So after I wrote my review on Yelp and posted it here on my blog, I received a general e-mail from the Vibha committee about the successes about the run, and things that they can work on. In that e-mail, they addressed all my issues in the "thing they can work on" section. It made me feel really heard that they actually took the time and listened to the people who participated in the event. Also, a few days after that e-mail, I received a package from someone (I'm assuming) in charge that enclosed a certificate and medal for my age group! Although the medal was the same one I got at the finish line, I felt appreciated for my hard work and they tried to right they wrong -- even though they could've easily said "oh well, we'll fix it for next year". Due to these turn of events, I will again consider doing the run again since I do love what the organization is doing! Will update the Yelp review as well as soon as their done with their maintenance. Thanks, Vibha!
So I ran a half-marathon today. I registered for it about 3 days ago, not much prep work for this race in particular but I have been feeling strong lately so I decided to go ahead and just do it! Here's my take on what happened (you can also see it on Yelp!). No pictures because I was pretty disappointed and exhausted afterwards.
THE BEGINNING:
It's hard to be mad a non-profit that throws this run annually to help aide non-profits in India, but I can't help but feel a little ripped off. I signed up to do the Vibha half marathon this year (2012), and paid the full price of $60. The start of the day was a bit frustrating because in a confirmation e-mail, they said that there are 2 main parking lots which were free of charge since they covered it . One of the parking lots they showed we could park was right by the start line... SWEET! The other parking lot was about a 5-10 minute walk, meh. However, when I got there at 6:00AM even though start time wasn't until 7:30AM, I was told to park in the parking lot that was a 5-10 minute walk away, no, I don't mind that if I was late... but I'm pretty sure I was one of the first people there! Fortunately, there was a neighborhood near by that parking lot and I could easily park there and not walk as far (I know.. I'm about to run a half marathon and I can't walk an extra 5 minutes? Well.. suck it. I didn't want to walk that extra 5 minutes back to the car). Turns out, no one was allowed to park at the parking lot near the start line except for volunteers and vendors. If that was the case, it would have been easier to just say... hey everyone park in this lot and not this one.
THE COURSE:
Yes it is at Hellyer park, but no dirt trail at all. The entire thing was paved and essentially flat. The mini hills that were on the course were welcomed with a pretty instant downhill right after you hit the peak. Aid stations every 1.5 miles with Gatorade, water, and some even had Gus. There was always someone in the fork of roads to make sure people would continue down the correct path and not end up on the highway or something. There was also a guy biking back & forth making sure everyone was ok. I would say this run was pretty well shaded but there are a few straight aways where you are completely exposed! Oh! and you go under some overpasses so expect your watch to potentially crap out like mine did for me. Overall, the course, water stations, and volunteers were awesome.
THE ENDING:
Here's where things started to crumble. The straight-away leading to the finish line is on the grass (FYI, I HATE grass) and the cones separating people who've already finished and people who are going to finish was extremely big so I had no real idea where I was supposed to finish until I saw this itty bitty sign the said FINISH. I raced with this one guy during the finish, that was fun. Everyone gets a medal, goody bag, Indian meal-- looks homemade and smelled so good, bananas, & cotton t-shirt. The only thing that bugged me was that today was a very hot day, even though it was only approximately 9:30 when I finished. To quench my thirst, they only had little dixie cups that your dentists usually have and large jugs of water you had to pour into your mini dixie cup. I know that after that race, I definitely needed more water than that! Poor people were surrounding the table like vultures looking for dixie cups and waiting in line to pour water into it, including myself!AWARDS:
So, first of all, the age groups were kind of funky-- nothing I've ever seen before. There was overall & age division; both normal. However, age divisions were broken up in something along the lines of 12 & under (kind of normal), 13-21 (not normal), 22-something (more not normal), and then 55-90 (REALLY not normal). The run consisted of a 5k, 10k, & half-marathon. This is where the jipped feeling comes into play. They gave awards to overall and age-divsion top 3 for the 5k and 10k, BUT NOT THE HALF-MARATHON. Why?! I paid twice as much and ran twice as long, and I don't get anything? Considering I came in first in my age division, is really upsetting. Not only was that really bad, the person in charge did not make an announcement that there would only be age division awards for the 5k and 10k, so I literally stood around half-dehydrated and really tired waiting for my award for an hour... only to have her conclude with, "ok that's it". Ugh that is NOT ok.THE EXTRA: They are a great non-profit and have some really sweet volunteers, but I just can't shake the feeling that they could've put forth more effort in this event. I have run in other events that have benfeciaries and still throw an awesome run and shows that they appreciate the people who are trying to help them. Also, they had a cute henna tent and some balloon animals for the kids. For a run that apparently has been an annual thing for 14 years... I'd expect a little more. :|
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