think twice before complaining about that race next time
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jrjo
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 Posted: 07/25/06 - 15:49 Post subject: think twice before complaining about that race next time
| 7/22/06 ROCHESTER POST-BULLETIN wrote: | Warm Gatorade?
T-shirts not sexy enough?
Marion Road, a boring stretch of the race?
Why not move the race to April?
Complain, complain, complain. My question for Wally and Peg Arnold today is not why you are stepping down as co-race directors of the Med-City Marathon. It's simply this, what took you so long?
Warm Gatorade?
"Can you believe that?'' asked Peg. "That's actually was one of the complaints I received this year. No kidding. Did they know it was 93 degrees? Just try and keep the Gatorade cool. I mean, geez.''
So now, after 11 years, the founders and only race directors the race has ever known, will be stepping aside. That won't happen until May 2008 due to contract obligations, but it will happen.
It's about time, only because why should someone take all this abuse?
"We wanted to step down after the ninth year,'' said Peg, "but in reality there was no one who wanted to step up and take over.
"And last year everything went so smooth, it was like clockwork so we thought, 'it's going to be like this every year so why not continue?'''
Then, this year.
Disaster.
"The weather had no bearing on our decision,'' maintained Peg. "Absolutely not. I hate to keep complaining because now I'm sounding like everyone else, but it's the little things. Some of the runners nowadays think only about themselves. Me, me, me.
"The volunteers, and we have over 400 of them, are the ones who come up to you afterwards and thank you for putting on such a nice event. Not the runners.
"Now, shouldn't that be the other way around?"
It should, but it's not.
Those complaints, and impossible hours finally forced Peg to utter the words from the immortal Johnny Paycheck.
"Take This Job and Shove It.''
Only this wasn't a job. All volunteer.
"Someone asked how many hours we put into running a race like this one,'' said Peg, "and I can just laugh. On race weekend, for example, we arrive at 6 in the morning on Saturday and don't leave until 6 Sunday night with maybe an hour of sleep in between.
"In actuality, it's a six- to nine-month commitment. And we take vacation days, personal days, to make sure it is run right.
"In the beginning years we did it for the love of the sport. Now, it's not as easy getting excited.''
Plus, Peg said, they have a personal life to live as well.
"That was a big part of our decision,'' she said. "Would we like to take more vacations? Go on cruises. Sure, but there was always this obligation. It seems like it's endless.''
Geez, what a job description. Who wouldn't want to take over?
"I would have to say, though, that most of the complaints we get are from those who have never volunteered to do anything for this race,'' said Peg. "They have no idea, simply none, about the time and effort it takes to put on a race like this.
"You don't just wake up on Memorial Day Sunday and roll out of bed and go race. This is a pretty big production.''
The Arnolds have trademarked the name Med-City Marathon so unless someone can sweet-talk them, the race as we know it will cease to exist.
That's not to say there won't be a race run on Memorial Day weekend. The Rochester Track Club, sponsors of the race, have yet to meet to discuss the ramifications of the resignations.
But we know this.
"It won't be Wally and Peg Arnold, that's for sure,'' said Peg.
Too bad; they put on an excellent race.
Besides, on race day, I prefer my Gatorade warm. |
sad to say marathoners are a buncho whiners 
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runaroundsue
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Posted: 07/25/06 - 16:02 Post subject:
every marathon this Memorial weekend got dissed......hey if we run a marathon on that weekend,we need to know we can't get anything. It's a freaking crapshoot in the midwest. One week earlier weather in Green Bay was perfect for PRs. I'll bet that everyone praised the race director. (although he "is" an awesome guy). One week later, Med-city, Mad-city, and Ottawa all had the worst race directors alive.
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blue
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Posted: 07/26/06 - 00:14 Post subject:
makes me wonder how much work goes into a marathon... one day i'd like to find out.
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TimRuns
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Posted: 07/26/06 - 02:00 Post subject:
| blue wrote: | | makes me wonder how much work goes into a marathon... one day i'd like to find out. |
if you just want to finish it, it's not too bad...if you want to run a good time then be prepared to work your butt off....
