I still remember the old Cape Cod Relay in 1981 when a team saw their runner croaking on Leg 7 (11 or 13 miles if I remember) and having the last runner jump out of the van over a mile early to take over. We reported this and Fred Brown shrugged it off. It cost us a trophy. Well, boo-hoo now, but it does make us all think about what is fair since we really, really, really want to keep MCR a notch above the rest!

I'm glad to see that one of my club's teams was DQ'd for a runner doing legs 1 and 5. Kind of funny, though since he is 49 and it was an open team.
Hey, Ed, I ran back to my car after finishing the last leg. I was cheering every runner I saw. three or four were in iPod lala land and had scowls on their faces. I thought this was supposed to be fun?!?!

My two cents from the guy who actually amrks the course.

I paint the mile markers and exchange zones and purposely draw two lines before and after the actual mark to denote the actual excange zone. Similar to a track relay.

While it is true we really do not have an actual "rule" denoting that the baton exchange should takeplace within this zone, it is generally inferred that this is where it takes place. Runners should honor this.

Most of the time that it occurs is a result of "over anticipation" on the next runner just wanting to get the baton and start running and usally occurs pretty close to the actual area . Quite frankly I do not understand why the exchange would have occured so far away as the zones are clearly defined. A 200 yd handoff is definelty worth an explaination.

I wish to go on record suggesting the Committee insitute a rule BANNING any type of headset from being used during the relay. Runners need to realize that they need to be paying close attention to their race as these are open and very busy roads we run on. And for the most part they are running WITH traffic. The bottom line is they need to paying attention to their surroundings not Barry Manilow!!

I have told all my ruuners three things; run with your number, your team colors, and no headsets!!

LaBrode

I would suggest disqualifying any team that has a runner wearing an Ipod. This is a serious safety issue. Running with the traffic and crossing busy intersections and not being aware of cars or other people around you can put everyone in a dangerous situation.

I've received some good feedback that I am posting here so that it can be shared with all. The committee can also review it prior to our next meeting to make sure all concerns are addressed.

John Gorvin collected feedback from SRR and it is summarized below. His editorial is noted by being in parenthesis:

SRR bridge assignment
 
Directions should be updated to include an address, which is mapable via Internet. Me thinks the current stuff predates mapquest, etc.

Useable address for the bridge is 42 Mammoth Road - the Bank North building which is a good place to park as lot is larger than the Mickey D's and they are closed.

I think the intersection needs at least 3-4 people...whoever did it alone last year must have been superman. (We had four this year)

Duration of assignment is about 9:00am - 10:20am. First runner arrived about 9:15 or so and last went through approximately 1-hour layer.

General positive feedback

- Water stop on long leg is great! Thank you!
 
- bridge crossing was awesome - there must've been six people in orange vests literally in the road when I crossed - I felt very safe,
 
- kudos to the cops, who were just great to runners and drivers
 
- I love my bottle opener medal - my fave Mill Cities goodie yet!

Loved the new final leg! Shorter is better for us slow pokes and finishing at the bar (last mind you) I still had plenty of fan fare. The Aux Police were awesome. I was trekking thru that ‘sketch’ area before downtown by myself and was a little on edge w/ the pot smoke smell and the people hanging out on the street but then I heard a car following me and it was the Aux police and I was much more at ease.


Leg 4:
 
- Dunkin Donuts deserves special accolades for letting us take over their bathrooms (they even fixed the one that broke promptly!) I hope we bought enough coffee to make up for the trouble!
 
- I found a Porto john just before it (in the gravel lot) that was open (and clean!) - but facilities on the boathouse side would be great
  
It'd be nice to know if we are to be on the road/inside the barrier on the first part of leg 4 - I was inside but others were outside

Runner direction arrows
 
There was a sign just before leg 3 transitions to leg 4 that directed runners off the road and onto the sidewalk. The sign said MCR with an arrow pointing to the right. However its location was such that cars might make the right turn and end up crossing the river. I know one individual did this. I know the course but for a split second I thought
about making the turn. The sign either needs to be positioned differently or
state MCR runners to the right, cars stay straight ahead.

Bathrooms at exchanges
 
Some more bathroom facilities at the exchange areas.

Can they provide some potties at the exchange areas?

I wish there had been even just 2 port-a-johns at the exchanges.

Directions to and from exchange areas
 

Clear directions to Nashua YMCA from the south. We used Google maps directions, which told us to take Exit 4 off US Rt 3N. But when we reached Exit 4, it turned out the exit ramp was only accessible from the frontage/access road, so we couldn't take the exit. We took Exit 5 and had a rather hectic adventure trying to find the YMCA. [I admit that this might be a problem with Google maps or with driving after getting up so early!]

Clear directions for cars leaving the Leg 3-4 exchange area at GLTHS. It was confusing.

The one major suggestion is that they should put driving directions in
the packet regarding how to best leave the transition (as a driver)
between Leg 3 and Leg 4. Even a sign in the parking lot would be helpful.
It was not at all clear that we should follow that winding road next to
the parking lot - thank goodness we finally asked someone who knew after
going in the wrong direction twice.

