2012 Icebreaker Race Director's Recap

As much as you hate to tinker with a winning formula, we have continued to find that the Icebreaker Indoor Marathon is a work-in-progress. We made several small changes from last year’s event; some worked and others didn’t. But for the most part we feel the 2012 version was another smashing success for the nearly 800 runners who participated in the weekend events. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved and also make some comments about the weekend.

First, congratulations to all of the runners who finished their races. We had a great group of competitors in all events. In Friday’s Revolution Natural Running 5k, Sean Luedke ran a 16:51 to win the race and Jennifer Chaudoir was the women’s winner in 20:36. In Saturday’s Performance Running Outfitters Half Marathon, Mac McCulley was able to hold off a late surge by Jeff Bailey to win in 1:13:28 while Monica Schoeneck won the women’s race in 1:26:38. Later on Saturday the ThunderDome Running team set an event record to win the Fit Milwaukee Marathon Relay in 2:12:44, but the Berkeley Running Company Navy team, which finished in 2:15:49, had the ThunderDome team in its sights for most of the race. The men from Berkeley also re-claimed the Running Store Challenge and the traveling trophy that goes with it.

Yesterday’s marathon was special in many ways. McCulley followed up Saturday’s half marathon win with another victory in the marathon. His time of 2:39:28 was just a few minutes off the record set by Bryan Schneider in 2009; he surely would have broken it had he not ran the half marathon 24 hours earlier. McCulley’s win also earned him the Gold Medal Challenge victory. On the women’s side, it was much the same as Mary Flaws won for the second year in a row in a time of 3:13:17, which gave her a 3-peat in the Gold Medal Challenge. Equally impressive, each year she has brought her time down. Congrats to Mac and Mary; you are both great champions.

I also want to recognize Matt Jeromin who lured his buddy McCulley to Milwaukee knowing that it would hurt his own chances of winning the race. All Jeromin did was go out and run a PR of 2:44:29, which earned him 2^nd place. Nice job Matt.

Another runner I want to recognize is Steve Tietz, who is a 2-time Gold Medal Champion. He finished 4^th in the marathon yesterday, 5^th in the half marathon on Saturday, and was 2^nd in the Gold Medal Challenge. In between that, he volunteered in the food room on Saturday. I know it’s tough for him to see someone else’s name on the Gold Medal Challenge banner, but he’s been a great champion and I am certain that his best days of running are ahead of him.

We have received many compliments and kind words from runners who participated in the races. One of the things that received the most praise is Mary Flaws’ cookies. She baked 60 dozen of them to promote her website, Running in the USA (www.runningintheusa.com) although I claim she has an evil plan to fatten up – and thus slow down- her competitors by feeding them delicious baked goods. The other person who generated a ton of positive comments was Kim Kelly, who is the “spikey-haired” volunteer who was our water table captain. Kim was also one of the first to arrive at the Pettit Center each morning and one of the last to leave at night, and in between she was a great ball of energy who made the water table one of the most exciting places in the house. Her efforts are much appreciated by me and many of the runners.

As we all know, it is impossible to put on a perfect event, and the 2012 Icebreaker certainly had its share of imperfections. In my opinion, the main problem is one of the same things we have had in years’ past: finding an effective way to communicate lap counts to runners. Fortunately I think we may have resolved some of this later in the day on Saturday and on Sunday. We put the announcer right next to the small monitor and he continually called out lap counts. This seemed to work very well although it cut into the music. In Saturday’s first half marathon in particular, several runners expressed their frustration about lap counts, and I apologize for this.

The second-biggest problem was a shortage of medals, which was my fault. In other years, I take home a box of leftover medals from the race. A large box! That is because I would order one medal for each runner that signed up for the half marathon, marathon and Gold Medal Challenge. To try to cut down on the leftovers and be more “economical”, I ordered enough medals to cover about 80% of the registered runners (before you come down on me for this, it is a trick that most race directors use for both shirt and medal ordering). Well for good or for bad, we had a much higher than anticipated number of runners who showed up and finished the races. In yesterday’s marathon, for example, 117 of the 130 registered runners started the race. That’s an astounding 90%, and much higher than the 70-75% we have had in years past. Lesson learned; this won’t happen again. And for the 11 of you who didn’t get medals, I deeply apologize and promise you will get your medal as soon as possible.

Other snafus included a problem with shirt availability in some sizes, mainly due to an issue with the shirt vendor sending us a batch of incorrect sizes, and some packet pickup/chip issues. These are the kinds of things that are hard to avoid and you just have to handle them as best as you can.

And of course my personal favorite snafu was with the starting gun in the first half marathon. It was truly a comedy of errors; I was trying to help a runner get the correct bib when the announcer started the countdown. Then the gun didn’t work and I ended up yelling “go”. It was a legendary bad start, but I used it as a lesson and carried two guns to the start for the rest of the races. And during yesterday’s marathon, I was glad I had both of them because the first one didn’t work.

