Race Director's Corner

Details

1. New finish line location and new 5K and 10K courses and modified half marathon course!!  Road construction on Huron River Drive means that we will be finishing at the new Ann Arbor Skyline High School.  This will mean lots of big changes, especially to the 5K and 10K courses. 
   
   
   • New 10K course:  The 10K course was a bit harder to fit.  It will require 2 out and back loops.  Based on our experience from the previous our and back course, we know that it will work out logistically, but the runners will need to cooperate on Huron River Drive and stick to one side of the road much of the time. 
   • The 10K starting time – 8 AM:  This has been shifted slightly to 8 AM to allow most of the 10K runners to finish before the 5K starts.  But some 10K runners and most 10K walkers will certainly still be heading back up Maple when the 5K starts.  The 10K people MUST stay one the left side of the road. In the coned off 10K return lane.  We will have course marshals making sure things go smoothly.  Cooperation will be required.
   • New 5K course:  This race will start at 9:05 and make an out and back down Maple and out along the prettiest stretch of Huron River Drive, and then head back.  I specifically chose the side of HRDr, that is the most scenic for the course even though heading the other direction would have been a bit easier logistically.
   • Gated 5K start:  When the 5K starts, there will be 10K runners and walkers still returning up Maple.  They will have a partial lane coned off for them to use.  Maple road is wider than Huron River Drive, so there is room for this return lane and still the same width of road that HRDr. has so it should work out fine, but 5K runners MUST respect this line and allow 10K runners to use that lane!  We will have course marshals enforcing this.  Cooperation will be required.
   • Modified half marathon course:  the half marathon will be largely unchanged.  It will still start in Dexter, and it will still use the exact same course for the first 11 miles.  However when the course hits Barton Park (near Bird Road) it will double back and then head south on Maple Road to the Skyline Finish.  Like Main Street, Maple Road has a good sized hill that people will need to head up.  Save some energy for it!
   • Skyline Incline:  everyone knows that the Huron River is in a valley.  When you leave that valley, you gotta go uphill.  That’s pretty simple – hense the hill up Main Street we all know and love.  Maple Road also has a big hill.  To be clear, it’s bigger than that hill on Main Street by about 80 feet.  80 feet won’t kill anyone, but it would be wise to save a little energy for the hill or the Skyline Incline could become the Maple Monster!
   
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2. New Skyline parking and busing considerations:  5K and 10K runners will have the opportunity to park in neighborhoods close enough to Skyline HS that they can walk to and from their cars, so for them the bus ride will be optional.
   • Half marathon bus staging and post-race car retrieval:  Half marathon runners will take a bus from downtown Ann Arbor (the corner of Ashley and Ann Streets) to the starting line in Dexter. Following the race we will have bus service from the finish line at Skyline High back to Ashley and Ann so that runners can retrieve their cars.  It will be a fairly short bus ride, and we plan to make this as efficient as possible.
   • 5K - 10K parking:  5 and 10K runners will have three options:
     1. Neighborhood parking:  the first option is to park near to Skyline on a neighborhood street and walk / jog to Skyline.  This is encouraged and likely preferable, since it eliminates all busing for them.  That’s good for the runners and for the race.  We have posted a map showing the neighborhoods that will accommodate street parking.  The best one is the Newport Creek neighborhood off of Newport Road.
     2. Forsythe School parking:  we have reserved parking at Forsythe & Vine schools for runners to park at.  It’s less than a mile walk from there up Riverwood and through the new walkways constructed specifically for neighborhood foot traffic to Skyline.
     3. Bus option:  5K and 10K runners can still park downtown and ride the buses to and from the race.
   • Spectator issues: spectators will have three options:
     
     1. Park at Skyline:  half of the parking there (or ~300 spots) will be be held open until 9 AM for spectator parking.
        
     2. Park in neighborhoods: Spectators can also park in all of the same neighborhoods around Skyline or even at Forsythe Middle School.  (See the Skyline parking map--coming soon.)
     3. Ride the bus:  We will also allow spectators to ride the pre-race bus to Skyline if they choose and return on a post race-bus. (Spectators will NOT be allowed to ride the pre-race bus to Dexter!)

