I enjoyed this race.
Having said that, I am in the minority.
Only 185 runners crossed the Finish Line this morning. This is sadly a strong trend for the RFYL Grand Prix Series. This is the 6th race in the nine race series. I discovered this morning that the event has changed dramatically since its inception. It was not aligned with the annual BBQ cook off as in year's before, it no longer has all the festivities post race and obviously, turnout has suffered accordingly.
In 2012 the event was a 5K with 200 runners, 2011 the event was a 10K and it drew 268 runners, 2010 was a 5K with 567 participants, 2009 5K had 767. Again, a very strong decline for this particular race. I actually ran the 2009 event and if you read my blog from that date, I thoroughly enjoyed it and commented to all the amenities post race. Amenities which were NOT present at today's race.
Nonetheless, I enjoyed this race. Very friendly volunteers, lots of police presence and the race coincided with a larger event being held for the First Responders (at a nearby location) which meant lots of EMTs and Firemen were also present or near the race course this morning, cheering and smiling at all.
T-shirts for this race were oversized Gildan cotton with the race logo on the front and nothing on the back. A very nice looking shirt albeit not a performance shirt. Definitely a keeper simply for the unique logo and the absent sponsor info.
This race was chiptimed and runners quickly pointed out the timing flaw. All results are short by one minute, meaning the 1st place overall has a posted finish time of 14:01 (awesome!) but it should be 15:01 (still awesome!). As of 9/11/13, results have not been altered for correction and some runners times are not listed. I conversed with a runner finishing after me whose time is not listed proving there were multiple timing errors at this event. While I take no joy in pointing out the negatives, my blog is set up for this reason - to review races I participate in from my perspective and to hope that it is useful for both participants and organizers.
The series has a points system to award runners for participation and scoring if they participate in a minimum of 5 events. Bonus points for running the Double Header - Friday night / Saturday morning races (happens only once) and for running all 9 races. Again, as of 9/11/13 the Series Scores are only updated through July 1st with some points missing, as in my case.
I did notice the absence of the FINISH and START banners for this race. Digital clocks were there and at the mile markers. A loudspeaker was also missing so that we started based on "Hey, those guys are running now". Music was present and water coolers, bananas post race.
The START was located at the Wells Fargo Atrium although the flyer states "Levine Avenue of the Arts next to the Duke Energy Center". This is two blocks away and for native Charlotteans, the Atrium is an easier landmark to find but was not correctly identified. I suspect last minute changes took place making the start similar to many other RFYL races that begin at the Atrium. Although it added extra time to correctly find the START, it was a better location as the Atrium has seating and water fountains which allows for easier socializing pre and post race.
While I enjoyed the route and the morning run, with all the changes occurring related to this event, I'm not sure recommending it is a good idea. At present I could only recommend a nice uptown course and a unique t-shirt. Let's leave it at that and hope for better things next year.
CHIPTIME: 41:37
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