The Running Aftermath

We took a little hiatus but things like this should be addressed.

This is the bib distribution for the 'midnight 2025 10k'....YES you saw right, they are recycling some 5k 2024 bibs and no timing chipped bibs as well ❌

For starters this is your first set of midnight events at least come ...Organized, Prepared and Proud.

Bafa you're in this business too long to be doing this nonsense but we are not surprised, imagine you cannot even get the bibs correct, aren't you ashamed of the backlash you get from the running community time and time again.

We clearly understand you don't go for quality but runners sign up for an experience from the beginning of registration all the way to the end of the event.

And miss us with that BS if you are planning to hand out medals that are not the same one advertised.

The lens of a runner overview

UWI 5k & Half Marathon event on November 19th, 2023

OVERVIEW
The long awaited return of the UWI Half Marathon 2023 was back on track this weekend after a 3 year absence. They also included a 5k that started 15min later after the HM.
UWI Half has been around for the past 16 years with the first couple years seeing the event starting at 7am compared to the 5am start today and in recent years. It has easily become one of the most sought out races on the calendar by locals and regional runners come year end thats boasts of an ontime start, closed course, entertainment on the roads and ofc really good prizes and giveaways for the participants.

Bib Collection

From most of the people we have spoken to there were some hiccups but nothing to really smash dishes about.
Some people with larger tshirt sizes had to return to collect those at another date due to late shipmemts but for the most part the avg wait time from parking to collection of package was about 10-20 mins. Your wait could have been a bit longer if you had a couple people ahead collecting for 5 person teams.

Start Line Observations

Race started pretty much on time after they sent off the Wheelchair participant around 4:58am, then at approximately 5:02 the rest followed.

The cry in most years and some this year is that the starting area is a bit too "narrow" for some of the runners starting to the back. It takes some runners 2-3 mins to cross the starting mat from the time the gun goes off. Some said they had to walk and chip until they got onto the busroute to begin getting into the run. Some thing the organizers can consider are:

* Seeding runners by time from this years race into next year at registration.

*Implementing corals/waves to section off runners that are Elite, Advance, Intermediate and Beginners/Firstimers and walkers this can aid in a smoother flow of the event.

*They can also consider removing the aluminum stands at the start then bringing it back after the race has started to create more room for participants at the start.

Maybe these are discussions that could be had with your timing and results provider.

Course Outlook

The course definitely looked and felt alot different from previous years especially interms of crowd support and entertainment at certain areas.
In past years there were usually some rhythm sections or tassa groups to pump runners along. Some main areas that would usually have a crowd really lacked in numbers.
We definitely know that with budgeting challenges these areas can be affected and understandable.

Runners will and would always be greatful for closed courses free of traffic and police protection at each intersection. We definitely commend them for keeping this important aspect of the event in place for runners safety and ease of running 👏🏻

Some races will give you a cup of water others will give you a big bottle of water! Thankful for the extra water by UWI Half but most were seen dropping near to full bottles or dispensing some water before trying to attempt running and drinking a full bottle of water.
Water stations were sufficiently placed and distributed. Some participants said they had some issues getting water early due to to crowd and some stations were low on volunteers.

Mile Markers were a good and welcomed visual aid for runners not lucky enough to have gps devices or running apps to assist with pacing and splits. Most said that the markers were accurately placed and matched splits given by gps devices.

The starting of the 5k and Half Marathon races went well from observations with enough time given between events to avoid the leaders of the half marathon clashing with the back end of the 5k participants. This was a concern but it worked out well from talking to leaders of the HM. The 5k leaders however had some issues with the back end of the HM runners. Leaders found themselves a bit crowded and lost because of the dark morning with some coming close to missing the turn at 2.5km mark (Race Marshall was needed here)

It is called UWI Half Marathon and yes you got 13.1 miles. Depending on how you ran the course and the tangents on the road you may get a bit longer which is common but this should be generally a short distance added to your overall distance. Happy to see they hit this target accurately.👏🏻

Timing/Results

The event was managed and timed by Evolution Timing. As we write this review 6 hours after the event we participants are still awaiting oficial results. The awards and distribution seemed very disorganized as the results were mixed up. Yes some of these mishaps do happen but there was a lack of information and updates given to possible award winners who were waiting around to collect. 4 people we spoke to said their emails provided them with incorrect results but we also had some people that said they got correct data so there seems to be an issue to work out with the results they are sending out.

