The morning of the race was nice and overcast. Tons of runners were decked out in flower lei’s and grass skirts, tiki torches lined the top of the start/finish line, and the overall atmosphere was festive. The race area was by the water, which was really pretty, and there were tons of vendor booths.
The 10k started at 8:30am. I was in the second wave of runners for the 10k. We ran out, following the sea of runners. About 1.3 miles in, I could hear someone calling out over a speaker system to turn around and go back to the park, and that the road that we were on wasn’t part of the route, and was open to traffic. At first, I thought it was a joke. I thought, “What kind of crazy jerk wakes up early on a Sunday morning to tell runners that sort of stuff?” And then I realized it was coming from the police car that was slowly driving alongside the runners, lights flashing. I felt my stomach sink as I looked at my watch and saw how far into the race we were. By the time we got back to the park and back on course, it had been marked with chalk and cones and race officials were there pointing the way. I had run a little more than two extra miles, and the frontrunners had run even more than that.
As I ran, I was frustrated. And a little angry. About the extra miles, about how much faster I was last year, about life in general. I tried to tell myself to relax, that I was more than capable of running 8.4 miles, and just shrug it off. But those feelings were making me run faster, and run harder, and push myself to the edge. And it was cathartic. I let go of trying to “calm down” and just “embraced the suck”. Instead of pushing those feelings away, I grappled with them and let it work itself out. There was swearing. There was sweat. It was kind of ugly and a little raw.
But when I crossed the finish line, I felt that I had left it all on the course. I put it all out there, and it was done. It was a relief to get my medal and move on to the POST RACE PARTY!
This was the first year that they added medals for all finishers, which were a Kraken rum bottle opener. I’d really love to see something that combines a medal and a bottle opener--maybe Kraken shaped, or tiki shaped? The shirts were gender-specific dry-fit shirts in bright orange. Long sleeved tech 1/4 zip shirts in safety orange were also available for sale.
The after-party was fun and lively. This is definitely an event where people hang out and stay awhile! There were lots of snacks--bananas, bread, peanut butter, Belvita, Jamba Juice, meat & rice from Roxy’s Grill, and a 21+ section with beer, mai tais and mojitos (each participant received one beer ticket and one cocktail ticket). All of it was delicious, although they did run out of beer and cocktails, and it sounded like a lot of people didn’t get to redeem their tickets. We hung out for quite awhile at the event, enjoying the perfect weather. And as always, it was great seeing so many awesome friends at the race, and hanging out with them afterwards. The volunteers at the event were great! So despite the issues that happened this year, I still LOOOOVE this event. This was my third year participating, and I definitely want to be there in 2016.
Be sure to check out fellow Run Oregon blogger Tung’s recap as well!
A message from the race director regarding the 10k course. While it was kind of a bummer that the course was MUCH longer than a 10k, I do appreciate that Energy Events responded regarding this issue, and responded in a timely manner. And while I was frustrated while running the race, I ran hard and ran better than I have been running. So at least there was a silver lining! I do want to mention that there were a few other parts of the course that weren’t as clearly marked as they should have been, or as well as Energy Events typically marks their courses.
At Energy Events we strive to provide a great experience for our participants, friends and supporters. Yesterday at the Rum Run, this did not happen for many of the 10k participants, and as Race Director I take full responsibility for this mishap. I apologize for the longer distance that many of the 10K participants ran.
We understand how frustrating it can be to run longer than you anticipated or trained for. We can assure you that we are putting measures in place for this to not happen in the future. If you ran the longer distance and have your correct times and distance, we can adjust accordingly. Please send your FULL NAME, RACE BIB #, EVENT (Rum Run 10K) to Jon@aasportsltd.com. Our timing company, AA Sports, will update your time to the results page in order to show your correct distance and pace for this event. Please send this information in within the next 5 days [by May 30] to be included in the official results.
If you have any questions about this situation please email registration@energyevents.com. Thank you for your understanding, and continued support ~
Brian C. Davis | Race Director | Energy Events