April 2016 Running Challenge

7lenny7

kristinegift wrote: »

@MNLittleFinn I'll say this about the October HM; I have done 2 Team Ortho races (Chicago Monster Dash and Minneapolis Marathon) and their swag and races are great: fun, well-organized, and aid stations well-stocked. But a few months ago there was some hubbub about them not being a great charity organization, in that they don't actually give much at all to the charity they represent. So you may want to do a bit of digging and see what you can find before you decide if you want to support their organization by running the race.

@MNLittleFinn, I did the Monster Dash last year and while I did have a great time, I won't be signing up for any more Team Ortho races. Nearly universally, every runner I talk to around here feels the same way. One friend of mine has paced for them many times and he's done with them too. For some reason Kare11 no longer has the video on their site, but you can read the article about them here:

http://www.chillicothegazette.com/story/news/investigations/2015/11/12/financial-questions-team-ortho-monster-dash-polar-dash/75665604/

You can make your own decisions but I'm not going to spend my money on their races again. And truth be too, the Monster Dash wasn't that well organized last year. Their website said that reserved parking would be available, but it never was. Pacing groups starting too close together. They said they'd have live music and DJ's at a certain number of locations along the course, but it was all DJ's and not nearly as many spots as they said. You only hear them for 30 seconds anyway, so no big deal there. I'm fairly certain they shorted us a water stop too. I had them written down on my bib so I could time my Gu's with the availability of water and ended up running 2 miles without anything to wash it down with. There were also many inconsistencies and screw-ups on their website. Now none of that was all that big of a deal to me, but I can't get past the lack of integrity of the management team.

The races they put on since then have been going down hill, from what friends of told me. Starting chutes far too narrow (one girl I know said she had to walk the first half mile of the race, and she's not even a fast runner), missing SWAG, etc.

7lenny7

@MNLittleFinn also check out the Team Ortho Reviews on their FB page. 152 reviews and they only have a 2.5 rating.

https://www.facebook.com/TeamOrtho/

lillymacki55

Running to beat my March total of 127.71:

04/01 3.36
04/02 8.26
04/03 8.38
04/04 4.82
04/05 5.07
04/06 3.51
04/07 7.53
04/08 3.96 walking because I climbed 154 flights
04/09 5.76
04/11 3.41
04/12 3.18
04/13 3.09
04/14 3.19
04/15 2.32
04/16 6.40
04/17 9.31
04/18 3.19
04/19 3.15; 16.05 bike ride
04/20 3.21
04/21 3.63
04/22 4.73
04/23 9.49
04/24 7.08
04/25 3.79
04/26 4.39
04/27 3.78 GOAL ACHIEVED!!!
04/28 3.84
04/29 11.07
04/30 4.56


Total 147.46
GOAL = > 127.71

MNLittleFinn

@7lenny7 I decided to forgo the monster dash a couple weeks ago after reading reviews and their BBB rating.