Some changes and inclusions from previous years to the race village layout included:

-Movement of the food and refreshment area to the back of the SPEC Building .
-More massage therapists, ice baths and showers.
-Bag storage and collection.
-Awards prizes done inside the Spec Building.

Things to consider for future races:

-Special Drinks tables for elite and seeded runners which can imporve the standard and quality of your event.
-Pace Groups to assist participants along the course.
-After race interviews of winners local and international runners on their training and preparations for events like this.
-Race corals/waves to assist with smooth transition and flow of the start of event.

Please share your experience on this event with us below as there maybe other areas not discussed 😎

RBC , race for the kids - Sunday 15th October

Race review from the lens of a runner

RATINGS (Out of 5)

Course Outlook: 4.0
Management: 3.5
Scenery: 4.0
Security: 4.5
Vibe: 4.0

OVERVIEW
The RBC Race for the Kids (RFTK) is a compelling series of global charitable runs supporting children’s causes that started as a single race in New York in 2009.

RBC Race for the Kids has grown into a series of 25+ family fun races that take place around the world. More than 360,000 participants have raised over $82 million CAD for youth charities across the globe.

Bib Collection👎
This was embarassing to say the least.
Yes mistakes do happen but it's how you inform and service participants when these mistakes happen.
There were stories of people not being able to collect numbers due to the event being over sold. Some 15k participants had to settle for make shift numbers or was told to come back the next day to collect a number.
RBC and Odyssey Timing were in some cases telling people to bring back a number if you were not going to run the event again...Crazy!

Not to mention many people signed up as soon registration opened, seems like someone did not manage this too well.

Course Type
The course was a relatively challenging course with a gradual incline starting around the 1km mark and building towards 2km. After this the next 2-5 miles were relatively decending and flat. The last 5km of this course took you on a type of "false flat" terrain where you didnt really see the increase in the gradient but you definitelyfelt it and saw it on your data. This together with running into the sun made it very challenging that hour in the morning. The last mile saw a stiff climb back towards the savannah where 15k runners had to battle with hundreds of 5k runners trying to finish up their own event.

The 15km Course was approximately 500m-600m short and the 5km course approximately 150m-200m short.

This has been the case with this event for a number of years and no one on the race organising committee seems to be interested in fixing this problem, why though?

The last km of the course also has to be looked at as 15k and 5k runners are clashing as they try to finish their events. Runners coming off of Cipriani Blvd onto the Savannah are merging with hundreds of 5k runners and walkers and in some cases mostly walkers. This clash causes some runners to run outside the cones and into traffic coming up behind

Race Mangement (Water Stations) 👎
During the week of the event the radio ads were informing the public to "walk with yuh bottle" for a momemt I thought I was going to a fete. I understand the reason to reduce the use of plastic but considering the late start for this 15k and the recent hot weather conditions not having the option of water bottles for participants was not welcomed.
In the 5k at some stations people were congregating for water as the volunteers could not pour water fast enough to feed the participants and if you were a 15k runner trying to get a cup on the Savannah in that last mile well you could forget that.

The use of the cups were definitely not welcomed as participants found it challenging to drink from the cups (runners had to literally stop to drink water) and then find that momentum again.
Also not to mention cups not being filled with enough water.

We found that in the latter half of the event the water stations were not very well placed.
Some to far apar, by this time the 15k runners were pretty much dehydrated.

Timing/Results
The event was managed and timed by Odyssey Timing. We have noticed a decline in the service and accuracy of this company over some of the races. This event had names missing from results, registration issues, inaccurate times etc.
We must add that the data was sorted and cleared within a day or two to some degree of accuracy.

Prizes
Awards were given out to the Top 3 Male & Female but to the wrong names due to the faulty results. This caused some minor confusion just off the main stage of the event. There was also a late notice to participants about age group awards. This could have been relayed to participants before hand. There was a promise by RBC to call participants the next day to adivse when awards will be ready but recent checks to some winners showed no communication was ever made.

