Slacklace....review

This past Sunday, Sally, Sarah and I ran the Army Ten-miler.  At the expo on Friday I came home with a new product: The 'SlackLace...the flexible shoe lace'.  I was intrigued by the stretch of the laces, the various colors available and the write up on the back of the product card.

Your feet flex, your shoes flex, shouldn't your laces flex?

Walk and run in your shoes more comfortable.  Alleviate pressure points, abandon old fashioned laces that restrict the natural movement of your feet.  

When you wear SlackLace,  you will be amazed at how light and refreshed your feet will feel.  The simple but unique design will benefit anyone who wears shies!

I chose orange and blue laces....University of Florida colors that would also match my orange skirt and blue shirt I was planning to wear to the race, and purple laces to match my other pair of Asics running shoes. 

1. Laces were easy to lace through the loops in the shoes
2. Many bright colors to mix and match
3. Low price $9
4. Once tied the laces never came untied
5. Didn't have to double tie the laces to prevent them from becoming untied
6. Shoes felt like 'part' of my feet, very flexible 

Try them out and let me know how they work for you!

p.s.  Sorry for the tiny picture...pictures were taken on my iPhone....

*Disclaimer..The SlackLace was not provided for this review, I purchased the SlackLace.

Woodrow Wilson 1/2 marathon....a review

On October 7, my girlfriends and I ran the Woodrow Wilson Half Marathon   This is the third year that this race has been held and we were excited to try it out.  Here is my review of the race from registration to the finish line.

Registration: Easy online registration.
Updates:  As the date of the race approached received frequent updates regarding bib pick-up and day of race transportation.
Expo: Small, but compared to the last race I reviewed, 2/3 of the vendors were running related, from jewelry, sunglasses, tech shirts, running apparel, hydration and energy gels.
Race Day:  The race began in Mount Vernon where there is minimal parking and ended at the new National Harbor in Maryland. The race organizers simplified the parking issue by picking a central location, The Holiday Inn in Alexandria which is near the Hoffman Center, and provided free shuttles to transport the runners to the starting line.  Runners could have also parked at the National Harbor where free shuttles would also transport them to the start line.  There were plenty of volunteers to direct traffic into the parking lot and to direct runners to the next available shuttle.  It was a cold morning and the buses were a warm refuge.
Course:  The race is run along the Potomac River, through Mount Vernon to Old Town Alexandria and up the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, ending at the National Harbor, MD.  The course is run along the same route as the George Washington Parkway ten miler.  It was a little hilly, with some rolling hills, and some slow incline hills, but nothing that a beginning runner cannot tackle.  If the weather had been on our side, the view during our run would have been magnificent, especially when running over the bridge.
Even though it was cold and rainy the spectators and volunteers were very enthusiastic and kept our spirits up.  The water stops were at about every 3-4 miles, with plenty of water and Gatorade, and thankfully there were plenty of  Port-o-johns at the starting line and throughout the course
Finish:  Check out the medal we received at the end of the race.  The hand is a replica of a sculpture The Awakening.   Plenty of water, and Gatorade was available at the finish line with bananas and bagels to munch on.  Shuttles were waiting to take us back to our parking spot at the Hoffman Center.  My only suggestion: have signs directing runners to the shuttle location.  We followed the masses and found the shuttles, but when we asked a volunteer were were just told "over there, beyond the weeping willow".
Grade:  A.  From registration to the finish line....no complaints!  Looking forward to next years race.  Keeping my fingers crossed for a cool day with sunny skies.

Air Force-Navy Half-Marathon.....Review

This past Saturday my girlfriends and I ran the Inaugural Air Force-Navy Half Marthon/5 miler.  In the past, this race was just a 5-miler, this year they added the 1/2 marathon. 

Let's start with

Registration: Easy online registration with email updates.
Packet pick-up:  Relatively easy. We needed to go on base and having a military id, and sticker on the car made it easy. 
Expo:  Only about 20 vendors and two of those were for running related. 
Information:  Out of the three people that we asked no one knew which metro stop we needed to take in order to get to the race.  NO ONE.  (Grant it the information was online, but at a minimum someone at the expo SHOULD have that vital information!)
Race day:  Metro didn't open early and we got to the race with 1/2 hour to spare.  Lines to bathroom were really long and it turned out the the line we were waiting in was for VIP's.  We begged the woman who closed the line to let us use the VIP portajohns since runners were being called to the starting line and she refused to let us through.
Race course:  Nice course, not to hilly.  Ran through Rock Creek Park which is something I've always wanted to do.  Gorgeous day as well.  Water stations were well stocked with water and Gatorade.  We only saw one volunteer who was cheering the runners, all others looked like they were having a bad day.
Race Finish:  Beautiful coin received at the end of the race.  Apples (what about bananas?  I've never had apples at the end of a race), muffins and cookies to munch on at the end, BUT they ran out of water.....oh, yes, by the time I finished and I was by no means at the end, there was NO WATER!

Overall we would rate this race a C-.  It is was the inaugural 1/2 marathon, but the 5 mile race has been going on for several years, it is inexcusable to run out of water at the end of a race.  We all agreed that there is room for improvement and that we would try this race again. 




Disclaimer:  I was not compensated for writing this review nor was my registration paid for by race promoters.