Two weeks after doing the terrible New Year's Race, I drove to Arizona for Rock n Roll Arizona!! Rock n Roll Arizona would be my first race in the state of Arizona! I haven't been to Arizona since 2007. I was also looking forward to going to Arizona to see my friend who would be running her first half marathon!
I love the way Rock n Roll organizes their races. Almost every race smoothly and their medals are almost always great. Or maybe I just loving getting all the medals!
If you're going to do a lot of Rock n Roll races, buy the Tour Pass. There are two different tour passes. A 3 pack tour pass- you can do any three RnR races or the Global tour pass-you can do any RnR race!
After getting a tour pass, the next thing to do is register, for FREE, for their "Heavy Medal" program. If you run two or more half or full marathons, RnR will send you one of their Heavy Medals! Heavy medals for running 2-4 races are mailed to you. Starting with race #5, you can pick it up after the race. I don't know why RnR wants to spend all that money on mailing, but hey, I'm not going to complain about getting FREE medals!!
RnR also has their Remix Challenge, where you do the 5K on Saturday and either the half or full on Sunday, and you get the Remix Challenge Medal, again FREE of charge. For 2016, the Remix Challenge Medal is awesome!! There is no need special sign up for the Remix Challenge. When you pick up your bib you will get a wristband to get your Remix Medal.
If that wasn't enough RnR has"Limited Edition" Medals, which are basically medals for doing 2 or more races in a certain area. In California, if you do 3 of the 4 RnR races, San Francisco, San Diego, San Jose and Los Angeles, you get the CA Combo Medal. By finishing the RnR Arizona, I got the Desert Double Down Medal. Again these medals are FREE!!
RnR Arizona would be tied, with RnR Vegas, for the most medals I've received in two days of racing, 4. The two race medals, Remix Challenge Medal and the Limited Edition Medal.
I think the most medals for two days of RnR races is 6- the two race medals, Remix Challenge medal, and two different Limited Edition Medals-the second Limited Edition Medal is the World Rocker- finish two halfs in two different countries, and heavy medal! RnR Vancouver is one of the races where you can earn 6 medals for two days of races, but you have to do other RnR races to be eligible for the limited edition medals.
Expo-
Located in downtown Phoenix, metered parking was easy to find.
Bib and t-shirt pick are very quick and easy at RnR races. The lines move quickly. The best thing about RnR races is that they give you a package of safety pins for your bib and blue tie down thing for your gear check!
Timing Chip- Unlike the cheap New Year's Race, RnR races have a time chip that is attached to your bib and you can keep the chip. There is a video at the Expo that shows how the chip is suppose to be attached to your shoe. Now comes a pet peeve. The timing chip has two pieces-the actual chip which has your name, and an strip that can be thrown away! Many people keep that extra strip on their bib. The problem is that when race photographers are taking picture, the extra strip can block your number. So it makes it tougher to identify your race pictures. If I see a runner with that extra strip, I'll tell them that it's not needed.
This was a very busy weekend for races all over the country, so I was pleasantly surprised to see so many vendors, and quality vendors at the expo.
But, the vendor I was most looking forward to seeing was the new energy sponsor for RnR, Glukos. I use GU and Cliff brand gels and chews/gummies during a race, but had never heard of or seen Glukos. Now, I never try something new on race day. So I just bought a couple gummies and saved them for later. I now love Glukos brand gummies and tablets! They taste great and they work for me. They are still hard to find at stores, so I still get the other brands, but whenever I do a RnR race, I'll stock up on Glukos. If you're new to running, try different energy products and find out what works best for you! You can talk to three runners and one will swear by GU, the other Cliff and the third, Glukos. So, try different brands and see what works best for you!!
I went Friday night because I had to pick up my bib for the 5K on Saturday, since RnR either does have or charges for race day bib pick up. Which brings me to an issue that gets debated a lot on RnR social media. At all Rock n Roll races, you must pick up your own bib! They do NOT allow a friend, spouse etc to pick up your bib for you! This maybe the only race that has this policy, but the policy is clearly stated when you sign up! Can this be a logistical nightmare for runners traveling to a race? Of course! Flights are delayed or canceled, hotel rooms are expensive etc. But, again RnR clearly states this policy! So be prepared to pick up your own bib!
5K-Course is very nice, running along Tempe Town Lake. Not many bottlenecks, even with a ton of people running the race.
One of the best things about RnR is the post race refreshments! They are always stocked and give out good stuff. The 5K is usually water, bananas, and some chip/pretzels.
Half-
Corrals were packed. We also had to wait in the corrals for the train to pass before. So I didn't cross the starting line until about 20 minutes after the race started. The course was fantastic! There was a slight hill at the 9 mile mark, but beautiful views. I didn't know that the route takes you through the cities of Scottsdale, Temple, and Phoenix!
Post race refreshments- Water, Gatorade, chocolate milk, bananas-though they were all green, and Power Bar protein bars were given out. At some RnR races you can get as many protein bars as you want and at others, like Arizona, there is a strict limit of one per person.
My friend completed her first half marathon in about 30 minutes less than her estimated time! Great job!!
My complaint about many RnR races is that there aren't always mile markers or timers on the course. This wasn't an issue at RnR Arizona. There were mile markers everywhere and timers that actually worked!
Medals-
As I said before RnR almost always gives out great medals and that was really true in Arizona. The 5K and half medals, along with the Desert Double Down "Limited Edition" medal were awesome. But, I just loved the Remix Challenge Medal! The Remix Medal is the same design for all cities that have the Remix Challenge, but the color will be different
The only complaint I have for RnR Arizona is that there are just way too many people wearing the school colors of that douchebag school in Tucson! Don't these people know this is Sun Devil Territory?? After all, the Territorial Cup is in it's rightful home, TEMPE! Fear the Fork!! RnR Arizona needs to ban all gear from that douchebag Tucson school at future races!!!
I would gladly do Rock n Roll Arizona again.
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