chris - just FYI, would be convenient for those not racing to have a runner tracking link somewhere easily accessible. I couldn't find it anywhere on the website. googled with no luck. Dug through FB for a bit and finally found it there.

Yes, it was supposed to be on middle of front page of website and didn't get put up Saturday night. That's on us.

no worries. like i said, i found it, but it took some digging. Easy to forget small stuff, I know how race weekends go when you are on the other side.

No runner tracking link and still the BEST RACE IN TEXAS!

I will be running the Mansfield HM in January and hope to do this one next year. Sounds like a great race.

Some random questions from a possible participant:

When does registration officially open? I could have sworn it was on the website last week and now I'm either blind or it's gone. EDIT - now i see that it's open in May, but not a specific date.

Website says the race is USATF certified, but it doesn't look like the certification is anywhere on the website. Related, a few reviews from last year said their GPS came in at 26.6/26.7, were those just isolated incidents caused by GPS weirdness?

Are there typically pace groups between 3-3:30?

hbc07 said:

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Some random questions from a possible participant:

When does registration officially open? I could have sworn it was on the website last week and now I'm either blind or it's gone. EDIT - now i see that it's open in May, but not a specific date.

Website says the race is USATF certified, but it doesn't look like the certification is anywhere on the website. Related, a few reviews from last year said their GPS came in at 26.6/26.7, were those just isolated incidents caused by GPS weirdness?

Are there typically pace groups between 3-3:30?

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I'm considering signing up to try to BQ and read those reviews as well. Could be that they ran the tangents poorly, but seems like a lot of complaints.

Also, is this generally a good BQ course?

I came in at 26.75 miles back in December. I could have sworn that there was something on here after the fact about the distance and something being off, but I can not find it in a search this morning. I do remember there being something about that.

Registration dates, good BQ course, and that sort of thing aren't really things that I can speak to, though. I remember there being pacers in the 3:30 range, but I don't remember them being in the 3:00 range. There may have been one or two in the lower 3 windows, but I remember them being more in the 3:30 and up windows.

I do know that it was a really good race for what I was looking to achieve (my first full) that was really well organized and run. Getting back to it in December is squarely in my plans for this year.

Thanks for your insights. I don't know that I'd need a pacer, but it's one of those things that might not hurt since I'm trying to break new grounds on my pace. At least it sounds like there's a 3:30 pacer in case to keep me motivated from being passed up.

Interesting to hear you came in at 26.75 as well. All I've been able to find out about any distance issues were just the previously mentioned reviews.

I've only ever run this race so I cannot speak to whether it is fast. I have BQ'ed on it the last four years. At 3:30 there should be no worries on there being a Pacer or a group to run with.

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Interesting to hear you came in at 26.75 as well. All I've been able to find out about any distance issues were just the previously mentioned reviews.

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The organizers actually did send an email apologizing last year that the course was mismarked by .2 miles long or so around the half-way point. Think some runners noticed it from prior years.

The course has a lot of turns I think compared to many marathons which probably doesn't help.

SJEAg said:

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The organizers actually did send an email apologizing last year that the course was mismarked by .2 miles long or so around the half-way point.

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That's what it was, an email being sent, I thought it was on here for some reason.

The only thing that I want to add is that I don't want to sound like I am slinging mud with my 26.75 comments. That could probably be read a couple of different ways, and I don't want to come off as negative. As mentioned, there were a lot of turns, and I know that I have come in over in a number of races I have run. All things considered, the 26.75 didn't surprise me, didn't bother me then, and really doesn't bother me now.

I BQed at BCS in 2015, and my watch was at 26.6 at the end. Its a fast course, relatively flat. There are some hills in miles 10-13, but if your goal is to run Boston, these hills are nothing compare to what you will see there. The best thing about this race is how well it is run (despite the distance hiccup last year), the convenience to the start line and small race (3k people).

I don't think I've ever run a race, not even a 5k, where my distance has been exact. 9 out of 10 ten races I am at least .2 over, and then there is the poorly run race where you are half a mile under. I think its a good rule of thumb to set your goal pace to be x:xx/mile with a distance of 26.5 for your BQ time and train with that in mind.

On the bell curve of easy/hard marathons, I'd put BCS on the easy side of the curve. The hills aren't bad. The crowd support is on the low end but it's also hard to beat being able to park 100 yards from the start line.

So no idea when registration opens this year?

May 25! Look forward to hosting many of you this year for year 8!