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This was absolutely the most fun we’ve had in a race EVER!!! My
wife, daughter and I traveled all the way from Ontario, Canada to run this race.
It was an extremely long way to go for a race but we would certainly do it again.
The race was well organized, the course was a total blast and the post race beef
stew was delicious. Who would have known you could have had such a great time in
mud! We talked about and laughed about the race all the way home. We will be back
next year with more Canadians. Not this year, but we have in the past. Actually, you Canadians stop by every so often: Glad you had a good time and hope we see you again.
This is my 3rd farms race. This year I decided to donate the extra 100 dollars for the farm. I had no line for packet pickup on Saturday morning. I started up towards the front of the pack. I had one of best running experiences of my life,again. The farms mug, runners log , thermos, and letter of appreciation were way more than I expected for the donation. Anyone who appreciates all that this experience gives them should think about giving back to the farm. It feels great to give something back. Huge farms fan.....WP Can't disagree with anything you said - Steve
Didn't get to run this year, but was reading posts, etc. from this year's. I LOVE my cotton tshirt, every other race does dri-fit, which you can only wear while exercising (or look kind of silly). I have many of those, but very few cotton that I can wear just around. I hope to be back next year for what sounds like a great design and hopefully a cotton t-shirt. Would it be too challenging to offer to pay more upon pick-up if you want to upgrade to dri-fit? See you in 2010 S. B. M. Now what do I do? We need 8000 shirts so I have to order them in Sept. But registration doesn't start until Oct. What sizes? What shirts? Aauuggghh! this won is unwinnable! Great race this year - so well organized and such terrific fun! I have no idea how you pull it off each year with so many runners and volunteers - but you really run a terrific race that is easy and a joy to participate in. It just gets better and better with chip timing last year and the stew this year. You are so accommodating to everyone - I can't believe it. You and your team, and your dedication to making this a great experience for everyone, is what makes this such a special race - a great example of the Midwest spirit! Thanks for another November morning of fun memories! C. D. The whole team is really committed to this event being one of the best. They work hard! Saw the post about the Canadians that drove down from the race. You actually did have a runner from another country. Our foreign exchange student from Madrid, Spain ran in the race! HE LOVED IT! He is hoping to find something like it in Spain - or he'll just have to come back to visit us in mid-November sometime! :) My kids all LOVE running in this race! They are 19, 16, and 14 and have ran the race 6 times, 4 times and 3 times, respectively. Thanks for all you do to make this race possible! Osky XC Mom Thank you for bringing them. And washing their clothes (assumption on my part, but a pretty good one). And most of all thank you for encouraging your kids to participate in cross country (running) and helping them to do so. It's a sport that lasts a lifetime (I may be a bit prejedice). I thought I’d lost my timing chip during the race and have since found it when going through my muddy gear. What is the best way to return it? C. R. #37?8 Send it to the address on it or to us here at the store. We will get it to CMAC Racing.
I can't believe people complain about ANYTHING related to this race. It's my absolute favorite. If people want to run faster, they should line up closer to the front. Otherwise, take a deep breath, relax, laugh and enjoy the spectacle! I didn't have any problems with the chip ties and neither did anyone else I spoke with. I also really like the shirt design this year. I'd definitely be willing to pay a bit higher registration fee if you offered dri-fit shirts in the future. Thanks to you and your army of volunteers for doing such a fantastic job!!! Looking forward to next year, Heather Thanks, Steve I also heard the announcer at the beginning of the race say that the course was 'certified', but he was just making a joke because he immediately added that it was 'certified muddy'. I thought everyone got the joke. This was the muddiest I've ever gotten on this race. The banks seemed to be quite a bit more challenging. Some of them you literally had to crawl up. It was great! The mile markers did cross me up though- really messed with my mind. I would rather not have the markers if they are not accurate. I hate to say anything non-positive about the race though. You guys bring a lot of laughter and smiles to our fair city! D. K. The mile markers were my fault. I didn't communicate with
Stan Smith, the man who created that wonderful course. Another fantastic day! My ninth in a row... Two questions: 1. This was a certified course, from what was announced. What was the official length of the course? It was slightly longer than last years, and there was a "7 mile" banner leaving the hay field - implying it was more than 7 miles. S. R. The year's course was 7 Miles. It has not been quite that long in the past. The mile markers were not correct. Last year we wanted to use his same course and had to change it at the last moment because of the late harvest. The map on the home page is this years course and it's been GPS'ed three times. All came out 7 miles (7.01, 7.05, 7) including google maps! It is not certified though as there is no way to properly
measure a cross country course in the technique required for a "certified"
course. That method "requires" the use of a bicycle and a Jones counter.
Only "road" courses are "certified". As many others have stated, I also had a blast in my first time running this event! This was plain and simple fun! If you wanted to be competitive, you could’ve lined up closer to the front. I, and the people I was running with, had no problems starting in mid pack, passing walkers, even taking a couple of breaks ourselves, and still finishing with a decent time. Part of the fun on this race is that you don’t have to be a hard-core runner, you can go have fun, and it’s no big deal if you need to stop and walk occasionally. If some people don’t want to run this race in the future because of the walkers, I don’t think it’s going to be difficult to fill their spots. Great event, nicely orchestrated, thanks for the fun! We’ll be back! T. H.
Hi! We can solve this. Tell me what size. For those in the crowd reading this who plan races, 2600 people out of the 7500 runners got small or extra-small shirts.
