Dallas White Rock 1/2 Mary Report

[Tri Girl]

Hey ladies,
Not much to say about this race, but I thought I'd post it here anyway for anyone considering doing this race in the future. I do, however, think that their definition of a "flat course" is apparently different from mine.

First, the race was a lot of fun! The spectators were great all along the course (DH did the full and I did the 1/2 and he agreed about the spectators the whole way). There was never too dull a moment along the course. The race boasted it had 40 bands, and we only counted about 15-20 on the course (that could've been due to the fact that it was overcast and started raining late in the race). The bands that were out were enthusiastic, excited, and very inspiring! We loved the atmosphere of the whole race.

Next, the organization. The start/finish areas were really done up nicely!! There was great organization for the starts (full marathoners started an hour before the halfsies), and all went smoothly. The finish lines were also nicely done (full finishers finished separately from half finishers). The post race party was in the American Airlines center and was just crazy packed with all the racers and participants, but it was soooo nice to have someplace warm to stay before and after the race!!!

Finally, my race. I did fine. Considering I had not trained properly, and I'm still not fully recovered with my running since my IM 2 months ago- I'm pleased with my performance (2:35). It was a very fun race for me. Would've been more fun and a lot less painful if I'd put in the time to train. Have nobody to blame but myself.

Overall: great race, would recommend others to try it. The medal was VERY cool and we had A LOT of fun in Dallas (it's a great super enormous city).

My only complaint is this: because the post race party and post race food is in the American Airlines center, both spectators and runners have equal access to food/drink. By the time I finished (mind you- 2 1/2 hours after the start), most all the food and drink were gone. When my DH finished an hour after me, the only thing left were Dannon smoothies, apples, bananas and pickles. Not such a great selection, considering there was pizza, chicken, chips, cookies, pasta, bagels, etc... that spectators had helped to gobble up. For $80 and $45 for our entries, we'd like a little food after our efforts.
OK- sorry- that's my only gripe. Oh, and DH got a half finishers medal instead of a full finishers medal. I need to e-mail the RD to see if they'll send a full medal for him.

Thanks for reading- sorry it's so long!

[KSH]

Congratulations on the race!

Sounds like it was a good one... even though the spectators gobbled up all the food!

I know at the HIM I observed, they kept the food AND drinks where only the finishers could get to them. Which was fine... I bought food, but I couldn't lug enough water to hydrate myself for 8 hours. Finding water was a struggle and I had to BEG some off the volunteers (tap water mind you).

Thanks for sharing the details of your race!

[colby]

Congrats on your first post-IM race, Tri Girl.

I think there was originally more food at my marathon, but I never saw any of it except bananas, smoothies, and carrots. The spectators were free to take food as well (my father in law brought me the first bananas I had). I feel bad for the full marathon walkers and even slower marathoners (and possibly half marathoners and walkers) that were still out there -- all they'd get when they got in would be bananas and smoothies, too, and the smoothies were so frozen you couldn't eat them.

Maybe when you're emailing the RD, you should include that, even as a 'side comment' (we enjoyed the race, despite not having much food...)