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TCS Annapolis Half Marathon (Dec 1) (Read 689 times)

WWBurhop


Three Martini Lunch

    Yeah.  I was just behind the lead pack (so I didn't go down the wrong turn, but I was about 20 feet away from the turn when they yelled for people to keep going straight).  I chatted with a guy who did and he said his the detour was about two tenths of a mile.  Plus the steeplechase across the parking lot for them go get back on track.  Agree with the mile markers.  I noticed 7, 8, 9 and 10 were way off (I was running with a Timex, so small variations I probably would have thought of as pace variations on my part).  7 to 8 and 8 to 9 were way short, while 9 to 10 was way long.  They seemed to get back on track after 10.

    M: 3:31:56

    HM: 1:37:33

    Anonymous Guest


      Flinders, I must have been right by you at the wrong turn - about to follow around the corner when they started yelling to go straight. They say it's certified, and unlike last year, my Garmin matches the course they posted, so I hope it wasn't short. I had a massive PR (12 minutes, I've gotten a lot faster this year) and finished 3rd in my AG. I'll still have the third no matter the distance, but it would suck not to be able to claim this PR. I could have run another mile or so and still have a half PR. So I don't want to go back to my old one.

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      ymmv


        Feel free to zoom way in on my Garmin map for the run. I see lots of places where my plotted course looks like it cut corners, made a slightly early u-turn, and was way inside on long curves (like on the bridge). That would make my total distance appear short.

         

        I'm waiting to see the USATF stamped map for the course. I figure that if I ran that course, it's measured correctly. 

        DukeDB


          I made the wrong turn and can't count my time as pr because, even with the turn, I measured 0.07 short on the Garmin 210.   The jacked up mile markers compounded the routing error because it was impossible to tell how far off we were.  Still learned some things and the post-race was great.  I'll run it again


          an amazing likeness

            Just had a chance to upload my GPS track and it looks off pretty early on. In a walk this morning, I saw the mile 4 certifier's mark on the road on King George St, and at that point, my GPS track is off by a good amount with no obvious mapping errors. By 12 it is way off from where I know the certifier's 12 mi paint mark was, but my GPS track from 5 - 6 (first pass through USNA and over bridge) is inaccurate, unless there was some swimming involved (g). Things look good up the highway from the USNA bridge to the turn-around (other than having to dodge runners).  10 to 11 looks good, other than the Garmin starting the turn early (accounting for some of the short course).  But mile 11 in the GPS track is way earlier than I remember the mile 11 marker by St Johns' tennis courts (who knows if that split marker was right).

             

            I'd say there's enough garbage in my GPS track to give them the benefit of the doubt, but...geez..it seems sort of sketchy to have it come in that short.

             

            I'd surely be more confident if they had used some cones in parking lot sections...that seemed really free form and random running through cars.

             

            Yeah, I was up front enough to see the leaders get sent down the wrong left turn, then scream across the parking lot to rejoin the pack. I even asked someone as we ran along how it was that we were getting lapped already by the leaders as they came back through.

             

            And..really...wtf...if you have..say...4 out-and-back sections in your race course, shouldn't you mark the lanes.  How about they keep the spiffy hat and spend they money to get a few good course marshalls.

             

            I ran a PR by their timing...I'm torn what to do with the time.

            Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.

            ymmv


              Just had a chance to upload my GPS track and it looks off pretty early on. In a walk this morning, I saw the mile 4 certifier's mark on the road on King George St, and at that point, my GPS track is off by a good amount with no obvious mapping errors. By 12 it is way off from where I know the certifier's 12 mi paint mark was, but my GPS track from 5 - 6 (first pass through USNA and over bridge) is inaccurate, unless there was some swimming involved (g). Things look good up the highway from the USNA bridge to the turn-around (other than having to dodge runners).  10 to 11 looks good, other than the Garmin starting the turn early (accounting for some of the short course).  But mile 11 in the GPS track is way earlier than the I remember the mile 11 marker by St Johns' tennis courts (who knows if that split marker was right).

               

              I'd say there's enough garbage in my GPS track to give them the benefit of the doubt, but...geez..it seems sort of sketchy to have it come in that short.

               

              I'd surely be more confident if they had used some cones in parking lot sections...that seemed really free form and random running through cars.

               

              Yeah, I was up front enough to see the leaders get sent down the wrong left turn, then scream across the parking lot to rejoin the pack. I even asked someone as we ran along how it was that we were getting lapped already by the leaders as they came back through.

               

              And..really...wtf...if you have..say...4 out-and-back sections in your race course, shouldn't you mark the lanes.  How about they keep the spiffy hat and spend they money to get a few good course marshalls.

