1 ) We emailed all participants a link to a post-race survey. Thank you to those who completed the survey! Way below is a quick reply to the themes that we saw in the results.
2) Check out the SAR facebook page video for how to use the Gabe Zimmerman Triple Crown medallion to best effect.
3) Age Group Awards in both the TMC A-Mountain Half and the Tucson Lifestyle 5k will be available at The Running Shop through December 1st. If you were one of the dozen or so folks who did not receive your Half-Marathon finisher’s medallion at the race, your name is on a list at The Running Shop, where we expect to have them available by October 30th. Full results at http://www.azroadrunners.org.
4) If you did not receive your Gabe Zimmerman Triple Crown medallion, it is also at the Running Shop. The name of all Triple Crown registrants who did not receive the completion medal is at The Shop, so head over there and they will take care of you. Clearly, we are grateful to Sharon Bart and the gang at The Running Shop for being our post-race headquarters.
5) The www.facebook.com/southern.arizona.roadrunners page has over 250 photos of the race which can be downloaded, while an additional 1000+ photos can be purchased at http://goatographer.smugmug.com/RunningEvents/Get-Moving-Tucson-2014/
Again, I am grateful to all the participants, sponsors, volunteers, vendors, and partners!
Randy Accetta, Race Director
Now on to the race itself:
The 2014 edition marked the 10th year that the Get Moving Tucson race has been held Downtown, continuing our commitment to highlighting major locations in our community. However, this race has been held for over 30 years, originally held on a course staged at Sabino High School under the name the Special Olympic Benefit Run, otherwise known as the SOB 10-Miler. We are grateful to be part of this long-standing Tucson tradition.
The 2014 TMC Get Moving Tucson A-Mountain Half-Marathon was won by Alex Troncoso in 1:14:36. Despite trailing at the iconic “A” on top of Sentinel Peak, Alex rallied to win his first half-marathon ahead of UA grad student Kurt Michels (1:16:27). Alex and Kurt both run for the Running Shop Racing Team and are heading to the NYC Marathon in November.
Third place went to former Sunnyside High School standout, Anthony Francisco (1:17:58). The three men all took a wrong turn just past the 3.1 mile mark and ran an extra few hundred yards, but still managed to take home top honors even though they ran an estimated minute longer.
Women’s winner Autumn Ray, a doctor at TMC, finished in 1:22:06, ahead of training partner Amy Cole (1:23:40). Autumn and Amy both run for the Sonoran Distance Project, a group of women seeking Olympic Marathon Trials qualifying times. Danielle Higgins, former Pima Community College track standout, took third in 1:29:34.
In the Tucson Lifestyle 5k, Michigan’s David Jordan was first overall, while Christine Anderson was first woman in 20:05.
Over 1,300 registered for the event, with an average age of 41. As is the case nationally, the half-marathon and 5k skewed female, with over 700 female registrants. MEN: it’s time to start running and walking!!!
In the TMC A-Mountain Half, 557 runners finished, with special congratulations to our two last finisher who tied: Michael Moynihan and Debbie Ingraham. It is always such an inspiration to watch runners accomplish a momentous goal – and we think climbing A-Mountain and the middle of a half-marathon counts as a momentous goal!
Three-hundred and seventy-eight participants finished the companion Tucson Lifestyle 5k, while there were 89 official finishers in the Cox Charities One Mile, part of the SAR FitKidz series.
With a unique half-marathon course that climbs to the top of A-Mountain, Get Moving Tucson is the third leg of the Gabe Zimmerman Triple Crown. The TMC Get Moving Event raised $5,000 for Cox Charities which funneled funds to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Tucson. An additional $5,160 was raised via the Triple Crown to the late Gabe Zimmerman’s favorite regional charity, Child and Family Resources. In addition, local cross country and running teams from Sahuaro HS, St. Augustine HS, Catalina HS, and the UA’s Wildcat Running Club received funds.
Title sponsor Tucson Medical Center has supported the event for the past four years, allowing Tucson to have an urban half-marathon neighborhoods and communities not normally used in local running races. Cox Communications has been a recent major sponsor, including providing television the commercials and the children’s activities.
