Saturday, March 13, 2010

St. Patrick's Day Race

Distances: 3 mile, 6 mile
I did the 3 mile in 2010 and the 6 mile in 2007. This race attracts a decent field despite its poor organization. For example, in 2010, the race started 40 minutes late because they didn't have enough busses- 1/2 an hour after the race was supposed to start an empty bus came to the 3 mile start, picked up ONE person too dumb to figure out the bus system and took them to the 6 mile start! There's no drop bags to bring warm-up clothes from the start to the finish, so that was a long time to be waiting in the cold. In addition, there was only 1 porta-potty at the start for several hundred runners. The course is fairly scenic with a steady downgrade, making it a fast course. Both races start in the hills west of Anaconda then run into town and finish on the main street. Participants in the 6 mile should expect weaving through the walkers in the 3 mile for the last 2 miles. It would be nice if they could make some effort to keep the 3 milers on one side of the road so the 6 milers can run through. If the race organizers can update their race to accomadate it's increasing popularity, it would be a nice way to start off the Montana running season.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Some restroom facilities would have been handy at the starting points. A few 6-mile folks were scolded by adjacent home owners when they had no other choice but to "make do" on nearby private property.

Also be aware that 6-milers stay on the buses after the drop off of the 3 milers. Somehow, this now-obvious fact nearly escaped me at the time.