Muddy Monk Nearly Sane Trail Half Marathon

Pros
–Trail run! Nuf said. But in all seriousness this course was really nice to run, it wasn’t at all an obstacle course like I was thinking it might be, being called a «trail run» and all. Shade in many areas, slight breeze, beautiful scenery and the terrain was fairly even covered in dirt or crusted limestone. There were slight dips and inclines but for the most part the elevation didn’t vary significantly. I’m only 2% disappointed I didn’t get muddy. I have a feeling the shorter races the Monk puts on are much dirtier.
–Water/​aid stations were well placed along the course. They were single and double manned but it was a smaller race (less than 450 runners?) and they were able to accommodate the race traffic great.
–Post Race Partay. Seriously the best post-​sweat fest I’ve ever been to. They had granola bars, bananas, mini Cliff bars, CANDY! Like a candyland buffet style candy; peanut & regular M&M’s, Twizzlers, gummy worms, lemonheads and a box of random candy… it was seriously like they stole some kids Halloween loot. Oh and that’s not all: (cheese)burgers, Chicago style hot dogs and BEER fresh from the tap. Lazy Monk beer no less, nice touch.
Cons
–The start. It was almost comical how the race started with all 450 or so runners in a pace and then 100 ft away the course turned into a VERY narrow path through the woods that lead down to the main trail, which was ample in width. To say there was a major bottle neck would sum it up. The timer may have started but I didn’t start running for at least 5 minutes… I walked (everyone walked, single file) through that small section of the course because it was that tight and that narrow and there were so many people all at once.
Indifferent
–Packet pickup was available on 3 dates, the Thursday and Friday before the race at Chicago’s Lakeview Universal Sole and on race day.
–The race started at 9am. This is like SUPER late for a summer race. I got both ways on this. I like to sleep in. I don’t like to start a race fully awake. I also don’t like to run in the heat… but it wasn’t too warm by the time the race started. Perfect weather.
–Communication. The website doesn’t tell you everything you would need to know about the race, like where to start, course map, etc. Those deets are in the email communications… don’t loose the emails! The website in general is a little vague about things, I really like a good website… this one was a little hard to get the info I was seeking from the Monk. However, he is easy to reach via email and responds quick.
–Despite the late start, I still got there seconds before the race started so 4 port-a-potty’s seemed like plenty to me… everyone else just dirty them up for me.
–The timing. We were not provided with chips, our time was tracked via our bibs… so everyone’s time started at the buzzer (Monk’s don’t play with guns to start a race). I personally don’t think it’s a super accurate way to gather time but it works just fine if you running for fun.
–Course. It was a loop that we had to run 2x’s. No bathrooms on the course, glad I took that 20 second leak. Gatorade and water available only, no Gu or energy shots. I brought my own so I was totally fine with that energy perk not being there.
–Garmin says «12.18». Now I’m not saying my Garmin had the distance down exactly but based on my personal race clock I know this wasn’t a true half marathon. But I’m really complaining because this was a fun run for me and I was about ready to be done by mile 12… I just wish I would have known I would only have to run 12 because I would have kicked it faster at the end.
Bottom line… I would do it again. A burger and beer at the finish line was worth the wait for me to finally get there.