Race Director's Corner

2008 Race Summary & Highlights

Also in the Race Director's Corner:

Hello DxA2 Runners – my 2nd year as race director was a tough one again. It was actually more hectic than my first with all the changes required for the move to Skyline High School. But things actually went remarkably well, and everyone made it up the “Maple Monster” intact, so all in all, I was quite pleased with how the race went in 2008.

However as you likely saw on the home page, we do plan to return to downtown Ann Arbor for the 2009 race finish line. I’m sure that’s good news for most of you.

2008 Wrap-up: Of course, as with any major event with so many changes, there were a couple of “gotcha’s" in 2008. The main problem was parking at Skyline. We knew it was limited, and that it couldn’t hold all of the 5 & 10K runners, but the overflow we got there was far more than we expected and the adjoining neighborhood got rather swamped. We had to tow a few cars, and there were a few ruffled feathers in the neighborhood, but overall it wasn’t all that bad. So with that as the biggest issue for 2008, here are the highlights…

The top 10 highlights of the 2008 were: (click the links or scroll down for details)

Skyline – the use of this fantastic facility worked out great!
The new and modified courses and the Maple Monster
The first ever DxA2 tech shirt
The 35th anniversary poster
Domino’s Pizza at the finish line
The Skyline Booster Club
Brian Sell, Clint Verran and Red Simmons at the Stampede, and Clint winning the men’s Half Marathon
Race committee & sponsor support
Volunteer support including 2 new aid station host groups and the AAIMT
The runners!

Details

Skyline High: The facility is obviously a beautiful one. It worked out very well as a staging area. The grounds also provided a fantastic finish line party area. The layout of the finish next to the party lot was nice. Runners could actually watch runners finishing for a change! (We will miss some of these aspects moving back downtown!)

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The new and modified courses: The half marathon course with it’s out and back leg provided the runners an opportunity to see and greet each other for the first time in decades. A lot of runners enjoyed that. (We hope to keep an aspect of that in 2009.) The 5K & 10K courses were challenging with the hill, but they worked out pretty well. A few people were discouraged by the big hill up Maple, but most people ate it up!

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The tech shirt: This was the first time this was offered. We sold a lot of them so it seemed to go over well. We plan to offer one for 2009 also.

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35th Anniversary Poster: The posters didn’t sell as we hoped they might, but the poster itself turned out really well. (I don’t care what the rest of you think – I liked it! (The leftovers will be given away at the 2009 Expo.))

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Domino’s Pizza: They did a great job delivering piping hot pizza and serving it up to the runners with a smile. Their team performed perfectly, the pie was popular (as expected), and we play to keep serving it.

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Skyline Booster Club: There were a bunch of student athletes and parents on-site helping with parking, and to set up the kid’s Moonwalk (which was also popular) and also serving up ice cream and drinks.

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Brian Sell, Clint Verran, and Red Simmons: Having Brian join us for the weekend before he headed to China was a lot of fun. (Brian ended up taking 22nd in the Olympic Marathon on a hot day in Beijing.) Clint was a lot of fun in the Kids Run, and he won the Half Marathon, which was an added treat. Having 98 year young Red Simmons speak at the Stampede turned out to be the hidden jewel of last year’s pre-race dinner. He was sharp, well spoken, and quite frankly stole the show! I hope to see him for many years to come.

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The race committee and sponsors: As to the committee, like any group of 30 some odd people, we had some turnover, but nucleus of the group returned from 2007 and performed well again. With all of the changes 2008 required, I’m sure glad I had a seasoned crew to back me up, or the race would not have worked out nearly as well as it did, simple as that. With their help we eliminated a couple of key issues we had from 2007. They’re a great group!

The support of Comerica and all of our sponsors helps make the race a success and helps to keep it on firm financial ground, which is very important! Thanks to all of you, including new sponsors Domino's Pizza, Tortoise & Hare, and Probility Physical Therapy.

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Volunteer support: Again, we somehow managed to come up with all of the people we needed to make this complicated event work. Among the new and old friends we had helping were two new aid station support groups: the Huron Valley Sierra Club (the aid station at mile 10 lead by Joel & Jackie Dalton) and the support of the Home Lending Center for the mile 2 aid station in Dexter led by Mary Pierce. All of the other aid station groups came through again also. To start the half marathon we had LaFontaine Chevy of Dexter provide a lead vehicle. We had a lot of students from U of M’s Rackham Graduate School helping along the course, and at the finish line we had the much appreciated support of the Ann Arbor Institute of Massage Therapy lending the runners a welcome hand after the race, and a lot of AATC members helping out. To all of the 2008 volunteers – thank you soooo much! We’d be lost without you. (If you’d like to volunteer for 2008, click here)

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And last but not least, the runners! We had almost exactly 6000 runners register, making the race the 2nd largest ever, and the biggest one I’ve directed. Without all of you – there is no race. Thanks for your support, and I hope to see you all right back for the 2009 race on Sunday May 31st.

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The weather for the 2008 race was perfect, no trees came down across the course, the medical support was fantastic (including support from U of M, Med Sport, HVA and the Red Cross) and the Sheriff support personnel all did a great job. I could go on about all of the good things that happened, but I better wrap this up. I hope 2009 works out as well. (I’m pretty sure it will!) I’m a bit sorry to say “good bye” to Skyline so quickly, but everyone seems to be happy to move back downtown! 2009 should be a great year. I hope to see you all at the big race!

Hal Wolfe
Dexter - Ann Arbor Run Race Director