               

              I ran a PR by their timing...I'm torn what to do with the time.

               

              Your track looks a lot like mine: off on the turn-arounds and over the bridge. I'm waiting to see the certified map to compare with where I ran. By certified map, I mean their map that looks like this one for a couse that I personally measured and had USATF certified: http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/maps/showMap.asp?courseID=MD12017JS

               

              To me, it seemed like they had plenty of course marshalls around, but they were not keeping runners on the correct side of the road for the out-and-back sections. Cones down the middle of the road would have helped. One interesting thing about the out-and-back on King George Street was that I am certain that there would have still been slower runners on King George St at their own mile 5 when the race leaders were heading the other way (to their mile 11) on the same street. I don't know how they could avoid overlapping runners in that case. It seems like an unfortunate course choice.

               

              I agree that the mile markers were off, but remember that they do not get the mile markers USATF certified, just the entire course distance. By the way, the measurement process requires that you add a 'short course prevention factor' of 1.001 to your measurements, so a USATF certified course should always be slightly long.

               

              Last year, the course was definitely short, because the course marshalls had runners skip that little 'around the block' section to Hanover Street, and they also may have shortened the path thru the stadium parking lot. It was a different course last year, and it was not USATF certified. I have to commend them for addressing the course questions by getting the course certified. It is a lot of work to do that, and for some reason, not that many races in Annapolis bother to do so.


              an amazing likeness

                Just for clarity, I do want to say that I don't care all that much about the split markers being off.

                 

                The only reason I notice them was that i was just generally confused about where we were on the course, especially in the section from the USNA bridge back to the finish. Not being from the area, I genuinely couldn't understand where we were going, like in the section by the court house where we did the bump up and through the little cobbleston turnaround and back to Taylor. Looking at my watch and not seeing the miles working out made me cranky, and then to run through an unmarked parking lot was frustrating.

                Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.

                ymmv


                  I remember thinking when I saw the mile 11 marker way too early, that they must have the sign facing the wrong way, and that we should have seen it after the U-turn on King George St instead of before. Mile 1 was also comically early, but I have no theory about that one. I hope they have good documentation. I think that their measurer was someone way more experienced than me.

                   

                  I liked (well, not really) how the painted arrow at the turn-around cone around mile 8 had us rounding the cone CCW, while all of the runners were actually rounding it CW.


                  an amazing likeness

                    I liked (well, not really) how the painted arrow at the turn-around cone around mile 8 had us rounding the cone CCW, while all of the runners were actually rounding it CW.

                     

                    I saw that this morning when giving my wife a driving tour of the course. Actually, it worked out better because had we run it CCW, it would have put the water stop first, then the cone in a few feet.

                     

                    I have to ask about regional running etiquette, purely out of curiosity -- is it not considered polite to say something such as "on your shoulder" to the runner as you pass them?  Each time I did, they sort of gave me a very dirty look or "what?" statement. Here in New England, saying something such as that, or "hold your line" or something of that nature seems to be considered good form.

                    Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.

                    ymmv


                      I saw that this morning when giving my wife a driving tour of the course. Actually, it worked out better because had we run it CCW, it would have put the water stop first, then the cone in a few feet.

                       

                      I have to ask about regional running etiquette, purely out of curiosity -- is it not considered polite to say something such as "on your shoulder" to the runner as you pass them?  Each time I did, they sort of gave me a very dirty look or "what?" statement. Here in New England, saying something such as that, or "hold your line" or something of that nature seems to be considered good form.

                       

                      I've never heard someone say 'On your shoulder' in a race. I might wonder which shoulder, or if you are telling me that an overhead seagull got me. I sometimes hear 'on your left', 'sorry', or 'excuse me'. I might wonder whether 'hold your line' means I'm fine where I am, or if you are saying I'm weaving too much. It's a sailing town, so you might have better luck yelling 'Starboard!' or "Room at the Mark!". Personally, I'm fine with them saying nothing, because I know they are running as hard as they can, as am I.


                      an amazing likeness

                        Last comments from me...

                         

                        In chatting with folks, the ones who loved this event were all about the shirt, the medal, the post-race, and the event. That's absolutely legit. The ones who are less enthusiastic about the race commented on the start in the dark, the questionable course marshalling, and the course having lots of out and back sections.

                         

                        Personally, having participated in HM races this year with 30+ year history and others that were innagural or newer events -- to me, this was just a younger event without all the kinks worked out. They do need to move to a later start and fix the course issues first before I'd recommend this race.

                        Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.

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