Where: Linn-Mar High School Stadium, 3333 N. 10th St., Marion, IA 52302
Description: The Linn-Mar Growl Prowl 5K Run/Walk, Youth Mile Run, and Kids’ Fun Run provides an opportunity for everyone in the family to participate. The event is both for runners and walkers.
Website: http://www.growlprowl.com
Contact: Mike Shipley
Cost – $22 prior to race day (not including a $3.25 online processing fee.) $30 for race day.
Race Route – The 5K was an out and back route and was almost solely on 10th street, which is fairly flat. There was a decent incline towards the end of the race before the home stretch, but nothing too significant. The 8K runners veered off from the 5K runners about 3K into the race. I ran the 5K, so can’t speak to the 8K additional route. The 1 mile and 2 mile markers were right on where my GPS stated, but for some reason the course ended up being 3.17 miles for the 5K. I’m not sure how close the 8K was.
Organization – Excellent. Parking was easy. Packet pickup was very quick. They had the announcements tied into the Linn-Mar football stadium. They could have had a couple speakers right near the start line, but there really wasn’t any confusion.. There were tons of volunteers on all parts the route cheering everyone on and when the 8K runners veered off from the 5K, they had two people explicitly stating where to go along with signs. One interesting thing was that the announcer had someone feeding him the bib numbers of people coming around the corner finishing the race so he would announce the people coming into the finish line.
Chip Timing – Starting and finishing timing mat. Times posted continually after the race was completed.
Post Race Festivities – Snacks included water, bananas, granola bars, bagels, donuts, apples, and cookies. There were also some kids runs after the awards ceremonies.
Prizes/Awards – The awards ceremony was inside the stadium and the winners were announced over the loudspeaker, which was nice. Awards were given to top two in each age group. The age groups were approximately every 10 year increments. The awards were really neat and each award listed what division/place it was for.
Overall – Highly recommend.
Well organized, great volunteers. Course had some slight inclines but is relatively flat.post race has your standard food bananas, water, store bought cookies, and granola bars. Chipped timed.
Great event, looking forward to next year!