Downtown Dash - Recap
This race was part of St. Xavier's Block Party on Friday night August 1 and also the first year of the race. Over 230 people(click here for results) attended the race which was more than they expected as they ran out of shirts and had some issues with registration. It seems like many first year races underestimate how many people show up for a race and registration turns into a nightmare. I waited about a half hour in 90 degree heat to get my bib and champion chip. To make matters worse, only two people handled registration so they used the same line for both race day registration and preregistered runners. As a result, some preregistered runners did not get their shirt. Hopefully, the race organizers will send it to them(some races will send you a shirt and some races won't send you a shirt depends on the organization handling the race). The problems at registration delayed the start by about 15-20 minutes. Some of the runners were actually disappointed with the race due to registration but also there were no mile markers on the course to let runners know how they were doing and the course was longer than a 5k. According to the course on the website, runners were supposed to run to the intersection of Ida and Eden Park and turnaround but actually ran up to the roundabout in Eden Park which added about .2 to the course. The post race party was okay with energy bars, vitamin water and one free drink. If they do the race next year, hopefully the problems with registration and course will be fixed.