This past weekend, I traveled to Council Bluffs for “The Gambler Half Marathon”. I traveled with my cousins wife and a good friend of ours.  Overall, it was a good race. 

Negatives:

• Pre-race registration was in a location in downtown Council Bluffs.  It was a crowded area with limited parking!  (We were lucky and able to find a parking spot in a funeral home parking lot!)
• Post-race “party” had limited food.  By the time we finished the race and got to the refreshments we were left with a choice of an orange or apple.  I gotta level with ya….after I’ve run 13.1 miles and paid more than $50 to do so….I expect a cookie, a bagel, a muffin, granola bar, a banana…something more than an apple or an orange! 
• There was no bag check.  While parking was easily accessible, it would have been nice to have bag check so no one would have to run carrying a key or car remote. 
• The start was….odd.  They gathered the runners together and then “shuffled” us to the start, however, we didn’t really get there before they shot the gun, so it was more of an unorganized running start.  There was also no organization of the runners by pace or breaking up those running the half marathon and those running the 5K.  Very crowded!
• The timing chip was in our bib.  While its handy for the event because there is no chip or band to get back from the runners, it made the bibs kind of bulky and awkward for us runners. 
• The finish line was on an incline!

Positives:

• A great route.  While they described it as an out and back, it really wasn’t.  It was a combination of running on streets through an industrial part of town, streets through residential areas, trails along nature areas, and streets along a lake.  It had slight hills and was quite scenic. 
• The finish line was well “highlighted” and had a great crowd, announcers, people in costume handing out water bottles and the finishers medals.
• Water stops!  They were every mile and a half and included both gatorade and water with plenty of volunteers handing them out!
• Pre-race registration was easy and smooth and included a free pasta dinner for participants.
• Free Pasta Dinner – it was GOOD!  We were nervous considering the unknown, but they had plain spaghetti, marinara sauce, meatballs (which were amazing), bread sticks, salad, and ice cold water.  It was good food, well-staffed with volunteers cleaning tables and plates, and easily accessible at the same location as the pre-race registration
• Plenty of parking.  Harrah’s Hotel & Casino was the host of the race and thus, we had the whole casino parking lot for parking and prepping. 
• Post-race “party”.  While they didn’t have enough food for the runners, there were plenty of alcoholic beverages for the those of age, including samples (even though I didn’t partake!) and a great DJ. 
• Good shirts!!

Overall, it was a fun race with lots of support and fans, especially considering it was the first annual “edition” of this race.  If I had a desire to run a half marathon again, I would strongly consider running this one again and highly recommend to anyone else!

This past weekend, I participated in run #3 of the season…only 8 more to go to reach my goal!

This was the “Run Like A Mother – 4 Mile” race in Cedar Falls.  It was put on by IWF (Iowa Women’s Foundation), so it benefited a great cause. 

Postives:

• The run started at 9AM, which was so nice for those of us that had to travel to get to the race…nothing worse than having to be at a race at 6:30AM. 
• Registration was very smooth.  I had pre-registered, which always helps, but the check-in was very smooth. 
• The t-shirts were rather basic, but nice.  The cool thing was that you could pick between a white or gray t-shirt when you registered.  I chose grey.

• The start time was spot-on!  9AM sharp!
• The path was paved and scenic
• The post-race refreshments were AWESOME!  There was glasses of water, lemonade, coffee, bananas, oranges, apples, and PANERA BAGELS!  The bagels….they were so divine!
• Free popcorn…you could take home free popcorn and you could choose between microwave or traditional. 

Negatives:

• Only one bathroom….I don’t mean only one bathroom building, I mean only one toilet for a couple hundred women, NOT COOL!
• Crowded…while the trail was scenic and paved, it was crowded because there was almost 400 people trying to run on a paved trail that was only wide enough for 4 adults.  It was very hard to get through and around the crowds and get a good pace set.  They would have been better off if they had started the runners in waves according to pace time. 
• The start….it was odd, I didn’t even really know that we had started (I couldn’t hear a gun or anything) until the people in front of me started moving. 
• Not chipped timed.  I know that smaller runs aren’t chipped time, but the longer I race the more I see the importance of having the race chipped time.  There was about a 45 second difference between the clock time and my time (hit my watch when I crossed the start line).  As a runner, those 45 seconds are BIG! 

Overall, the run was good, nothing spectacular, but good!  I don’t know if I’ll do it again, but its been added to my race list!