RI 6-Hour Ultra... Race Ratings

Tagline: "RI 6-Hr Ultra... So much fun you'll run the course 12 times!!!"

Ratings...
RI 6-Hour Ultra- Warwick, RI

http://www.ri6hour.com/

Registration Fee: $40 (Early Reg., $50-$60 after)

Overall Race Rating (weighted): 4.9/5.0

Average Calculated Rating: 4.7/5.0

~ I couldn't think of a single problem/trouble spot with this race. Excellent support and organization. Great loop and fantastic spectators. I love that you can run as much as you want... a great way to ease into ultras without having pressure from a set distance. The only thing that could make this race bad is if MORE people find out about it and want in! So shhhh

Race Director: Let's place race director...
~What would I have changed if I were race director? I wouldn't change a thing... excellent all around!!!

Event Organization: 5.0/5.0 (now broken into 2 parts, see below as well) As far as "event organization" we'll go ahead and include things like Host hotel, website use, ease of travel to the event and to the actual race, etc.

~ The website is EXCELLENT and the communication is more than you can ask for. I had to send my registration by mail to get a 50-stater discount and as soon as Bob Jackman (the director) received it he sent me a note to confirm and said if I had any questions to let him know. Well... I did have just 1: Can I get my State Number as my bib for the race? The Big 20!!! He replied yes and that it was a great idea! He did the same for MB and gave her #14. (Pictured Right: #20 & #14-->)

The race is put on within 10 miles of an airport, so your hotel, air, and race are all VERY close. The park is easy to find because we found signs all over the streets within a few miles.

Race Organization: 5.0/5.0

~ This race organization was flawless! The part I really liked was that the ultra runners were separated from the relay runners for things like fluid/food station and port-a-johns. We definitely had a little extra bit of pride from our treatment over the relay people. The food station (yes 1, because the loop is less than 3 miles) had a TON of food, candy, hammer gels, water, head (LOVE head), and much more. The people attending to the ultra runners there were FABULOUS. By my 4th time through they knew exactly what I wanted and had it ready as I came through. (<-- Pic left, the water crew with my head ready and cup pinched for me!)

The tricky part for the organizers was that they had to mark down every time a person came through and the time. From what I can tell they never missed a lap. This Im SURE became tricky when people added in their add-on laps, but they had a very good method for keeping all this information with a team of people to help. They also sent people out to the marathon, 50k and 50 mile point to write down times when people hit them. They walkie-talkied ahead when somebody was going through for one of these points so we didn't need to stop or check in... they just knew!

Course: 4.7/5.0
~ I really liked the course. Of course it was 2.7 miles that we had to repeat as many times as possible in 6-hours. As I mentioned in my Post-Race Thoughts, I actually found this to be a benefit to the mental challenges of distance running. You only had to take 2.7 mile at a time. The course was VERY well marked for the 1 mile, 2 mile, 2.7 (loop finish), marathon, 50k, & 50 miler. There was enough variation to keep your legs from getting stiff but not huge uphill challenges. The race is done in a park, in the northeast in the fall so the leaves are still very pretty and so is the park. If you're looking for a quick race and don't mind a few small hills, then this could be a potentially very quick marathon. You know what's coming up and how t pace yourself so that is a definite benefit to this course.

Spectators: 4.7/5.0
~ The spectators (mostly relay people & volunteers) were great! Since the ultra runners came through the laps in a separate area, it was easy for them to cheer us on. A lot of ultra runners dropped after 26.2 or 50k or when they were done and went on to finish to help cheer on the rest! Going though the group of people cheering you on individually, made you want to go out for another loop!

Pace Group: /5.0
~ DNE and didn't need

Runner/Corrals: 4.5/5.0

~ No corrals of course, but the runners were very nice! For once I really apprecaited having the relay teams... it added more people to run and pace with, but they didn't get in the way or get marathoner-treatment for running 3-6 miles. There were a few people I spoke to during the race and they were all very talkative and a lot of fun. There was a father/daughter pair wearing shirts that said "Julie" and "Julie's Dad"-- on my last full lap I said good job to them and Julie cheerfully said "ONLY 35 minutes to go!!"

Expo: /5.0
~ No Expo

Swag: 4.2/5.0
~T-Shirt... BLUE longsleeve Tech T. LOVE the long sleeve and it's a nice change away from white. Cute design and they actually gave me my size. 4.7
~Medals: Haha funny story... the medals are medal with the logo on it. Well the logo is a big 6 with some waves behind it and the name. I had about a dozen people ask me if I got 6th place in something... oy!!! They were cute, basic but nice! 3.7

~ Goodie Bag: The goodie bags were pretty basic with some stickers, handouts, etc in them. Nothing crazy.
~ Race pics... ick!!! They actually took a TON of pictures (since you go through so many times) but holy lord I look like DEATH!!! (See Proof Below) They hit the extra-ugly button before developing these pics!

<-- Me saying I have one more lap. In my head I'm thinking "Yay!! .9 miles and I'm done!" But apparently... I look more like I'm about to cry!