I’ve run Rock N Roll Marathons before. In fact, way, way back in 2007 I ran ALL of their events and was a ROCK STAR, a bonus distinction for having run the whole thing. Paid extra for my medal and had it framed and on my wall for a long, long while back when I had a place in Laurel Canyon. It was the beginning of my obsession compulsive running phase: “I’ll do this race series… and that race series… and I’ll make my own race series challenge!”
Of course, in 2007 there were only 5 events for the series. In the intervening years, that number ballooned — I lost track but I think they got up to almost 20 events in the before times, before the pandemic, before Covid. Right now they’ve cut back to 12… and they’ve dropped a number of events I had run. Virginia Beach. Raleigh. New Orleans. And they’ve cut the marathon distance from a lot of their events, with the half marathon being their cash cow and the city governments preferring roads be closed for shorter distances and less time. And this year seemingly marks the final marathon distance for Arizona.
I mainly came back to run the event on a bid to hit my numbers for Boston this year. So I wasn’t expecting much — honestly, my big complaint about Rock N Roll in previous years has been the corporate mindset and regimented McDonaldization of the races. It’s the same feel and vibe at one Rock N Roll race as it is at another… and the location’s personality rather shined through. You could find it on your own, separate from the event. I used to do so through Roadside America attractions or inviting family and friends for a beignet or three in NOLA.
But the years and the over-expansion trend took a toll on Rock N Roll as well — like I said, the event tally has been cut back and the distances too… but also the swag, amenities, and vibe. This year’s race expo for the Arizona event was almost laughably low rent. I get that it’s a lifestyle running expo but I really couldn’t fathom the hair extensions vendor exhibiting at the place. Felt like the kind of thing that happens when a TV station can’t fill the advertising slots so wind up promoting the local apple orchard. That’s not a denouncement of the local apple orchard, just that I’m sure they aren’t paying the same rates to advertise as, say, CryptoCurrency would for a Super Bowl advert, ya know? But money is money… and to each their own.
As for the run itself, it rained for the first hour or so of the race… and I was utterly baffled by the 10K starting 25 minutes before the full and half — felt like they were asking for congestion. However, as I stood along the corrals to cheer folks on, one of the 10Kers was dumping their outerlayer and handed it to me, saying I looked cold. I regret not being able to keep the robe — it was actually a really nice robe! But the kindness of strangers and runners sometimes shines through…
Boring is about the best way to describe the course — like a lot of Rock N Roll events, they try and minimize the impact on the city by looping us out of the way… which makes for a somewhat anonymous experience.
As generic as the course was, I will say, I’ve never seen this sign anywhere else…
A major criticism of this course, and it hardly matters since they aren’t running a marathon distance again here, is that they kept looping us past the finish line — at least twice, and maybe three or four times (I lost track). The cruelest was running us past the finish line festival at mile 23. I was… unimpressed.
The long and winding road of it all is that I came, I ran, and I went home. Better than I came, I ran, and I didn’t finish, so we take what we can get…
RIP, 26.2…
