Bataan Memorial Death March ~ Race Ratings (NM-#26)

Tagline: "Like no other race you've done before." Ratings...

2010 Bataan Memorial Death March ~ March 21, 2010
White Sands, NM~ White Sands Missile Range
Registration Fee: $65 early ($130 late) Teams (5): $225. No Discounts
Runners: 2614 Individuals & 224 teams of 5... total: 3,734 Competed
Available Races: 26.2m March or 15.2m March for individuals or teams of 5. Civilian and Military divisions. Light and heavy carrying divisions.
Average Finish Time: 7:43:39 (individuals)
BQ %: .5% (individuals)

(Pic Rt: The happiest pic of me running a marathon I've ever seen)

Overall Race Rating (weighted): 4.9/5.0

Average Calculated Rating: 4.7/5.0

~ This is an unbelievable race with a challenging, but fun, course. The only down side is that the race is in the middle of nowhere so you're going to face a little extra travel time.. but it's well worth it for the beautiful scenery, a VERY well organized race, and to show your support for the thousands of soldier there!

Race Director: Let's play race director...
~ The only issues I saw with this race, were not controllable by the organizers. The distance to an airport, obviously can't be changed. And it's hard to get a ton of spectators to the top of a mountain in a desert with no homes around. The only changes I would suggest-- that the organizers are in control of-- are medals! In lieu of medals, they gave out dog tags, but I think it would be nice for everybody to get a medal as well. I'm not sure how this is handled for other "marches."

Event Organization: 4.2/5.0 (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: El Paso Airport... ~50 Min Drive
Rental Car Required: Yes!!
~ This marathon is not the easiest to get to... but then again we don't keep our military bases in the middle of crowded cities. And the treck out to White Sands, NM is well worth the trip for the unbelievable scenery. They suggest for travel to stay in El Paso or Las Cruces, NM-- we stayed in Las Cruces and it was definitely an experience. You get the true New Mexico feel-- I suggest finding a Mexican restaurant while there! Their website is well maintained with all the information you need. And they sent out reminders and important information by email in the weeks leading up to the race. Registration for teams is a little complicated-- the captain has to register everybody and only 1 name is confirmed in the active.com registration database. We were required to get to the base VERY early (4am-4:30am for a 7am start) due to the security at the base. This was a little annoying, but they had a giant tent full of breakfast foods so you could eat and get all your marathon prep in there.

There should also be something said about including all of the bataan survivors and all the branches of the military, encouraging them to take part. I think that's what really helps to make this race what it is! Also, if you chose to stay on base you had that options-- they gave you a bunk and breakfast!

Race Organization: 5.0/5.0

~ I never doubt the military with race organization! Similarly to Marine Corp and Dayton AF Marathons, these were well stocked and well organized for anything you may need. Port-a-johns galore! The aid stations had anything you needed-- water, real gatorade (some thought this was too much), fruit. In the middle of the giant uphill there were several trucks forming a giant misting cloud to cool you off-- I've NEVER seen that before! There was a spot going out of the sand pit with chocolate chip cookies! The course was very well marked-- I believe the posts may be permanent fixtures for the missile range. There is also a giant medical tent midway in the march that you pass twice.

~Post Race Food: Every runner was given a lunch after with burger/hotedog/veggie burger options, chips, drinks, fruit, fruit bars, etc. You could also go back up and buy more later if you wished. Oh and they had beer! There was also Karaoke availble post-race while we ate... Beer + Karaoke = not soooo great lunch music, but fun!

(Pic Rt: Some horrible entertaining singing done by some of the marchers.

Course: 5.0/5.0

~MarathonGuide Rating

Garmin Distance: 25.95

~ This course is unreal both for the challenge and the view! The desert-scenery is amazing!! (See pic). The climb to the top of the mountain is well worth the trip! The other scenery you get is the treck back down-- as you're coming down there are hundreds of people (mostly military) coming up and watching the heavy pack marchers is unreal!