This year saw a cast of local businesses provide sponsorship:
The Running Shop
Tucson Racquet and Fitness Club
Dan Kalm State Farm
Afni Careers
Snell & Wilmer Law Firm
Eternal Spring Water
Media Sponsors include our friends at these local outlets:
Tucson Lifestyle Magazine and http://www.tucsonlifestyle.com
KHIT 107.5
Cox Communications
The Arizona Daily Star
Caliente at The Star
Tucson’s Morning Blend
In-Kind donations came from the following:
Waste Management
Rural Metro
Johnny Gibson’s Downtown Market and Rincon Market
Culligan Water
It takes a village to produce an urban race, and we’d like to thank all of our volunteers. Here is a partial list, comprised by Sheryl Felde, who manages the SAR volunteers:
Steve and Sheryl Felde
Stephan and Marti Ackermann
Susie Salmon
Connie Lopez
Shirley Hester
Leo Richard
Daryll Brosanders
Dean and Dennis Richards
Sandy White
Julie Stark
Craig Dabler
Cindy Schnell
Robin Gerard
Michelle Hawk
Linda Whelan
Gary Giese
Laura Marshall
Glenn and Andrew Peck
Joe Faulk
Doreen Castillo
Diane Manzini
Dari Duval
Anna Bees
Sue Abramson
Sandra Heater
John Chamberlain
Caitlyn Vass
Lucas Tyler
_____
Post-Race Survey Results: A quick thank you to all the TMC Get Moving Tucson participants who completed the survey we sent out.
As I write this, 137 Get Moving Tucson participants have completed the post-race survey we sent out 24 hours ago. I will keep reading through them, but I want you to know that we take your comments seriously.
As we know with surveys, it’s best to look for themes rather than one-off praise or criticism. In that vein, we hear you on the need for more restrooms, more medals for half-marathon finishers, and better signage/information on race day. We also hear you on the desire for a smoother pre-race t-shirt pickup.
Many of you acknowledge that in addition to your registration dollars, sponsors are an essential part of events like this. I want to thank you for acknowledging our roster of key sponsors: Tucson Medical Center, Cox Communications, The Running Shop, Dan Kalm State Farm (we will get him to have a booth next year!!), Afni, Snell & Wilmer, Tucson Racquet and Fitness Club – and our media sponsors of the Daily Star and Caliente, KHIT 107.5, Cox, Tucson Lifestyle, and The Morning Blend. Your survey indicates that many of you think higher of them for helping our sport – please be sure to let them know when you get a chance!
Many of you also acknowledge the value of the Gabe Zimmerman Triple Crown. (As an aside, please know how grateful we are to Ross Zimmerman and Emily Nottingham for allowing us to honor their son with this series.)
OK, now, to other topics that came up in the survey. . . Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” has this line: “Do I contradict myself? Very well, then, I contradict myself. I am large, I contain multitudes.”
In that spirit: some of you really didn’t like this year’s shirt – but way more of you said how much you liked it.
Experienced runners seem to not need medals, but new runners like them, even for short distances.
Some of you loved the volunteers on the course: “The people along the route were great! Especially the ones who gave out orange slices, how nice! And the cheerleaders, they help me more then I can let them know (at least while I’m running)”.
But others didn’t: “The course was gorgeous! The drummers on the mountain was so cool! But the people out on the course cheering were unenthusiastic. At one point, after I passed two of the boys near mile 11, they told me to run faster. I did not pay to have that type of experience and I would never pay to be criticized.”
Some of you said there was plenty of water along the course, while others said there weren’t enough water stations. For the record: we had water at 1.5, 3.1, 6.5, 7.5, 9.5 and 12 (and gatorade at 9.5).
In terms of pricing: many of you seem to recognize that SAR races are very inexpensive compared to other local and national-type races. Respondents are very clear that you want this type of lower pricing for local races and you don’t need special amenities such as a VIP pass. To that end, I will strive to keep the hometown feel that you say you like, but I may try adding some added menu items for the 2015 races I put on for those who want more.
Finally, a couple of one-off comments resonate for many of us who have lived in Tucson for a long time:
“Fix ALL the pot holes…I thought I was in a 3rd world country!”
and
“I’d be even happier if I beat Benito.”