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3. An online race cancellation option:  there will be an escalating cancellation fee that will go from $5 to $10.  Last year we added the option to allow runners to switch races with an online form.  This year we decided to expand that notion and allow runners to cancel if for some reason that can’t run the race.  I don’t want anyone to feel like they are trapped into running the race if they don’t want to run it, for any reason, so this year you can go online and cancel up until midnight the Saturday of a week before the day of the race, and get most of your money back.  (We want to be the race with a heart!)
   
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4. Reduced purses for new course records and prize/money mix for half marathon top 3 finishers:  We are not going to award money for course records this year. We will of course still award money to the top 3 half marathon finishers. We’re also going to alter the mix on the half marathon prize money to include a combination of money, prizes and gift certificates in stead of straight cash. The value here will still remain the same total amount as before, but it won’t all be in cash.
   
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5. An optional synthetic “tech shirt” available for sale for $17:  I know that the new-fangled “tech” shirts are becoming popular at some races.  From my experience I think the synthetic ones are a bit overrated as far as wicking and wetness go, but that doesn’t mean I won’t let others have a crack at them if they want one, so we’re adding the synthetic shirt as an optional added buy.  The shirt will most likely feature last year’s medal design as an emblem on the front of it, so I do think it will be a nice looking shirt for those that want it. 
   
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6. Photo contest:  If you think you have a great picture from the 2008 race that we could use for our 2009 post card or a race ad, please submit the number of the photo from TSC’s website (or a copy of the picture if it’s a personal shot) in a note to the race director.  We’ll look them over and possibly chose a couple of them to use.   The criteria that we use to select any winners will of course be very subjective, but some of what we’ll look for are:
   - a group of runners (2 or more)
   - happy runners!
   - all entries must be submitted by 11/1/08.
   Anyone who submits a photo that we select to use for the post card or a print ad will receive a free entry to the Soup Kitchen Stampede for the following year.  (Winners will be notified, runners-up may not be.  Any photos posted on the website but not used in an ad will not receive a prize, but will still be viewed by many racers as a consolation prize!)
   
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7. Discount taste of Ann Arbor Tickets at the Expo:  20% off at Expo only.  Last year we sold 10,000 tickets for half price.  That was an experiment on my part.  We did it to help promote the Taste and as a perk to runners.  For better or worse, it turned out to be VERY popular - so popular in fact that we ran out of all 10,000 tickets about an hour into the Expo.  That made a lot of runners understandably a little ticked-off.  So this year we’re going to have 20,000 tickets available, but we’re going with a 20% discount this year.  I don’t think we’ll run out of them this time, but if getting the discounted tickets is very important to you, please plan to show up in the first hour or two of the expo.
   
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8. Waste baskets on course:  we’re going to be putting a small waste basket on the course at each of the mile markers 1 – 12 in addition to the baskets by all of the aid stations.  We found a LOT of Gu packets and other refuse along the road side in 2007.  We’re hoping this will make the course easier to clean up after the race.  I’m the one who’s been organizing the AATC’s annual roadside clean-up of HRDr. for the past 10 years, so I know what a mess it can become.  Even during the race, please try to be conscientious and try to use a waste basket if you’re planning to drop a cup or a Gu packet or whatever else.  A clean race course is a happy race course!
   
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9. Bridge construction in Dexter: The bridge on Main Street at mile 2 over the Huron River will be under construction most all year in 2008.  At the moment we don’t expect it to have an impact on the race, as it will still be open to vehicle traffic, so it should be ok for foot traffic also.   Construction will be closed down the weekend of the race and the road will be inspected to make sure it’s safe for runners.
   
   
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10. Occasional e-mail info:  I’m initiating an e-mail info service for the race.  The holiday greeting that many of you received was the first offering.  I plan to send a very few notes (~3 per year) primarily intended as greetings and to include race info.  You can opt out of the list at any time if getting these notes is not something you welcome.  But mark my words, the ID list ain’t gonna be shared with anybody!
    
    
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