gear check and after huddling in a tent for a while, we went down to get lined up. Runners were supposed to be lined up by 7:45am, with the race starting at 8. I headed to my B corral and took my friends with me. Where they were promptly stopped by a volunteer who wouldn't let them in the corral because their bibs didn't have a sticker. Look, I understand that people don't like to have to pass slow runners. But no matter how far in the front you are (unless you're on of the VERY FIRST people), you're always going to be passing someone. Anyway, my friends can run about the same pace as me. But the volunteer SCREAMED at my friend, "are you going to run 6 minute miles?!? These people are going to run 6 minute miles. You're going to get TRAMPLED!" What can anyone say to that? I was left alone in my lame little B corral, feeling shaken by how mean a volunteer could be.
And then, we waited. And waited. 8am passed. 8:15. 8:30. We didn't start the race until AFTER 9am. By that point, we were all freezing and HUNGRY. Runners don't eat a huge breakfast buffet before running 9 miles. I couldn't believe how hungry I was by the time we started and after the first mile, I realized that I was a little light headed. Which was really not good because the first 5 miles of the race were in a single lane on the HIGHWAY. With the other lane open to traffic. It was a loop, which means that runners were going in both directions. There was no way an ambulance could have made it through if there had been an emergency. We were all inhaling exhaust fumes and trying not to run into each other. Also, I think it goes without saying that it was incredibly UGLY. Why on earth would someone advertise a race in DC and then have us run on a highway in the middle of Maryland? RAM Racing, that's who.
After the first five miles, the course continued to narrow. It was like jogging on a path made for 2 people, not 20,000. Except that there were 20,000 people on the path. It was unbelievable.
The race was definitely not a 15k. People kept saying that their garmin was registering it as 9.1 miles instead of 9.3 and I completely believe that. The finish line was only moments away from the 9 mile marker and as someone who runs marathons, I know that .2 miles can be a ways away, let alone .3. That was a disappointment, but not as disappointing as the "chocolate festival" that followed.
First, we had to walk up a gravelly hill to get to the chocolate. That was not pretty. Then we walked through a tent where we were handed a plate that consisted of: half a browned banana, a pretzel rod, one marshmallow, 3 apple slices, and 2 tiny pieces of a rice krispie treat. These had been sitting out for hours. Then we walked to the "chocolate fondue"...which was melted chocolate congealing in large troughs. Volunteers scooped some out onto our plates and then we were booted out of the tent. The hot chocolate was fine, but nothing special. Everyone was alloted ONE cup only. I hopped right back on a school bus, which was the smart thing to do because apparently the lines later were so long that people had to wait over an hour just to get on a bus.
The response from organizers has been unsatisfying to say the least. They have been deleting negative comments from the Facebook page (rule #1 of social media: do NOT delete any comments unless they are vulgar or have bad words). The letter that they sent out to participants blamed the police, a traffic accident, and the parking company. They took zero responsibility and obviously are not planning on refunding anyone's money (did I mention that the poor people who drove had to pay $10 for a parking pass that no one checked on race day? what a scam).
RAM Racing has proven to be incompetent, unresponsive, and rude. I definitely will not trust them to plan any other race and I encourage all of you to avoid their races as well. There are so many great races out there in the DC area. You do not need to waste your time on any event hosted by RAM.
Here's the Jingle All the Way 8k this weekend, a tried and true, well-done, organized event that I am looking forward to!
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