Wyoming Marathon ~ Race Ratings (#33 WY)

Tag line: "We'll let you Climb our Mountain, but we're not giving up our Oxygen!"

Actual Race Motto (Per their website):

"Where the race director promises you nothing, and he delivers."

Ratings...

2010 Wyoming Marathon ~ May 30, 2010

Cheyenne Wyoming ~ Lincoln Monument Rest Stop (please stop laughing)
Year Running: 33rd (I CANNOT believe this!)
Registration Fee: $50 ($10 Discount to 50-staters)
Runners:  106 Completed,  40 Females

Available Races: 5K, Half-Marathon, Marathon, and DOUBLE Marathon (same crazy course twice for the same crazy people)
Average Finish Time: 5:17:20!!

BQ %: 1.9% (That's 2 people for us non-math majors out there).

Overall Race Ratings: 2.9/5.0

Average Calculated Rating: 3.0/5.0

~ Well Mr. Race Director, you promise nothing, and so do I! Except for the potential challenge to us non- high altitude people, this race doesn't have a whole lot going for it. It's in the middle of nowhere, which makes it hard to get to and leaves you with no spectators. The course would be quite boring if it wasn't such a tough hill to climb on the way back. The host hotel was probably the best part because it had a killer pasta party and the grounds were pretty nice. Aside from that... uhh, this was kind of a dud. Sorry charlie.

Race Director: Let's play race director...
~ The race director promises nothing, but if I were to inherite this race I would promise: At least 1 or 2 potty stops (double backed course so that's 2-4 stops). 2-4 garbages on the course to support the "no litering" requirement. How hard would it be to buy 100-200 GU packets? Not too bad I would think! Oxygen tanks??...
...oh hell I'd cancel the damned race and put it somewhere lower than planes fly and where there is a hotel withing a 15 minute drive!!!

Event Organization: 3.8/5.0 (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.

Distance from Airport to Expo/Race: ~
Rental Car Required: YES
~ The closest hotel is about 30 minutes away (they tell you an hour, but I think that's old people timing). The only airport with a decent amount of flights to choose from is Denver (about an hour and a half) but you can fly threw Cheyenne too. Oh! REALLY good pasta dinner-- exceptional in fact! Great pasta WITH meatballs. Also- stemed veggies, big salads, and GREAT carrot cake!

Race Organization: 3.0/5.0
Hydration Color/Type: "Gatorade" or so they say, I've never seen gatorade get foamy!

Gel Type/Flavors:  None
~ Well there are no port-a-johns with VERY wide open spaces. The water stops are decent-- about every 4.5 miles stocked with food! (cereal bars, M&Ms, chips, etc). No GU or energy gel. We weren't allowed to litter on the course at all (GU included) or we would be disqualified. I respect that, but then we need garbage cans SOMEWHERE, right? WRONG.
~Post Race Food: .There was a box of danishes, M&Ms and little bottles of gatorade with 2 bags of BBQ chips... living up to the race motto.

Course: 2.5/5.0

~MarathonGuide Rating

Garmin Distance: 26.18-ishhh

~ Ummm did you see the elevation chart? Ok the elevation isn't actually THAT bad, it's just made worse by the very very high altitude. The issues I had were that 1) This was the middle of NOwhere and 2) we were on LONG LONG passes of straight where you can see your impending 2-3 miles of climbing stretched out before you.

Spectators: 1.0/5.0

~ Ummm the caribou didn't applaud at ALL.... and that's the ONLY living being out on the course aside from the few cars that drive by and the water station people. The water station people were ummm, ok. They seemed ready to take a nap, but I don't blame them. Out in the sun all day waiting for a hundred runners to finish (and staying for the people doing the double)-- I would be pretty tired too.

Pace Group: /5.0
~ NA

Runner/Corrals: 4.5/5.0

~ No corrals obviously, but the runners were all very friendly from the pasta dinner to the end of the race. We had a nice convo with a few runners at the pasta dinner. It seems like this is the kind of race for the 50 staters that can't convince anybody else to truck out to the middle of nowhere in high elevation (not too surprising) so a lot of people were flying solo and willing to make friends! We also had a little mini competition on the last 2 mile uphill climb with another girl-- well SHE didn't know she was in a competition-- but either way she was very nice as we went back and forth, finally taking the lead in the last half mile! Wooho... we WON!

Expo: /5.0

~ NA

Swag: 3.4/5.0

~T-Shirts: We had several color options to choose from, but by the time we got there yellow was the only one left in my size. They were plain cotten, a little large with an OK design on them. 3.0

~Medals: The medals are pins with the Wyoming State Seal on it. Now don't let that spakley look fool you like it did me-- that's just a bad cut/paste job on their website-- there are NOT actually blue sparkles all overthe medal :( awww 3.8

~ Goodie Bag: We were advised to take an "running propaganda" as the director put it... aka running mag's, etc.

Results...
Stephanie...
Time: 4:32:05
Overal: 25/206, Gender: 4/40, A/G: 1/4