Marathon Details - Planet Adventure Trail Marathon

North America Marathons > USA > IN > Battleground > Planet Adventure Trail Marathon

Planet Adventure Trail Marathon

Battleground, IN USA

April 3, 2010

http://www.planetadventurerace.com

News

Marathon Results

By Year:

2010 Top 3 Finishers

Race Details

The course leaves Battleground, heading towards the Lafayette area on the Heritage Trail... All Courses: The out and back course will take you along dirt trails with a likely shallow water crossing. Marathon Course: You'll encounter some upgraded paved sections of trail through the Lafayette area, and then back onto dirt trails that may get a little sandy at times. Hills: Some rollers along the riverbanks but nothing major

Contact Information

Name:	James Nichols
Address:	12447 Windbush Way Carmel IN 46033
Phone Number:	317-565-9110
Fax Number:	n/a
Email:	Email the organizers

Race Organizer

1st Marathon Promoter (4/7/10)

Matthew Jourdan

Thank you to all racers that came out! As we are first time promoters we understand we learn as we go. The feedback has been outstanding and we appreciate input to help us make it better. Aid stations will be updated, and we now know to just flood each station with goodies. We did raise a lot of money for the Heritage Trail and they are grateful! The hand crafted wooden metals with metal plate where presented to each racer. Visors instead of tee shirts since everyone said they had enough of the 'common' swag so we tried something different. Love the Facebook profiles with pictures of muddy shoes! Look forward to a dry race next year!!

Runner Reviews (3)

Course 3.7

Organization 1.7

Spectators 1.7

Write a review

Number of comments: 3

K. C. from Mattoon, Illinois (4/9/2010) "Mud Run Through Hell" (about: 2010) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Planet Adventure Trail Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 1 As this was my first marathon ever, I can't provide a fair comparison on much. However, I thought the trail was a blast. The layout had a good mix of trails, hills and flat ground. But that run through the river muck was tough on the old legs. Overall, the quality of the event itself was okay for its first year. I'm sure next year we will see improvement in things such as the aid stations and so on. I definitely plan on returning next year and hope to run it in dry weather.
Nick Fellers from Ohio (4/5/2010) "Adventure, YES, but could improve in years to come" (about: 2010) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Planet Adventure Trail Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 Note: There's no way to give spectators a rating of NA, but there are no spectators here, as this was a trail run. If you treat this like a long trail run with some bananas at the end, you will have a great time. When compared against other marathons, it needs a lot of work. It rained a lot - making for a muddy, muddy course. That's not the race director's fault, but it definitely compounded runners' frustrations. The event also featured shorter races 5K, 10K, 15K and half. It seemed like aid stations and directions were well thought out for shorter routes but not well planned for the marathon (out-and-back course). The volunteers supposed to staff and mark the 13.1 turnaround did not arrive before the first quarter of the field - many of us got lost in the woods, adding mileage and without water. In terms of organization, it was unacceptable; but we all survived, bonded and laughed. I gave the 2010 (1st annual) race low marks, but if the RD listens to feedback, it could be a great race in the future. Note: I gave the course only three stars because we had to jury rig some road crossings and hurdle guardrails. On the bright side? Mile markers were clear. :) Also, being a small trail run, it brought out the die-hards. Ran with some great people during the race. Bottom line: Run this one for adventure, bring your own water bottle and supplements, and don't expect a PR (especially if it rains). Enjoy.
S. H. from Chicago (4/3/2010) "The result of doing things on the cheap" (about: 2010) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Planet Adventure Trail Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 This was an unimpressive marathon event. There was minimal information on the Planet Adventure website. Then, a couple of days before the race, the Race Director sent an e-mail stating that there was no aid station between the half marathon turnaround and the marathon turnaround. He apparently got a lot of immediate feedback because another aid station was added. Water was the only thing offered at most of the aid stations. Then, at the pre-race announcements, the Race Director said his race was part of 50 States, which was a group where runners completed a marathon in each state in one year. He had no clue. There was no race shirt (which is not a problem for most of us). Instead, each runner got a Planet Adventure visor. At the end of the race, each finisher got a piece of wood from the trail with a Planet Adventure sticker. A sticker! The bottom line is that the first-time marathon finishers have nothing that shows they ran or completed a marathon. That's sad, and that's Planet Adventure's fault. Post-race, Planet Adventure and the Race Director provided bananas, animal cookies and Heed. At the end of the race, I asked about an age group award. The Race Director said that only age groups with at least 5 finishers got age group awards. These were also hand-made awards, so it wasn't a large expense. When dry, the race course will be good. Unfortunately, much of the course today was composed of slick mud and shoe-sucking mud. Disregarding the course, though, of the approximately 100 marathons I have run in the past 5 years, Planet Adventures race easily ranks among the bottom 3 in runner experience.