All of the military veterans I know are punctual to a fault(if you’re on time you’re late!) and very organized. Clearly this race, as beneficial as it is to the veteran population, is not run by actual veterans. If this were run by volunteers I would be a bit more understanding. But considering this is a nation-wide organization with events in several major cities, I have no idea why this was so poorly organized. –1STAR: Website did not have packet pickup info posted for the longest time. I finally got an email about it on Thursday, prior to the race. It stated packet pickup was 5pm-7pm, clear across town from me. And the email was sent shortly after 2pm, that same day. Seriously?! –2STAR: Arrived an hour prior to race start time(9:11) because I knew I’d missed packet pickup. Line was predictably huge and moved slowly, and I’m not sure why because I was helped quickly and took less than a minute to get my bib. But then they announced that they were OUTOFBIBS. Luckily, they had an immediate solution and stated that more would be brought in an hour, and a later wave of races would be available(or you could time yourself?), but most of the people present were in the pre-registered line. How do you not bring enough bibs for the confirmed participants?! –3STAR: There is one bathroom facility at this park. I don’t know what’s going on in the mens room, but the womens side has only two stalls. And one was out of order. So there was a line 50-deep of women trying to pee before the race. I was near the front and spent 20+ minutes in line. I have participated in several races that were about this size, organized by local groups, that thought ahead to bring porta potties. Again, for an established organization, how was this not anticipated?! Besides all of the above, the race itself didn’t start on time and details were not readily available– there were three distances(11K, 5K, 1K) yet the emcee was not forthcoming with those details as people lined up. Don’t know whether he was not informed, or simply forgot to mention it, but this again contributed to the disorganization. I also found it very odd that there weren’t any mile markers for the course or timing info available at the finish line. There were periodic support stations thankfully, and cheering groups along the course, which was a nice touch, but it’s been 24 hours and the results page that was originally broadcasting last year’s results is now down altogether and inquiries to their FB page have gone unaddressed. Ultimately, I participated in this particular race to support veterans, since my dad was a disabled vet and it’s a cause that is important to me. Veterans and active military are provided discounted race rates, and monies go to Veterans Supportive Services Agency. I would participate again for those reasons. But I sincerely hope that this is better managed in future years.
