With my Solemates! Photo from Wendi Arant.
Race name: Red White & Blues
Date and time: Sunday, July 6th, 2014 @ 7:00 am
Events and price: 10k $45; 5k $35; kids race (?)
Location: Tom McCall Waterfront Park; Portland, OR
Number of runners: 850
Beneficiary: $10 of every registration benefits the Oregon Food Bank
Date and time: Sunday, July 6th, 2014 @ 7:00 am
Events and price: 10k $45; 5k $35; kids race (?)
Location: Tom McCall Waterfront Park; Portland, OR
Number of runners: 850
Beneficiary: $10 of every registration benefits the Oregon Food Bank
Packet pickup: There was only one day of packet pickup--Weds until 6pm. Since I live/work in Vancouver, and traffic into Portland SUCKS at that time, I didn't arrive until 6:10. Fortunately they still gave me my packet. PLEASE extend packet pickup until 7pm on weekdays!!! There was day of race pickup also.
Swag: The goodie bags (drawstring Dick's Sporting Goods cinch packs) included two snacks and a few coupons. The shirts are CUTE! They're blue A4 brand shirts, with men's and women's options. The medals were the best part though!!! LOVED the little logo with the guitars behind it. Also included: one bottle of water (disposable), and one beverage (beer or wine or non-alcoholic). There were lots of beverage options!
Parking: There was no designated parking for this event, and since I didn't leave crazy early, some of the parking garages were full. I ended up lucking out and parking a few blocks away, in the parking garage next to Foot Traffic for free.
Bag check: I didn't use bag check because I was running late and wasn't sure if there would be a line. After the race it seemed like picking up bags went super quickly.
Course: The course was a short out and back and a loop that went over the Hawthorne and Morrison bridges! It was mostly flat except for going up and down off of the bridges. For the 10k course, this had to be done twice. Both courses were much too short--my Garmin, and other runners said the 10k course was only about 5.75 miles! I'm really surprised that this was an issue--even though this is the inaugural RWB, Better Series has done a fantastic job with other races (like Helvetia and Hippie Chick)!
The race: I was in a porta potty when the race countdown took place, and ended up a bit towards the back of the pack (thank goodness for chip timing). My feet were blistered all over from Saturday's Stars & Stripes Half Marathon (I forgot socks, ran anyway, and wrecked my poor feet), and while I had bandaged them up for RWB, they started hurting pretty bad and my pace slowed WAYYYY down during the first lap. Most of the second lap was spent just trying to keep moving, with the goal of finishing under an hour. I was pretty surprised to cross the finish line after only running 5.73 miles in about 53 minutes. Better Series later posted a vague comment on their facebook
Post-race: After the race, I collected my medal and one bottled water (limited to ONE) and headed into the post race area. There were beverages available--you could get one free with a ticket on your bib--but there were NO free snacks (no oranges or bananas, etc). There were TONS of food vendors that you could purchase food from, but I was just really surprised because usually the Better Series has a decent FREE legit food option (examples: pancakes, burgers) IN ADDITION TO the regular freebies like oranges and bananas. There was some sports beverage and coffee in dispensers. The music was nice, and there was plenty of seating for participants.
Photos: I saw a few photogs on the course. I tried to look like I was in tons of pain, even though I was.
Results: It took a long time for the 10k race results to be posted at the event. They're not yet available online.
Overall, I think this has the potential to be a really fun race, but there was a lot of room for improvement. Better Series did a fantastic job doing Helvetia and Hippie Chick, and I hope that they make Red White and Blues just as awesome as next year.
Swag: The goodie bags (drawstring Dick's Sporting Goods cinch packs) included two snacks and a few coupons. The shirts are CUTE! They're blue A4 brand shirts, with men's and women's options. The medals were the best part though!!! LOVED the little logo with the guitars behind it. Also included: one bottle of water (disposable), and one beverage (beer or wine or non-alcoholic). There were lots of beverage options!
Parking: There was no designated parking for this event, and since I didn't leave crazy early, some of the parking garages were full. I ended up lucking out and parking a few blocks away, in the parking garage next to Foot Traffic for free.
Bag check: I didn't use bag check because I was running late and wasn't sure if there would be a line. After the race it seemed like picking up bags went super quickly.
Course: The course was a short out and back and a loop that went over the Hawthorne and Morrison bridges! It was mostly flat except for going up and down off of the bridges. For the 10k course, this had to be done twice. Both courses were much too short--my Garmin, and other runners said the 10k course was only about 5.75 miles! I'm really surprised that this was an issue--even though this is the inaugural RWB, Better Series has done a fantastic job with other races (like Helvetia and Hippie Chick)!
The race: I was in a porta potty when the race countdown took place, and ended up a bit towards the back of the pack (thank goodness for chip timing). My feet were blistered all over from Saturday's Stars & Stripes Half Marathon (I forgot socks, ran anyway, and wrecked my poor feet), and while I had bandaged them up for RWB, they started hurting pretty bad and my pace slowed WAYYYY down during the first lap. Most of the second lap was spent just trying to keep moving, with the goal of finishing under an hour. I was pretty surprised to cross the finish line after only running 5.73 miles in about 53 minutes. Better Series later posted a vague comment on their facebook
Post-race: After the race, I collected my medal and one bottled water (limited to ONE) and headed into the post race area. There were beverages available--you could get one free with a ticket on your bib--but there were NO free snacks (no oranges or bananas, etc). There were TONS of food vendors that you could purchase food from, but I was just really surprised because usually the Better Series has a decent FREE legit food option (examples: pancakes, burgers) IN ADDITION TO the regular freebies like oranges and bananas. There was some sports beverage and coffee in dispensers. The music was nice, and there was plenty of seating for participants.
Photos: I saw a few photogs on the course. I tried to look like I was in tons of pain, even though I was.
Results: It took a long time for the 10k race results to be posted at the event. They're not yet available online.
Overall, I think this has the potential to be a really fun race, but there was a lot of room for improvement. Better Series did a fantastic job doing Helvetia and Hippie Chick, and I hope that they make Red White and Blues just as awesome as next year.
Me and fellow Run Oregon blogger Amy Little
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