The course itself is very cool-- but challenging. You start with a nice warm up on the flat base, but at mile 5 you slowly start the climb... up a mountain. The climb end around mile 13-14, followed by a roller coaster of small steep hills, bringing you back down the mountain! Then there is the sand pit... 2 miles of deep sand that's definitely not easy to run through, especially with the little dips and hills! Garmin distance was about a quarter mile short for just about everybody... but who minds a shorter distance???

Spectators: 4.5/5.0

~ Oddly enough, even being in a desert and climbing a mountain mid-course there are spectators scattered throughout hte course. Not huge heards of them... but small groups here and there. We also have a few miles where we spectate each other as the course crosses itself. The aid stations were also stocked with spectators which was really nice to have the cheering! The end of the race had a ton of spectators, including the survivors of Bataan there to shake your hand...










Pace Group: /5.0
~ NA

Runner/Corrals: 5.0/5.0

~ I LOVE running with members from the military-- they are always so focused and serious, but as soon as you yell to them, they are very excitable!!! We even found our own AF LT and commandeered him for the remainder of the course! We encouraged him and he encouraged us. We had a ton of fun being part of a team too! What a great twist on a marathon.

Expo: 4.7/5.0

~ "In Processing" (as they called it here) was pretty cool. You were able to get all of your things (bib, chip, dog tag, etc), then you could get a finishers certificate printed with your name on it, followed by a long table full of all kinds of marathon gear from Tshirts and hats, to chairs and commemorative coins. In the next room they had all the survivors from Bataan who were able to get in. You could get their autograph, including a popular author of a book about the march. Then there was another room where the team captains were sent to get a formal reading of the rules and needed to sign off. Very organized!

Swag: 4.4/5.0

~T-Shirts: The cotton t-shirts were very military in color (tan), and they had a very neat, simple design. Almost nice enough to wear casually. 4.6
~Medals: There aren't medals given out for this race, but in keeping with the nature of the march there are Dog Tags with the marathon logo and information. We were also given professional finisher certificates with our names printed. 4.2
~ Goodie Bag: N/A
Results...
Team Beauty and the Geeks...
Time: 4:18:24
Place: Overall Teams 3/224~ Division 3/24 ~ Gender NA ~ Age Group NA

 

(MB finishing strong... and looking like me-- kind of creepy)

(MB and I in post-race!)

Bataan Memorial Death March ~ Post Race Thoughts

Team Beauty and the Geeks:

This weekend I was joined by a team to take on the Bataan Memorial Death March. Teams weren’t organized in the 2 typical fashions we normally see: Relays and team avg times. Rather, in keeping with the military spirit of “no man left behind,” we were tasked with the goal of starting, running, and completing the challenging marathon together—only allowed to finish within 20 seconds of each other. If somebody dropped out, the whole team was disqualified, but could finish the race. This wasn’t a requirement for the race (you could run as individuals) but I managed to convince 4 others to join me for team “Beauty and the Geeks.”

(Pic: Team Beauty and the geeks-- the far left guy is not on our team)

My team consisted of myself, Dave C. (Cinci runner), Jeff R. (Cinci Runner), John K. (Albany runner), and Brent S. (fellow 50-stater). We were also joined by 3 other Cincinnati runners (Kim R., Steve T. & Tony A) and MB (Albany) who were unable to find a 5th member to create a team but had a great time running as individuals. Team Beauty and the Geeks, also adopted an unofficial 6th member. As we approached the top of the climb, we found an Airforce 2nd Lieutenant (I’m hoping I got that right) named Roman who made us look bad, as we had to catch up with him and he was running in his full uniform (boots and all). He stayed with us the remainder of the race, answering our many questions and keeping us entertained and motivated. Roman ended up first for military individuals. My vote is, every individual and team be assigned a military personnel to run with!! You know... here is your timing chip, here is your t-shirt, and here is your soldier, enjoy the race!