My husband ran this year for the second time, and I think he is hooked! I do have a complaint to make. We arrived at LHF at 7:20, pretty early. And yet they made us park clear down by the Girl Scout Building. Why is it the early arrivers had to park the farthest away? Seems kind of backwards! Please keep this in mind when planning the parking next year. No need to arrive early if this is where we have to park. Thanks for listening. L. M. I'll bet you didn't have any trouble getting out of the parking lot after the race like the people who came later (parked up next to the building) did.
Great race, as always. I completely agree with other people who
said packet pick-up went MUCH smoother--I picked up team packets for roughly 10 and
was still out of there in 1/2 hour this year. We've gotten feedback in both directioons on the T-shirt issue. Some want to stay with cotton. We're evauating this one.
The packet pickup went way smoother this year by having it spread
out over more hours. I got there at 5 and there wasn’t a line at all! I was wondering
if it would be possible to line people up by their estimated finish time or by their
pace at the start of the race. I started way too far back this year, and was passing
people the entire time because some people were up way ahead of where they should
have been at the Start line. We are working on that! Steve All I have to say is AWESOME RACE!! This was my first time running it and I had a blast!! I will definitely be running this race on a yearly basis for many years to come!! For those complaining, get over it! One of my ties broke while putting the chip on my shoe but the other two were fine, if you didn't like the ties, use something else or put it on your laces. And seriously people are worried about the time they run it? Either make sure you are starting near the front or run faster. This should not be a race where you are concerned about time, this is a FUN race and if you are concerned about time, run a road race. The only thing I agree on is the walkers, if people want to walk that is fine, but please move over to the right so that runners can pass easily or have the walkers line up at the back of the starting area. I spent a lot of time dodging in and out of walkers, and while I was not concerned about time, I did come to run. Thanks for a fantastic race, post race meal (Yummo!) and memories to last a lifetime!! Sincerely, R. O.
Hey Steve... I love the race. It's about as much fun as I have during the year. Runners are so nice, volunteers are great and the course is an amazing challenge. Would you put an example of the pottery on line. I would think about the $100 donation, but would be interested in seeing the pottery Jorjean Fischer We would be happy to. You would also receive a special thermos, a runner's log, and thank you letter from the L.H.F. I will let you know when it is posted. Steve Hello there My name is Alan Brincks and i competed in the race this year. The shirt i received was an x-large but is way under sized when compared to others of the same size. I was wondering if it was at all possible to exchange for a XXL? I know sizes are not guaranteed but figured it wouldn't hurt to check on this. Thanks! A. B. If it is way undersized you probably got a Youth XL (we actually called them XS when we were passing them out.) This shirts typically run very generous when compared to others. We would be happy to exchange it. Let me know what arrangements we need to make. Steve Thanks so much for another great race. The weather this year was almost as good as it was in 2007. (I've tried to block 2008's icy chill from memory.) One thing I'm dying to know: If the race is 7 miles, what's the actual mileage if you take the "Shorter and Harder" route vs the "Longer and Easier?" Every year I take the Shorter and Harder (which I'm guessing takes me twice as long as it would to take the longer route, due to the slippery hill climbing). I always have to wonder what the mileage distance is between the two routes! T. L. This was actually the first year for the 7 mile distance. Last year we had to shorten last years course because of the late harvest. The longer route is about 200 yds. (1/8 mile) longer. Steve First off I'd like to congratulate you on a great race this year! The weather was beautiful, and the course was fantastic as usual. I do have a few concerns though. I run on average 8.5 minute miles, but this year the race took us 1 hour and 47 minutes. We started somewhere in the middle of the herd, like usual. The first yr I ran it took me 72 minutes, last year 1 hour 14 minutes with the stops by the creeks. I'm not sure if there were that many more people this year or what happened, but it was truly impossible to "run". A few stops are fine (like the first two yrs I ran it), but this year was ridiculous. I would be happy to pay more money to have less people. Is there any possibility of that happening in the future? Even if the numbers stay the same, could there be rules limiting the race to people who actually run? I'm far away from a good distance runner, but it seems as though about 1/4 the people sign up just to walk it. This is fine if the walkers would be at the back of the pack or at least off to the side. Most of the people were walking in groups in the middle of the path which caused even more congestion. Again, it was a great race and a total blast like usual, but I don't think my friends and I will participate again unless the numbers are cut down. A 7 mile race should not take 1 hour and 47 minutes. Also, the food this year was great! Kudos! Sincerely, B. S. In trying to evaluate the differences in the last 3 years I would say the dew (fog) and moisture issue this year probably had a major impact on a large number of peoples times. It was much more slippery than ir has been. Also the course was about two tenths longer. As explained below, this was the first time that we've gone this far. That being said, I think that we are seeing more and more people who are out to have a good time and not worrying about their time. Steve Do you know how many miles the course was this year? I would guess that the dew coating the course (read FOG) caused this years course to be extremely slick. Steve B.S. Didn't put the chip on securely. Mine were on tight. With
that worthless ties you provided, you'd think we were strolling with a two year old
in a park. Don't blame us. YOU SCREWED UP ON YOUR END!!!!!!!!!!! G. R. All I can say is that the people who properly tied theirs (98%) didn't seem to have any problem. The difference in problems between this and a regular road race were negligable. There were also numerous people in the chute looking for this exact problem and working to back check times for people like you (assuming that you had this problemn which you didn' actually say that you did). You never answered my reply to you. Steve |
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