Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Race Report: Beat the Blerch Inaugural

The Details:

Race Name: Beat the Blerch
Distances offered: Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K
Distance I ran: 10K (hubby ran the half)
Timed? Yes, chipped.
Location: Carnation, WA
Traveled? Yes
Recommended? Definitely!










In order to fully understand this race, you must first understand Nutella and birthday cake, demon bees and magical purple fizzy drinks, and above all The Blerch. If you do not yet read The Oatmeal, allow me to introduce you. Before you go any further go read this, it's okay, I'll wait: The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances.

*Cue terrible elevator music.....*

All done? Good! The Blerch has an understandably rabid fan base, and so it was only a matter of time before a Blerch themed race was born. The announcement that a race was coming was made early this year and when registration opened in the spring, the entire race sold out in under 30 minutes! I was not one of the lucky few who got in. I did however, sign up for the waiting list that same day just in case they opened up more spots or some runners canceled. They did eventually open up more spots, and then they decided to just go ahead and open up a whole 'nother day of racing! The original races were scheduled for Sunday September 21st, but with so much interest and a several-miles-long waiting list, they went ahead and created a whole second day of racing on that Saturday the 20th, which was the day I ran.


Pre-race communication: 4/5
All pre-race communication from the race organizers went smoothly and was very clear. I received update emails periodically, but certainly not annoyingly often. I also followed the race on Facebook, which I feel added a lot to the overall communication. The only reason I'm not giving it the full 5/5 is because I never had any problems that required contacting the organizers, so I can't speak to how quickly or how well they responded.

Packet pickup: 4/5
Packet pickup was at Road Runner Sports in Greenlake, WA. The whole store had been more or less sacrificed to the descending rabid fans. The staff were friendly, helpful, and attentive. They also handed out 20% off coupons at the door, which came in handy since my Body Glide somehow got crumbled to pieces en route to Seattle. One frustrating thing was that this store is nowhere near where the race was held (as in several cities away). For those of us not from the area, that was confusing. Also, Greenlake is a neighborhood of Seattle itself, so there was very little parking, crazy traffic, and the parking that there was required validation. All minor annoyances, and the organizers warned about the limited parking, but it would have been nice to know the extent before-hand.

The schwag: 4/5
The race shirt is awesome! It is a quarter-zip long-sleeve pullover tech shirt complete with thumb holes in the cuffs. Noticeably absent? Ads! Not a single sponsor name to be found! The shirts were different for each distance, but only in super minor ways. The appropriate distance is listed on the shirt, and on the back, there was a slice of cake for the 10K, half of a cake for the Half Marathon, and a whole cake for the full Marathon.

Front

Back


In the bag: race bib and safety pins, race shirt, 'I Believe in the Blerch' magnet, coupon for Road Runner Sports, and a card advertising several other local races. Similarly to the shirt, there was no junk - no trial size any thing, no half-a-pound worth of ads for other things.

Blerch Magnet

Race parking and getting the race started: 5/5
Parking at the race was handled very well! An interactive Google map of potential parking areas was made available well ahead of time. Volunteers were present, not only at the park where the race started and finished, but also at each of the potential parking areas (a middle school, nearby dog park, grocery store, etc). My one minor gripe was that you could apparently buy a parking pass to park right near the starting line, but I didn't hear anything about that option until the night before packet pickup when the final reminder email went out.

The course: 5/5
The course was beautiful! For the 10k and Half Marathon the course was out-and-back, and for the Marathon it was a loop. The first 3/4 mile was on a paved jogging/biking path, which then gave way to a more rugged (though very wide and well maintained) gravel trail. With the exception of one very steep 10-20 yard section, the course was mostly flat. It ran along a river, over a bridge above the river, through farmland, into a forest, and back again. I loathe any kind of uphills, and I found the course to be beautiful, pleasant, and very manageable.



The atmosphere: 5/5
The whole atmosphere of the event as a whole, was different than any race that I've been to (as a runner or a cheering section). The general sense of comedy and tongue-in-cheek that you get from the original Blerch comic, was pretty much how it went. People came to run dressed as cupcakes, McDonald's french fries, hot dogs, and of course Blerches. There were also 'official' Blerches on the course reminding us to 'Slow down Captain Speedypants, no need to rush!' The announcer at the start gave frequent course reports of Sasquatch sightings, but thankfully no Giant Japanese Hornets. Matthew Inman himself ran the Half Marathon on both days and was on hand to meet people, take pictures, and sign autographs at both packet pickup and the race. All in all it was a giant party!

The aid stations: 5/5
So, you know how I said it was a giant party? The aid stations were less 'aid station', and more 'celebration of all things Blerchy'. There were things that you would expect any aid station to have like water and electrolytes, but there was also Nutella, birthday cake, couches, Blerches, and a Sasquatch!



The bling: 5/5

 'Nuff said.


The finish line: 5/5
Coming up to the finish there were awesome spectators and already finished runners, and an announcer that called out each person's name as they crossed the finish line. The finish line area had more of everything that the aid stations had, plus purple fizzy drink! There was a foam rolling station, Muscle Milk, and Blerchy photo ops. Plus The Oatmeal himself signing autographs!


Overall Fatty appeal: 5/5
Come on, there was Nutella and couches at the aid stations! Add to that a gorgeous, nearly all flat course and a laid-back attitude that encouraged all runners, and generally disdained the gym-rat, fitness freak mentality, and it was a fat runner's paradise!

Final thoughts:
I loved this race and I would do it again in a heartbeat! As it turns out, I may get the chance too. Due to the huge amount of support for the race, and the number of runners that wanted to race, but couldn't travel, the organizers have announced that The Blerch will be coming to multiple cities next year! There are already events planned on the east coast, and there will be at least one somewhere in the center of the US - likely somewhere in Colorado. So lace up your shoes, and get ready to Beat the Blerch!


Have you run any good races lately? If so, I'd love to hear about them!