Kicked out of NM??
It was a close call on getting my 26th state in, as MB nearly got us kicked out of NM twice! The first was at the military base. As we approached the base there were many signs indicating that we were NOT to take pictures at the entrance to the base. What does MB do? Rolls down her window as we’re approaching the guard shack and starts taking pics. What does the US military do? Aside from (likely) pointing missiles at our car—they told her to delete the pics and put the camera away, then they spent extra time on our ID’s getting into the base.

Close call #2 occurred about 2 hours later when we were leaving the base. MB was speeding (as per usual) and got pulled over by a state police officier. The flustered MB yelled that she’s not from that state and is here for the marathon, and any other excuse she could use. Luckily she managed to get out of the ticket. Since we were so very close to the Mexican border I thought for SURE she would find a way to get us involved with border control—but lucky for Brent, John and I (who were riding with MB) she avoided those guys!

Overall:
The march was definitely a little challenge—There is a pretty good sized climb, mixed with altitude, as well as 1-2 miles of what they call the “sandpit” (very loose sand on small rolling hills), and the weather definitely started to heat up, but we lucked out with a cool breeze in the air.

(Pic: Elevation chart by water stops, not miles)

However, at the top of the hill you definitely realize the climb was worth the view! The desert mountains (some topped with snow) are absolutely beautiful!

(Pic: Bataan Start-- Sunrise on the beautiful scenery!)

Our team was in the civilian co-ed division and we ended up with 3rd overall, losing to a seriously fit national guard team that ran as civilians. Unfortunately they only give out medals to the top 2 in each division. Our team actually came in with a time of 4:18:23 and 3rd overall for ALL teams entered into the competition. Not bad! Note: My T-shirt is from the flying pig marathon... at the finish people were yelling out "GO PIG!" Ummm... not wearing that one in races anymore.

(Team Beauty and the Geeks at the finish!)

But, our results were definitely not the focus this weekend. The focus on this march (NOT a run) was the past and present soldiers fighting for the US. In most races, we break out all the results for individuals overall, in age groups, divisions, etc. This race had very little focus on the individual—the closing ceremonies didn’t even include the race results. Rather, it honored our military personnel, especially those who were part of the real Bataan Death March.

I would definitely reccomend this marathon to anybody! The amazing experience is worth the trip from ANYWHERE. There is a little challenge with the hills and heat, so I wouldn't go for time-- but hey, sometimes the 26.2 isn't enough and an added challenge is fun!

Note: Thanks Jeff R. for the pics!
Note 2: Thanks team Beauty and the Geeks for a great run and a great weekend!

Happy Running,
Stephanie

Looking for a Few Good Men... and Women

Marathons are fun and challenging, but there are always ways to make them more... interesting. I like to find a couple of difficult marathons to do, just for fun! Let's jump back in time, shall we? At first they always seem scary--
~ My First Trail Marathon... but, I ended up winning the race and LOVED the trails. I even took a Video during the race!
~ At My First Double I was very nervous, but it ended fine-- I actually did better in my second race of the weekend than my first.

The next one I have in mind is a scorcher-- literally.

The Bataan Memorial Death March!

Now, with the words "death" in the title, this may seem like more of  a challenge than anybody wants to handle. HOWEVER... they have teams!!! Not only do you have a team counting on you to complete the race, but in the true military spirit, you're not allowed to leave a teammate behind-- all members must finish within 20 seconds of each other!!!

I'm trying to get together a team or 2 to participate in the march! It's a full marathon (26.2) in New Mexico. It's a VERY hot course, but if you take it easy and work as a team, I think this could be a very fun race. There is a military and civilian side for the competitions. Co-ed, women, & mens teams. I'm trying to find a few brave souls to run the race as a 5-person co-ed team. If you're interested in joining the team let me know!!!

For more infomation: http://www.bataanmarch.com/