Rock 'n' Roll races

[stitchfan18]

I'm running my first marathon this fall, and was looking tonight for a fun alternative to the local marathon I was planning to run. I saw that there is a Rock 'n' Roll race in St. Louis, which is only about a 3 1/2-4 hour drive from here. I was really excited until I saw the price... $95! I know Disney races are way more expensive, but to me the entertainment and experience is worth the money. Are the Rock 'n' Roll races similar in atmosphere? Since it'll be my first full marathon, I want a big race, but I'm also signing up for Dopey next January, so my running budget is low.
Would you do a local marathon for $50 or do RnR for $95 + Hotel, and cut a few more races out of my schedule to compensate? I would appreciate any feedback!

 

[FireDancer]

I think the Competitor Group (who put on the RnR races) does as good of a job as Disney and considering their races aren't run completely on their property where they are in complete control of almost everything they may be even better. I've done 3 of their events (one of them twice) and have not had a bad experience. The medals are great, the expos big, and the entertainment on the course is really well done. Everyone also gets free admission to a concert.

Now, the St. Louis event is an inaugural event and even a company that does as many events as Competitor can have some first year faux pas but I would not hesitate to do any of their events. My next full very well may end up being one of their events.

I saw go for the RnR St. Louis

 

[Disfan11]

The first 1/2 marathon that I ran was the Seattle Rock & Roll last year. I had a great time. They had music at about every mile. I did wear my iPod anyway, but took my earbuds out if I liked the music. I loved the medal they gave out (but, hey it was my first!).
I'm actually signed up for the San Diego and Seattle Rock & Roll 1/2 marathons this year. Just like Disney, they give a special medal for the more you do in one year.
Yes, it costs a lot. But you can also look online for codes. For the San Diego one, if you registered on 1/13 (2/13, etc.) you got $13.00 off.
Good luck.

 

[WDWFAN9]

I've done several RnR events (halfs), and I'm registered for their inaugurals in Providence and St Louis, so obviously I think they are worth it.

 

[Minnie Lor]

Hmmmm...you've got me rethinking my plans. I did the inaugural Mother Road 1/2 marathon last October. The full goes the 3 states and the half goes thru two. Thought that and the date of 10.10.10 was cool!

Was thinking of doing it again this October but St. Louis has possibilities. I lived in St. Louis for 13 years and it's kind of like part of my history. I became a St. Louis native after those 13 years. Definitely has peeked my interest. I could drive up Friday afternoon and have dinner on the Hill, do some sight seeing on Sat. with Imo's for dinner, Race on Sunday and celebrate at Ted Drewes before heading home. Maybe grab some Amighetti's for the drive back. hmmmm Ding Ding, we may have a winner.

 

[cewait]

I agree with Frank on the superb quality of most RnR events. I have run in two inaugural events and several more mature Elite events. While there were a few inaugural twitches, they went off well. I think that with the exception of the 2011 WDWM weekend, Elite Racing’s races achieve a higher standard than Disney’s recent races. The RnR stations are well organized, the course is generally wide and the wave system keeps the first few miles less crowded than other races of their size. The RnR bling and multiple race bling is on par with the mouse bling. The RnR entertainment is traditionally more plentiful and better than Disney….(more in a moment)
I am not saying the Elite is perfect in any way, either…. I have run the RnR when they were woefully short on supplies, I watched folks running to the corrals at one of the Elite inaugural events when traffic delays created a real mess and I stopped and watched a train cross the course in San Antonio this year on the newly revised course that crosses a track on grade less than a mile from the start. I just find the package to be a high quality, lower cost package that I fully recommend.
Back to this year’s Disney… I think the Mouse saw the writing on the entry form (or lack of them) and stepped up the competition between WDWM and Elite. They are moving more to the Elite wave starts (several waves at short intervals) and adding MUCH more on course entertainment. The period 2007 through 2010 I think the mouse started to get fat, dumb and happy (and greedy) and started to rest on their laurels. I was tempted to not run 2011 and had told several close friends that 2011 would be the last based on cost and being taken for granted. Thankfully, the WDWM folks stepped it up several notches in 2011 and I hope they continue.

You cannot go wrong on an Elite race… But before you decide, go to marathonguide.com and read the reviews of your local race. I find that while local races are not as much an event as a large metro/destination race, there are some extremely high quality races and race directors out there. I ran three local inaugural half marathons this year where the average head count was less than 3000 runners. One race was just a text book example of how to run a great race. Yes the race is a little lower key, there are fewer folks out there but those who are out there are out there for YOU. I would not fully discount the local race in favor of a destination race without looking at the recent history of the local event.

 

[Minnie Lor]

Very good points!

 

[stampingoddess]

I have also done several of the Rock n Roll events in the past and agree that they are worth the money for the reasons others have more fully explained. This year in my quest to complete a half marathon a month, I am lilely to be doing 3 RnR races: San Diego in June, St. Louis in October, and Las Vegas in December.

Another note on savings, in addition to online coupons they generally have specials that include $$ off and no Active.com fees, plus often a free t-shirt if you register for one or more of the upcoming races at an Expo. I have about $25 by registering for the San Diego race at the Disney Expo earlier this month.

 

[fashionista311]

i'm running my first rnr event in new orleans in about two weeks, and i'm pretty stoked about it. the medal alone seems worth it...it's so pretty!

for what it's worth, runners world included the series in a write up this december about the best marathoners for firs-timers.

