Readers, you are in for a treat! Today we have a guest post from two of my dearest friends who are also the most awesome running buddies, Kelly and Abby, as they share their review of the Surly Trail Loppet Half Marathon!
Abby and Kelly here for a guest post!
You may have read about this little
Surly Trail Loppet event
in past posts as Jess has been with us for a few of the sponsored 5-mile
training runs over portions of the course.
She didn’t join us for the main event since the big Berlin Marathon is
next weekend. That was probably a good idea of her part, because aside from the risk of injury on the
challenging terrain, we are super sore, and you
probably want to go into the
marathon with fresh legs! So Cool J
trusted us to do a race review and even lent the blogging camera! So, here’s our report:
The
Surly Trail Loppet sponsored by Minnesota’s favorite
Surly Brewing Company, consisted of several events at Theodore Wirth Park just
outside Minneapolis. There was a
half-marathon, a 13.1K, and a 5K. Early
this summer we ambitiously signed up for the half-marathon, since neither of us
had a fall marathon planned after Newport marathon back in June. (
Remember the Newport marathon? Read all about it HERE)
Pre-Race
Given the limited parking near the start/finish, there was
an option to park in the Mortensen Construction Company lot and then shuttle to
the start line.
Along with our friend
Jen, we carpooled to the parking lot, but opted to walk the short 0.6 miles to
the start rather than taking the bus. It
was a bit of a ‘warm up’ for us.
Once we got to the start it was time for packet pickup in a
very long line. There was no option for packet pickup prior to race day which
required the 1000+ runners to do it race day.
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| Long lines for packet pickup... |
We proceeded through the line to
get our numbers and chips. We laughed
about the ‘commemorative chip,’ given that the chip was plain white on both
sides. That’s something to remember!
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| "Commemorative" chip...? |
After a final bathroom stop, we stalled heading to the start
by enjoying some time in the sun. It was
a brisk 49 degrees at the start, and neither of us was fully ready to check our
bag and give up our warm up extra layers for our racing attire (tank and
tee).
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| Enjoying the sun! |
Finally when we thought we’d timed
it well, we checked our gear bags and headed over to the start.
The start was staggered in waves named for popular Surly
brews. We were in the Abrasive wave, the
second wave after the faster Furious wave and followed by Bender and Hell.
While trying to keep warm at the start, we learned that the start would be
delayed by 15-20 minutes. This led to a fairly
disorganized start. No one could really
hear the announcements and so we didn’t quite know when we were starting. One big wave in 15-20 min or all waves delayed
15-20 min? Finally we heard a gun and the Furious wave was off. We were ready to get going 5 minutes later.
The Course
The 13.1 miles of trails were a fun and challenging change
for us normal road runners. It consisted of a mix of asphalt paths (~25%) and
narrower dirt and wooded trails, often single file. There were sections to pass
someone if needed, yet even being stuck behind a runner on a single track
section was a welcomed chance to slow down. There were a couple sections so
steep that resorting to a walk proved to be a faster option. The course was very
well marked by blue ribbons tied to branches, blue arrow signs, and flour on
the ground. We spent so much time watching footing to avoid falling and the
markings to stay on course that the race seemed to speed by.
Many of us long distance runners have become Garmin
dependent. The Abrasive wave we were in was recommended
to half marathoners with a road race of 1:41-1:50 to give a predicted trail
race of 2:00-2:15. Given the challenging terrain, the Garmin became more about
distance than pace, in that, ‘when will this be over?’ type of feeling. Although no one was really complaining, we
fell short of the 13.1 mile distance by our trusted Garmin friend. Apparently the incline, decline and the woods
make the GPS signal drop out and not accurately measure distance. Either way, the finish line was a welcomed
sight and it was on to the post-party.
Post-Party
First things first, we picked up our finisher t-shirts. Given that it was 55°F at the finish, we
loved the long sleeve cotton t-shirts we were given! The finisher swag was different for each race,
the 5k finishers received a t-shirt and the 13.1k finishers picked up a Salomon
bag with a handy Surly pint glass (we were jealous).
Given the brewery race sponsor, we’d expect nothing less
than a party for the finish. There was
live music playing, food for purchase from Tollefson Farms, family of Olympic
runner and Dawson, MN native Carrie Tollefson, and of course beer! Nothing like
a Surly Coffee Bender to finish off the morning.
It was a great scene to meet up and enjoy some time with our
fellow CBRC friends. Luckily no one was a contender for the "Surly-est" runner
contest, a special award for the most messed up by scrapes, blood, sprains, and
lacerations. We had no major falls and our only injuries were a couple of bee stings,
one for Mason and one for Kelly. Oww!
But be sure to watch out for burrs on the trail!
We wish Cool J was with us as we met up with Katie, a fellow
Right Fits reader and runner, who recognized us from the pictures on the
blog. Congrats Katie on a great race!
Hope to meet more Right Fits readers at events to come.
The Good:
- Very well marked trails that offered a beautiful variety of
scenery.
- Soft and cozy long sleeve finisher t-shirts that kept us
warm while drinking our Surly.
- Supportive and friendly racers, volunteers and spectators.
The Not-so-good:
While the race itself was great, we had to dock some points
for both the start and the finish. They
may want to consider moving to a pre-race day packet pickup to alleviate some
of the line we faced at the start. We
think the longer than anticipated packet line led to the delayed race
start. Also some amped up audio equipment
could help them with announcing the start, or the delay.
They had also advertised GU or fuel at the support stops but
all we encountered was water or energy drink at random distances along the way.
The end was a ton of fun but could have some improved flow
to the finish. The lines for water, food
and most importantly, beer, were not clearly marked. There were just lines of people throughout
the finish area, so we just hopped in one and hoped it was for something. Also the gear check didn’t appear to be
supervised and ended in a bit of a free for all. We wish it would have been a bit more
protected for the secure belongings.
Overall
Overall we give this race an 8/10. It was a super fun event
and a nice change from our usual routes around the lakes. We both want to incorporate more trail
running into the mix. Theo Wirth has
some great paths and is so close that we need to take advantage. Minneapolis is
awesome!
Thank you Kelly and Abby for this guest review!
You probably recognize these two ladies as their pretty mugs have been on the blog many times in the past. In fact, apparently they have been on the blog enough that, as Kelly mentioned, a reader recognized them at the race! Thanks to Katie for reading the Right Fits! I was SO excited to hear that real people read this blog! Yay!
Congrats to all the hard-core runners who completed this challenging race. I hope I get to participate next year!
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| Awesome job runner! |
