One of my favorite parts of being a runner is running races. I love the atmosphere, the excitement and the sense of accomplishment when I’m finished. However, it can be tough deciding which races should get your hard earned money. I feel like I’ve read one disastrous race recap / review after the other lately and heard quite a bit of negative things surrounding various poor planned races (ahem, Diva, I’m looking at you!). Here are three tips on how to choose a race that won’t have you swearing “never again” once you cross the finish line.
1. The internet is your friend. If you are considering a race (especially if it’s a new race), google it. Seek out race reviews. Examine the course to make sure that you won’t be running 6.2 miles in a parking lot (a la the Biggest Loser 10k in DC). Nowadays it’s unlikely that the race has not been reviewed by someone. Even a brand new race probably debuted in another city. What if the race is brand new and debuting in your city? That leads us to number 2…
2. Use your common sense. Just because a race seems cool is no reason to do things you’d never normally do. For example , it might not be the smartest idea to sign up for a race that doesn’t start until 9:30 on a hot DC July day*. You KNOW that’s going to be miserable – just say no. Also, take into account your personal circumstances. If, for example, you have a week long work conference that involves early mornings and late nights, you probably shouldn’t run a half marathon the day after you return home from travel. Not that I did that or anything. Ahem.
Swag is great, but consider other things when choosing a race!
3. Don’t forget to seek out smaller races. Often, folks are drawn to gigantic races for the glitz and name and all the swag that may come with it. However, sometimes smaller races are just much more easy to navigate. They are typically cheaper as well, which is an important consideration because running races gets to be an expensive habit quickly! Check your local running store or running club for some smaller races. In the DC area, I recommend Pacers – both the store and their races. In fact, I’m running a Pacers race this Saturday!
So there you have it. I hope these tips will help you decide if a particular race is worth it or should be passed on.
* Note: The primary reason I chose to NOT run Biggest Loser was that late 9:30am start time in July in DC. I think I literally laughed out loud when I read that – who starts a race in the summer that late?!
What are your tips for choosing a race? Have you ever had any bad experiences?
Who ran the biggest Loser 10K in mid July knowing perfectly well it’s hot as heck out there? <<<—-this gal. but who PR'd and rocked that 10K?! <<<— this gal. But I don't recommend it :-/ !!
LOL – yeah props to you for pulling it out in that heat but NO WAY was I doing that race 🙂
Those are some great tips. We have a local group that puts on a lot of races. They are not as expensive and they have an awesome deal for volunteers. If you volunteer for a race, they give you a free entry for a later one =)
That sounds like a fantastic deal, Betsy! 🙂
I use the internet and word of mouth for a lot of my races. What did we ever do without the internet????
I know, right?? 🙂
I always google a race before I sign up – mostly to see if it’s flat or not 🙂 I also signed up for the Hershey 10k last year knowing that about 4 miles of the race was either in a parking lot or a boring road (the other 2 miles were in Hershey Park) but not caring because of all the free chocolate. It ended up being the best race ever! But it probably would have sucked without all the chocolate though!
Likewise — I like knowing what I’m getting myself into. That Hershey 10k sounds really fun!!