For 2013, we have several changes in store. For the relay, we want to add a corporate division and also beef up the awards. We also want to allow runners to sign up for a specific half marathon starting time in the registration process rather than us determining it for them.

My favorite two memories of the weekend both came yesterday. The first was seeing Mac McCulley stand on the side of the track cheering on the other runners after his marathon victory. He stood there for several minutes clapping his hands and giving encouraging comments. Many of them congratulated him on their way by. Only at an indoor marathon would you see something like this. The second memory was when our final marathon finisher Kris Hinrichs was in her final miles (of her 96^th marathon, by the way). The remaining volunteers and race staff joined her on the track for the last 5 laps. There were about 6 or 7 of us. It was a fitting end to a special weekend.

There are so many people who played a part in making this event a success that deserve thanks. I hope I don’t miss anyone.

First thanks to our sponsors: Performance Running Outfitters, Slendertone, Motorola, Revolution Natural Running, Fit Milwaukee, Running in the USA and GU Energy. It was refreshing to work with sponsors who understand the importance of supporting local races like ours.

We also worked with several charity partners including MS Run the US, the American Cancer Society, and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team Challenge. We thank them for helping us with volunteers and being part of the weekend.

Thanks to Emily Boggs and Stacey Nash for doing some video-taping this weekend, to Sheila Wordell for putting together some of the music and for making some killer cupcakes for our packet assembly party, to Matt Thull at ThunderDome Running for all of the support you have given our event, to Sam Walton for finding a way to sell quality food for super-cheap prices, to Fleet Feet Brookfield and Berkeley Running Company of Madison for your support of our relay, to Olu Sijuwade and Felicia Sopa for the national anthem performances, to Treva Rademaker at Chiropractic Wellness Group and Susan at Elements Therapeutic Massage of Elm Grove, to the Brookfield Central High School cross country team and Key Club members for volunteering, to Orthopedic Associates and Bell Ambulance for making sure everyone was safe, to Ruma Sports for the awards, to TS Customs for the signs, Chad, Anna & Kat at Vision Event Management (Madison Mini Marathon and Rock n Sole Half Marathon), and to ZapEvent for coming up with the best online registration software I have used.

And I can't forget to thank the folks at Prime Time Timing for scoring the race. Erin and Jamin were marvelous as usual. As I say every year, a race is only as good as its timers.

Pictures for all races are available for viewing and purchase at Running in the USA. Follow this link to see them. A huge thanks to Bill Flaws for taking the pictures. He is the best race photographer out there!

Age group awards will be mailed to all winners soon.

And marathon participants, if you liked your experience please give us a good review on Marathon Guide (www.marathonguide.com). It is very helpful to our marketing efforts.

I would like to thank the race committee – Dana, Bill, Brian, Dave, Rob, and Anne and Tracey from Fit Milwaukee – for their hard work. We meet on a regular basis and go over every detail that goes into making this event what it is. It’s this group that makes things happen. And we miss you Jeff!

And I can’t say enough good things about the people at the Pettit Center. First of all, this is a world-class facility and we are very fortunate to have it in Milwaukee. The people who work there go out of their way to be helpful and supportive of the Icebreaker. Rob at the Pettit has been truly a pleasure to work with and I can guarantee that this event would not be the same without him. And Randy, Jose, Pete, Paul, Jan and the others have been great. I only wish the folks in Salt Lake City cared as much about running events as you!

I would like to thank the volunteers. There are too many to list individually, but I will single out our three captains: Phil, Pete and Kim. Thank you!!! You fit in well with the Icebreaker family. Dave, you did a great job of coordinating the volunteers (although we still miss you Jaime!). And thanks to my wife Karen who designed the shirts and race programs, and helped out at packet pickup and the food room. Also to my kids for pitching in so much this weekend (although I did pay them $20 each!).

Finally, I would like to thank the runners. You are the reason why this event exists. We are honored that you choose to spend your time and money to participate in the Icebreaker. Our goal is to work as hard as we can to make it worth it for you.

Mark your calendars for July 28, which is the date of the inaugural Heatbreaker Half Marathon & Relay at the Pettit Center!!

Race Weekend Is Here!

Hello Icebreaker runners! Race weekend is upon us and I wanted to take this opportunity to remind everyone of a few things.

Relay Team Captains: each team is only getting one goody bag this year. It is your responsibility to divide the contents among your team members.....or not.

Remember to bring your own water bottles. We will be giving water bottles to the Marathon and Half Marathon runners, but these are not to be used during the race. They have the wrong kind of cap for use on the track. But that doesn't mean they aren't nice water bottles.

With today's expected snow, that may make parking a little tricky, especially on Saturday. Be aware that you may have to park a long way from the entrance and plan accordingly.

We do have same-day packet pickup so don't feel like you need to battle the snow today to get your packet.

Hope everyone has a safe trip to the Pettit Center this weekend. We look forward to seeing everyone!

Important Race Updates

Here's the latest.......

Packet Pickup - This will take place in the Hall of Fame Room (2nd floor) of the Pettit Center. The hours are listed on the race website. We do allow race-day packet pickup. For Marathon Relay teams, you will get one goody bag per team. The team captain or a designated member can pick up the packet and shirts.