Post race party

The only concern at the post-race party was the incredibly long line for food. It was not clear that, if you wanted to skip the food line and go straight to the party, you could just go up the stairs without waiting in line.

Party venue was fine (and parking easy) - but we never found the mystery "other food line" - more information needed for that

Just food for thought: Beer Tickets. Some of the people in the last leg went up to get a beer and were told that the beer tickets were all gone. Meaning no race beer. Was this because they were out of beer or just out of tickets? And who needs beer more than those souls in the last leg and bringing up the tail end of the race? Just an idea would be to dole out the beer tickets with the bib numbers. Maybe 2 each? Just an idea to take care of all entrants.

Scoring and results

(I am not sure I totally get this one, but here it is anyway)

Make all teams count: Suppose SRR has two teams and X has one. If they're the only teams, and SRR goes one-two, right now, SRR gets two points (for winning a division with two clubs) and X gets one. Don't let the 2nd SRR team score points, but let them count by giving SRR-1 3 points (for winning a division with three teams) and Team X 1. But the extra SRR team can count against the club if they're slower. If the SRR teams go 1-3, then SRR gets 3 for winning, but Team X gets 2 points.

Not that the current method needs fixing, but it would be nice to have everyone matter in some fashion.

Marshall McCloskey also asked his fellow MVS'ers for feedback and here's is what he got:

Feedback from Dave Tyler

I'd like to help you next year, perhaps even offer to be a co-MVS MCR Committee rep with you. I think the race went very well this year in all regards, only minor adjustments need to be made.
 
For MCR Organizers:
- Need to improve race morning number, baton, and giveaway pickup. Three long lines that each captain needs to do all three of simply takes too long.
-Maybe have a separate mens, woman, and mixed line where ALL items can be picked up at one stop. Or more help behind the table.
-Need to have complete team rosters posted on the wall so people can look up their team and number (like any other race)
-Need better above the head signage at post registration.
-There were lots of name mispellings in the results.
the course maps on the website need to be printable. also, the street address of each transition zone needs to be listed for people who use GPS map finders for directions.
- Need to consider the back of the packers when doling out beer tickets.

From Karen Duarte:

Excellent comments. I was not at the Nashua start.
Very good point on visibility. We should also encourage runners to wear the colors (MVS and TriFury) so we can identify them on the course.

I might also add that the Sunshine Start is not all that organized. We did get numbers this year (not last year). We never get batons. Also, due to the fact that we started at 9:00am instead of 8:30 this year, the mass start was mixed in with the faster runners coming in to the exchange point. This caused some confusion. Perhaps we should go back to 8:30 start or maybe 8:45 so we can get ahead of the transition teams. This also caused some traffic congestion as the faster team’s cars were entering the transition area while the sunshine start cars were exiting. It’s also a safety issue as there were runners at both entrance and exit points. I say go back to the 8:30 start for safety reasons.
 
I have two/three volunteers who would love to be part of the team organization. They are experienced in relays.

A hat saying “2001 Final Leg” was found at the 4th exchange the day of the race. I have it and will do my best to get it to you if it's yours.
email me at mmccloskeyjr@netscape.net

Give me link to SEO software (promotion, advertisement, etc.). I'm need it to promote my new e-shop.
Thanks.

Looking to join a team...I'll do any leg of the relay. I'm 50 y/o and my 5k PR is 24:09 Been running about 2.5 yrs---have done all distances; including one marathon.
I've never participated in this event, but it sounds like it's a great time!

Oops! Forgot to mention--I'm a member of North Medford Club

Karen - Since you are a member of North Medford, you'll have to contact someone over there to get on a team. Here is a link to their web-site: http://www.northmedfordclub.org/ I believe it has e-mail addresses for all of the club officers. They should be able to help you.

Edited by author 11-12-2007 06:51 PM
 Karen, Jeff Gould is putting together teams for the relay. you can find his E-Mail at the NMC web page.


Jim

Edited by author 11-14-2007 01:01 PM
I've updated the MCR website to reflect the new Sunshine Start starting time of 8:45 AM. Also you will find detailed maps of each leg along with start/finish addresses for those folks using GPS devices.

Hi Jim and Michael---Thank you for your input! I've got a couple of NMC friends working on this... Looks like I might be joining forces w/Jackie K. and Dan D. for a 3 person team. Wondering what the leg lengths are for a 3 person team...The website talks about 5 person teams. Anyway, I appreciate your responses...and hey, Jim--NICE going today at Slattery's!!! Awesome! Are you racing T-giving Day?

Karen, "Female Senior (50+), female veterans (60+) and coed veteran (60+) teams will run the final 3 legs of the relay (3 person team)."

Those legs are approx. 2.5, 9.5 and 4.75 miles.

We are in need of additonal batons for this year's relay. If anyone out there has extras or a source for where we can get them, please contact me directly at dave@coolrunning.com.
Thanks