 

[FireDancer]

Back to this year’s Disney… I think the Mouse saw the writing on the entry form (or lack of them) and stepped up the competition between WDWM and Elite. They are moving more to the Elite wave starts (several waves at short intervals) and adding MUCH more on course entertainment. The period 2007 through 2010 I think the mouse started to get fat, dumb and happy (and greedy) and started to rest on their laurels. I was tempted to not run 2011 and had told several close friends that 2011 would be the last based on cost and being taken for granted. Thankfully, the WDWM folks stepped it up several notches in 2011 and I hope they continue.

I think the Disney folks do watch how Competitor does their events and tries to copy the good points. I think the coast to coast medal can be attributed to the heavy medal series. If I were Disney I would add a couple of additional bonus medals. The Coast to Coast would stay but I'd add a medal for doing any January event along with the Wine & Dine and I'd add one for doing all 3 race weekends.

When I get home I'll post my medals from 2009. I did 3 RnR halves, the Country Music half in Nashville, the RnR Virginia Beach half, and the last year of the Philadelphia Distance Classic which is now the RnR Philadelphia, and for doing those 3 races I got a total of 6 medals. The 3 finishers medals, the 26.2 total Musical Miles medal (since only the 2 RnR halves counted), the beach to bell medal for doing Phily and VA Beach, and the Dynamic Duo medal for doing the Phily race and one other non-VA Beach event. The only reason I even did the Phily race was for the extra medals so that definitely works to sell more entries.

I am debating making the Gettysburg triathlon they have as part of their new TriRock series my first triathlon this fall.

 

[FFigawi]

Like Frank and Charles, I too really enjoy the RnR races. One thing I do appreciate about them is Competitor's willingness to listen to feedback from participants and make adjustments right away. For example, in 2009, they received a lot of complaints about San Antonio and how you were forced to wait in line for 60-90 minutes for a bus to take you out of the central downtown area, walk a fair bit to the start area, and wait in line some more once you got there. This year, they moved the start line to right in the middle of downtown, within easy walking distance of many hotels and not far from the finish line. To me, that's a good example of a business listening to their customers and making positive changes as a result.

One other thing to add about the discounts - most of their races will give you $13 off if you register on the 13th of the month, and the first 13 people to do so get some sort of cool swag package.

 

[MeredithRX]

I'm glad to hear even more good reports about the RnR races. On a whim, I signed up for the Inaugural RnR Savannah for this year as soon as they announced it (and had a hefty discount). I'm really hoping to have a great time!

 

[MikeofRose&Mike]

I'm glad to hear even more good reports about the RnR races. On a whim, I signed up for the Inaugural RnR Savannah for this year as soon as they announced it (and had a hefty discount). I'm really hoping to have a great time!

have you seen a course map for Savannah? Do you know if the half and full share a start?

 

[Duanerice]

The only RnR I've done is Las Vegas. And yea, it too was expensive, but, it was Las Vegas. Not sure I'd pay that for a "regular" city.

They put on a good show. Nice Expo, rivals Disney. Good entertainment, start finish, etc.

enjoy,
Duane

 

[FireDancer]

Here are the medals I mentioned earlier:

The 3 across the top are (from left to right) The Country Music half marathon (Nashville), RnR Virginia Beach half, and the Philadelphia Distance Classic.

The bottom arch medals are the additional "heavy medals" for doing multiple races. On the left is the beach to bell medal for doing VA Beach and Phily, the middle one is for doing 26.2 total musical miles (Phily didn't count towards it), and the right medal is the dynamic duet for doing the Philadelphia Distance Classic plus any other RnR race besides for VA Beach. Those particular medals I am pretty sure are discontinued but they have replacement medals.

The center medal is for the Niagara International Marathon and has nothing to do with the RnR races.

Hopefully this gives you an idea of the quality of the medals.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

I ran Philly RnR in 2010. It was easily the least fun, worst organized race I had ever done, or have done since. Never again.

 

[figment82]

Philly RnR was an inaugural (sort of - at least it was an inaugural RnR) - I didn't run it, but I was there cheering friends on. Some of the people I talked to loved it, some hated it. Anyone I've talked to that's done both Philly RnR and the Philly Half in November would pick the November half over the RnR.
So why did you dislike it so much?

 

[FireDancer]

I ran Philly RnR in 2010. It was easily the least fun, worst organized race I had ever done, or have done since. Never again.

I didn't have any complaints when I ran it in 2009 (as the Distance Classic). What happened? I can't imagine they made a lot of changes to the course or the event other than the name.

I'd give them another shot though, even if it is not at the RnR Philadelphia. They generally do a really good job with their races and I'd hate for you to miss out on a good event because your first experience with Competitor was bad.

 

[cloudnut220]

I was feeling really good reading this thread and all of the positive feedback about RnR until I got to the Philly post. Of course, that's the race I'm signed up for in September (with my SIL--it will be her first half!) I hope they work out the kinks!

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

OK, these were my issues with Philly RnR, in a nutshell.

- lots of unshaded areas. I was wearing a Dri-Fit hat, and I was still uncomfortable after about two miles running completely exposed. There is not a lot of shade on this course. I got unlucky with a hot, sunny day, but the layout of the course made it worse.

- FLAT as a pancake. This might not be an issue for some people, but because I train in NYC, which has some serious hills, I didn't have the right muscles for a flat half marathon.

- Advertised as Rock N Roll. I saw two bands playing. Every other band was on break when I passed.

- Very undertrained/immature volunteers. The volunteers were all high school kids. At several water stations, the kids were throwing water onto the runners, whether they liked it or not. At one station near mile 8, the kids were dumping water on each other.

- Not enough medical volunteers. I passed at least four people on the course who had gone down who only had fellow runners attending to them.

The medal is awesome, and the mile markers were all in the right place, but there was a LOT that could have been much, much better.