Parking - For all Saturday participants, be aware that the parking spots fill up quickly. For the Marathon Relay participants in particular, you may want to show up at least an hour early since there is also public skating at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Water Bottles/Table - New this year, we are asking that runners bring their own water bottles to use during the race. You will want to mark your bib number on the bottle(s) when you get to the race. We will have an extra supply of bottles in case anyone forgets one, but we would prefer that you bring your own. You can bring more than one if you wish to have one for water and one for Powerade. For the Marathon and participants, you will be receiving water bottles in your race packets, but these are not suitable for use during the race due to the type of cap. They are a give-away from one of our sponsors.

Lap Counting Tips - Most sports watches and Garmin Forerunners have a lap counting function and these seem to work best. You may also wish to have a friend or family member help you. We will also have volunteers who will be available to give you your lap counts upon request. And we will continue to have screens than show either laps finished or laps to go (or both), but sometimes it can be hard to find your name so you may want to rely on your own methods. Our volunteers will let you know when you are on your last lap or when you are finished, but feel free to ask them if you have concerns about your lap count.

Timing - There will be a timing mat located at the finish line which will record your lap counts based on the chip around your ankle. When you hit the mat for the first time that will be counted as Lap 1. For the Half Marathon, you will have 47 more laps to go after that, and for the Marathon you will have 95 more laps to go. Please be mindful to stay off the timing mat after the announcement has been made to clear the track. Also, make sure your chip is around your ankle; if you put it on your wrist your laps won't be counted.

Nutrition - We will be providing GU packets one hour into the Half Marathon and Marathon. Feel free to bring your own nutritional items to place in your designated area on the side of the track.

Pit Area - Each runner and relay team will be able to select their own designated area on either end of the track. I would suggest that you reserve your spot after you arrive at the Pettit Center for your race and have picked up your packet. You can place items such as food or extra clothes in this spot. For the relay teams, this is the area where your team will congregate during the race to await runner changes.

Passing Etiquette - Just like when you're driving on the freeway, slower runners stay to the outside and faster runners on the inside. Try to be mindful of fast runners coming up behind you when you are in the inside lane. If you are coming up behind a slow runner who is in the inside lane, say the word "track" to alert them of this. Most of all, please be patient. The track is narrow and passing can be difficult in some areas.

Spectator Information - We will have poster board and markers for spectators to make signs. Feel free to bring your own signs (dry erase boards also work well if you want to change messages). Bring cowbells are your own risk! There will be concessions available to spectators. It will be cold inside the track area so make sure to dress warmly.

Age Group Awards - New this year, we will be mailing out all age group awards, which are specially-designed pins. We will have an awards ceremony for just the top three overall male/female winners in each race, Gold Medal Challenge winners and relay teams.

Official Race Photos - Bill Flaws from Running in the USA will be on hand again this year to take pictures. They will be available for purchase shortly after the race at www.runningintheusa.com.

Headphones - MP3 players are not allowed on the track. Hearing what's going on is imperative to creating a safe racing atmosphere. If you are seen wearing headphones of any kind, you will be asked to take them off or be disqualified from the race. We will be playing music during the race.

Back Bibs - We will have a supply of blank bibs for runners to write personal messages on. You can pin them to the back of your shirt for use during the race.

Weather - Please keep in mind that the races will be held no matter what the weather is like outside. Hopefully winter will have started by race weekend. We like to think that snow and cold temps makes a perfect backdrop for an indoor running event!

Post-Race - There will be a food room on the main floor with all kinds of treats for runners. There will also be a massage therapist from Elements Therapeutic Massage in Elm Grove and chiropractic from Dr. Treva Rademaker from the Chiropractic & Wellness Group, West Allis available in the Hall of Fame Room.

Sponsors - We have some amazing sponsors this year. Slendertone is presenting the Gold Medal Challenge, Performance Running Outfitters in sponsoring the Half Marathon, Revolution Natural Running is sponsoring the 5k Race and Fit Milwaukee is sponsoring the Marathon Relay. Other sponsors include GU Energy and Running in the USA. We would like to thank our sponsors for making the Icebreaker events possible.

And finally, on race weekend we will be rolling out the details for an exciting new race. There will be an information table and flyers in your goody bags. Stay tuned.....

We look forward to seeing everyone in just two shorts weeks!

MS Run the US Partnership

We would like to welcome one of our favorite charities, MS Run the US, to the Icebreaker. They will have a booth during the events and will be selling some cool logo items...all for a good cause. Check them out at www.msruntheus.com.

All Sold Out!

The 5k race filled up today so we are completely full....all events. Thank you everyone for making this the quickest sell-out in our short history. We promise to make this the most exciting Icebreaker ever!!

GU to Go!

A big thanks to GU Energy for providing gel packs for the Marathon again this year. It looks like we will be getting Triberry and some Roctane flavors.

5k Status

We have 21 spots left in the Revolution Natural Running 5k race.