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Kimba90
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Posted: 07/26/06 - 05:55 Post subject:
| blue wrote: | | makes me wonder how much work goes into a marathon... one day i'd like to find out. |
You mean to run it, or direct it? At my 100 mile race, you could see all the activitiy going on to support the runners...crazy..the logistics, the planning, then the unexpected.
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runaroundsue
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Posted: 07/26/06 - 07:58 Post subject:
| Kimba90 wrote: | | blue wrote: | | makes me wonder how much work goes into a marathon... one day i'd like to find out. |
You mean to run it, or direct it? At my 100 mile race, you could see all the activitiy going on to support the runners...crazy..the logistics, the planning, then the unexpected. |
last fall I spent 3 mornings volunteering, 2 of them (approximately 10 hours) was cutting mylar blankets from the roll and folding them and there was 2 of us doing it. Cool, because I got to meet Bill Rodgers.
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runaroundsue
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Posted: 07/26/06 - 08:01 Post subject:
| TimRuns wrote: | | blue wrote: | | makes me wonder how much work goes into a marathon... one day i'd like to find out. |
if you just want to finish it, it's not too bad...if you want to run a good time then be prepared to work your butt off.... |
and the time difference between the two can be minimal for some people 
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jrjo
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Posted: 07/26/06 - 09:36 Post subject:
| blue wrote: | | makes me wonder how much work goes into a marathon... one day i'd like to find out. |
Most big city marathons in this country have full-time race directors and a staff of a few more office people. So figuring full-time equals 52 weeks at 40 hours a week, that's 2080 hours for the director plus probably a couple more full-timers. I'd guess a marathon like the Twin Cities marathon, let's say, is a 6000 hour project. And bigger ones such as New York or Boston, I can only image must be upwards of 10,000 hours to put together.
A smaller marathon like Med-City is less obviously, but I'd guess it was still a 1000 hour job for the Arnolds, which is probably 500 hours each...that's a wholelotta volunteering.
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Pug
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Posted: 07/26/06 - 10:09 Post subject:
I don't get it. I thought the marathon was as well run as you could expect for a race of 400 people. Sufficient water stops and it suffered from brutal heat. I had warm gatorade at mile 9 and 11, it was cold at 15 (and they had folks bringing in giant Culligan jugs and hoses with cold water. At 17 they had cold liquids.
Guess the whiners better not try one of the trail marathons I read about in MN that has 3 water stops.
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Pug
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Posted: 07/26/06 - 10:20 Post subject:
So how might that article affect this on the marathon's website?
| Quote: |
Welcome to the Med-City Marathon, Relays and 20 mile.
New for 2007, 7 AM start time, 1/2 marathon instead of a 2 person relay!
We look forward to another fun filled event! Mark your calendars for May 27, 2007!!!
Online registration will be open soon! |
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jrjo
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Posted: 07/26/06 - 10:22 Post subject:
| Pug wrote: | So how might that article affect this on the marathon's website?
| Quote: |
Welcome to the Med-City Marathon, Relays and 20 mile.
New for 2007, 7 AM start time, 1/2 marathon instead of a 2 person relay!
We look forward to another fun filled event! Mark your calendars for May 27, 2007!!!
Online registration will be open soon! |
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From what the article sez, they have a "contract" for 2007 & 2008. So there will be at least two more editions  
You going to give it a go again?
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Pug
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Posted: 07/26/06 - 10:36 Post subject:
| jrjo wrote: | | Pug wrote: | So how might that article affect this on the marathon's website?
| Quote: |
Welcome to the Med-City Marathon, Relays and 20 mile.
New for 2007, 7 AM start time, 1/2 marathon instead of a 2 person relay!
We look forward to another fun filled event! Mark your calendars for May 27, 2007!!!
Online registration will be open soon! |
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From what the article sez, they have a "contract" for 2007 & 2008. So there will be at least two more editions
You going to give it a go again? |
Oh...so, you're saying I should read all the words that were on the page? What's next, running the full distance? Sheesh!
I'm thinking about it. I'm a little snippy that I didn't finish and if Med City as we know it is going away, I'd like to knock it out before it's gone. It's cheap enough.
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gretriever
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Posted: 07/26/06 - 11:15 Post subject:
| Pug wrote: | I don't get it. I thought the marathon was as well run as you could expect for a race of 400 people. Sufficient water stops and it suffered from brutal heat. I had warm gatorade at mile 9 and 11, it was cold at 15 (and they had folks bringing in giant Culligan jugs and hoses with cold water. At 17 they had cold liquids.
