Garmin KC Marathon Races (October 21, 2023)

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by BWillie

I liked it. I just like competing. It was my first 5k but the race distance was indeed off and longer. The map said 3.25 miles so I expected it. When I got done my Garmin watch had 3.23 miles. I started my watch right as I crossed the starting line...which in itself took forever to get to since we were packed in there like cattle so my first mile was really slow. I ran it in 27:37 but it would have been faster if it was a true 5 kilometers.

That thing is quite an event. I probably bit off more than I can chew. I'm not a very good runner but there were professional looking people everywhere. Tents everywhere. Vendors. It was quite the deal. Next year I plan to either get there early or watch the end of the marathon finish to really soak it in.

Very cool but remember for future reference almost no race is exact distance and GPS watches aren’t perfectly accurate either.

Most races just want to make sure they aren’t short because it disqualifies any times for records and believe it or not state records for age and gender happen at events all the time. So if anything they go a bit long rather than risk being short.
Plus it’s just hard to make a course that hits exact distances anyway.