Vibe
This event had really nice set up of samplers and suppliers. The event had music after you crossed the finish line and entered the refreshment zone. As time passed the zone became very crowded to the point that you could not get to any of the refreshments. The area became too small to manage the amount of crowd that was there at one point.

Some Positives/Changes
-More Race Marshalls
-Improved Coning in some areas
-Good Signage with last 400m finishline
-Good Security and Police
-Earlier start time especially for the 15k, suggested time 5:15a.m

***Our Overall Rating 4..0 (Out of 5)

Whats yours???

Please share your experience with us in the comments below

Who did Scotia WABC 5k run/walk ?

How was your experience?

We decided not to do a review on this event, it's the same like every year, it was raining 'pink'.

The participants came out on their numbers in support of this, so many have lost a loved one through cancer and we pay tribute to them and those still fighting this battle everyday.

We salute these courageous women

Please share your experiences in the comments below, we would love to hear from you.

From the lens of a runner

Event : One More Mile 10k
Date: Sunday 24th September
Location : Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Tarouba

RATINGS (Out of 5)

Course Outlook: 4.5
Management: 4.5
Scenery: 4.0
Security: 4.5
Vibe: 4.2

Course Type ✔️
The course was a relatively flat course with a gradual incline starting around the 1.5mile mark and building for about 500m.

The first 1.5 miles were flat with a gradual decline so this made for a nice fast and solid start for all runners.

If you were looking to be agressive you would like this start but you still needed to be aware of the incline in the middle. After that incline you had a sharp decent all the way back to the start/finish line so any drop off in pace would be returned as you hit this secrion of the race.

The race was set at 2 laps of a perfect 3.1mile loop thats was somehow made for this event. Really convenient we must say! The 530am early on time start also made it very manageable with just the challenge of the morning humidity for runners to battle.

Race Mangement ✔️
As they say..."Good things comes in small packages" and this event even though not a very big race in terms of participants it gave everything it promised participants. On the day the course was well conned off on the major roads with the entire course being closed off to traffic. Marshalls and police were well placed to guide runners and walkers along the route. Participants were able to communicate with race officials on the day with various concerns. The layout of the parking, refreshment area were all close and easily accessible by all.

The toilets were a bit of a challenge in the early morning to assess due to the darkness and muddy areas underfoot.

Water Stations ✔️
There were 3 waterstations (6 Total) for this event. Spaced out well and well assisted by volunteers.

It was nice to see the use of the smaller water bottles for this event, easier to handle and carry along as you ran or walked. After crossing the finishline there was enough room to get more water, fruit and your Medals.

Security/Police ✔️
Another event that we had been to that saw the Police being ON TIME and they supported this event quite well. They managed and controlled traffic in the major areas. They were respectful and helpful where needed.

Timing/Results ✔️
Definitely want to mention Evolution Timing Co. They have been really doing an amazing job with this organisation and with many of the major races in the country without major issues. This company can provide race results, race bibs and most of your logistical needs on race day. Tents, Tables chairs etc. Any person or company that is interested in hosting a road race should consider Evolution Timing as one of its providers.

Prizes ✔️🏆
Awards were given out to the Top 3 Male & Female and all the age group prizes from juniors to the elderly participants. There were Trophies for Overall and certain age group categories got some well put together hampers.

Vibe ✔️🎶
This event had a really nice after race refreshment and cool down area. It was simple amd gave particpants what they needed. In this area you could find Corn Soup, fruits, Coffee, Crix, True Bread to name a few laps.

The only thing missing was a hand bag to carry your items away!

The event had music throughout the race that you could hear from most areas on the course and especially as you crossed the finishline.

The event gave exactly what it promised participants from our end. In the lead up to the event Instructions were clear on bib collection, parking, road closures etc so everyone could plan ahead.

Recommendations
Often times we see the larger events are so well sponsored, I hope we can see some more sponsors to help with community races like this. We can definitely see bigger things for them in the future.

Simple is always best and less complicated and this was a perfect example, they kept it simple and it was well executed

Kudos One More Mile 👏🏻

Our Overall Rating 4.3 (Out of 5)

Whats yours???

Well there's this saying South does it best

Let's see how this goes!!!

Some tips from One More Mile