Guess the whiners better not try one of the trail marathons I read about in MN that has 3 water stops. |
Please note Pug's comments in contrast (or similarity, as you may read them) to JU's Mad City experience. The parts I highlighted are things that the race organizers should be taken to task for.
| JACKED UP wrote: | I'm so disappointed today. I was looking for a PR and really feel that a poorly organized race cost me that. Yes, it was hot, very hot in fact. But I had put in the training and have said many time I love the heat n humidity. I thrive in it. I felt great pretty much the entire race. so what happened? I am used to training and drinking plenty of water/gatorade. I take fluids at every stop, always. I perfected the running/drinking thing by tucking a straw into my sport bra using it by crushing the cup around the straw and drinking on the run never stopping. Imagine my surprise as I approached the first waterstop and had a volunteer hands me an empty cup and points to another volunteer holding a small pitcher of water!!?? WTF???  I wanted 3 cups, one over my head, 2 to drink. Needless to say, I waited.  And now imagine that this happens again at the very next waterstop. Unbelieveable and completely inexcusable in my opinion. This happened prolly 2 more times during the 13.1 miles. I was within a minute of my PR and this no doubt cost me. My official time was 2:29:54. I could have been 2:15-2:20 easily. The waterstop thing really broke my focus and brought me outta my zone. Kinda stupid prolly but the simplest little things can make such a huge difference to me.
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runaroundsue
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Posted: 07/26/06 - 12:09 Post subject:
| gretriever wrote: | | Pug wrote: | I don't get it. I thought the marathon was as well run as you could expect for a race of 400 people. Sufficient water stops and it suffered from brutal heat. I had warm gatorade at mile 9 and 11, it was cold at 15 (and they had folks bringing in giant Culligan jugs and hoses with cold water. At 17 they had cold liquids.
Guess the whiners better not try one of the trail marathons I read about in MN that has 3 water stops. |
Please note Pug's comments in contrast (or similarity, as you may read them) to JU's Mad City experience. The parts I highlighted are things that the race organizers should be taken to task for.
| JACKED UP wrote: | I'm so disappointed today. I was looking for a PR and really feel that a poorly organized race cost me that. Yes, it was hot, very hot in fact. But I had put in the training and have said many time I love the heat n humidity. I thrive in it. I felt great pretty much the entire race. so what happened? I am used to training and drinking plenty of water/gatorade. I take fluids at every stop, always. I perfected the running/drinking thing by tucking a straw into my sport bra using it by crushing the cup around the straw and drinking on the run never stopping. Imagine my surprise as I approached the first waterstop and had a volunteer hands me an empty cup and points to another volunteer holding a small pitcher of water!!?? WTF??? I wanted 3 cups, one over my head, 2 to drink. Needless to say, I waited. And now imagine that this happens again at the very next waterstop. Unbelieveable and completely inexcusable in my opinion. This happened prolly 2 more times during the 13.1 miles. I was within a minute of my PR and this no doubt cost me. My official time was 2:29:54. I could have been 2:15-2:20 easily. The waterstop thing really broke my focus and brought me outta my zone. Kinda stupid prolly but the simplest little things can make such a huge difference to me.
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well, the difference being: the trail race in MN, the runners "knew" there'd be only 3 water stops and they could adjust for it. I'm sorry but if I had to stop 3x in a half marathon to wait for someone to pour my water, I'd be pissed off. Actually, I would have grabbed the stupid pitcher out of her stupid hands and said "hey, thanks" and then throw the pitcher into the trash. If volunteers are a problem, then set up big coolers and let runners know it self serve. But then again, would I pay $50-$75 for self-serve? My running club provides that and bagels at the end of my long runs for free.
As midwesterners we "know" that May can be freezing cold or freaking hot. The race director can prepare knowing this. I feel sorry for the people that come from warm climates thinking that MN and WI will be cooler.
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Running Brewer
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Posted: 07/26/06 - 12:11 Post subject:
You know if the hours are too much for them, then raise the price of the marathon by a few dollars and make the RD a paid position. At least that way they are getting some return for their time.
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