DRC HALF - Dallas Running Club Half Marathon

Daylight Savings Time
Race day morning, at 2 am, you should move your clocks BACK an hour to reset it to 1 am.  This means that you will gain an hour of sleep before your big race.  It also means that if you forget, you'll just be one hour early for the race!
 
Weather
Right now, it's looking like it could be sunny with temperatures between 55 and 75 degrees.  Beautiful running weather!
 
Race Location
Norbuck Park is located at the southeast corner of Northwest Highway and Buckner Blvd in Dallas.  The physical address for Norbuck Park is 200 N. Buckner, Dallas, TX 75218.  Click here for a map of the race site.
 
Parking
We will have limited parking available at Flagpole Hill.  Flagpole Hill is just west of the intersection of Northwest Highway and Buckner Blvd on the north side of the road. It's a very short walk to the race site from the parking area. Be sure to arrive early to make sure you get a parking spot.  

Chip Timing Info
DRC Half will be using the Chronotrack system. The timing is handled with a disposable RFID tag initially attached to the race bib. Your timing chip will be on your bib, so you will pick it up at packet pickup.  Before the race, runners will need to detach the "D" tag from the bib and follow simple directions for attaching it to their shoe.  If you own a ChampionChip, it will not work with this system.
 
DRC Half Pace Team Info
The Pace Team Leaders will line up 30 minutes before the race on the right side of the road by the start corral.  They will be lined up in finish time order, holding up their signs.  Who are the Pace Leaders?  Meet them here...

Packet Pickup
You must pick up your packet at the location you signed up for.  Packet Pickup will be available at the 4 Run On! Stores Wednesday, October 29, through Saturday, November 1 and on race day morning at the race site, Norbuck Park. 
 
Those that chose "Race Day at the Event" may pick up before race day at the Run On! Dallas store.
 
We encourage people to pick up their packets early - we could not have anticipated such a large amount to register so vendors only provided enough samples and flyers for 4,000 packets, and we are expecting 5,000 total registrants.  So after the first 4,000 packets are handed out, the remainder will receive their shirt and bib but no flyers or samples in a packet.
 
Dates and Times:
Wednesday, October 29, 2008 from 10 am to 7 pm
Thursday, October 30, 2008 from 10 am to 7 pm
Friday, October 31, 2008 from 10 am to 7 pm
Saturday, November 1, 2008 from 10 am to 6 pm
 
Locations:
Run On! Dallas, 5400 E Mockingbird #114, Dallas, Texas 75206, 214-821-0909
Run On! Richardson, 1469 W Campbell, Richardson, Texas 75080, 972-231-8260
Run On! Coppell, 680 N Denton Tap Rd Suite #400, Coppell, Texas 75019, 972-956-5550
Run On! McKinney, 5180 Eldorado Pkwy #200, McKinney, Texas 75070, 972-540-0333
Visit the Run On! website

You may also pick up your packet race morning at Norbuck Park.
 
No-shows (those who do not pick up their packet race week or race day) will not be mailed their event shirt.
 
DRC Half and DRC Apparel For Sale at the Race  
Bring your cash and checks - we'll be having a FIRE SALE of running merchandise - name-brand technical apparel at great prices.  Any event shirts not picked up before the race will be immediately moved to the merchandise area when the race starts.  They can be purchased at that point.  Or if you bring your event shirt with the tag still attached you can exchange it for a different shirt size if ones in that size are still available.
 
Bag Drop
Bag drop will be available near the start/finish line of the race. A sign will be on the tent indicating the location.
 
The bag you received your packet in, will serve as your bag for dropped items. If you have misplaced this, your own gym bag can be utilized.
 
Bag drop instructions will be in your race packets - look for the flyer.
 
Note:  DRC is not responsible for valuables left in the bag drop area so please do not place anything valuable in your bag.

As a race director, for me, race week is chaotic, more than most people could realize.  I am very sorry if you did not get into the half marathon, but please don't take it out on me.  < I am not looking for pity here, I just want everyone know what really goes on behind-the-scenes as a race director >

I have tried SO hard to communicate exactly how close to the cap of 4,000 since we announced it over a month ago.  As a runner, I hate when a race cap completely surprises you when the race gave no warning.  Or worse, races that heavily inflate how close they are to their cap, and as a race director this drives me crazy - it violates the trust we have with the runner.

So about a month ago, you could go to the DRC Half website or watch for blog entries here, to see the progress towards the cap.  65%...70%...80%...  Then I even went so far in the last week to have a note on the main page of the DRC Half Marathon website showing the exact percentage and an "as of" date and time.  So then you saw 93%...94%...96%...97%...98%...99%.  Then, "less than 100 slots left", "less than 70 slots left", and finally "less than 25 slots left". 

And then at 1:30 am the morning of Monday, October 27, we hit our cap!  The momentum of this year's race has been incredible.  And I get so excited that you all are looking forward to this event as much as I am!

Now maybe you don't want to miss out on the excitement since your friends registered a week and a half ago, and you forgot and have slapped yourself in the forehead.  Don't despair.  You can still go ahead and run the 5K, and then cheer in all of your friends!

I can't wait to see ALL of you race day morning.  And I really truly hope everyone has a great race experience.  And thank a volunteer - this event can not happen without the 15 Team Leads, 8 Assistant Team Leads, 450 volunteers, and our awesome sponsors!

Only XS and S sizes left for the half marathon event, and only 275 slots left before we hit the cap. 

Over 25% full on the 5K as well.

Check that all your info is correct.  See the list here...

You may not change your shirt size from what you had signed up for.  You may only change your packet pickup location until Friday, October 24.  Email us to change packet pickup location.  Note that "Race Day at the Event" pick-uppers can pick up at the Run On! Dallas store if they want to get their packet early - which is advisable because we have a limited number of packets.  Not enough packets if we hit our cap in both events and everyone picks up their packet.

Just a few days after the 80% full announcement, those registrations just keep coming in.  We are beginning to run low on Large and X-Small technical shirts, less than 80 of each.  Still a couple hundred Small and Mediums left though.

I keep reminding everyone that we only have 4,000 event shirts for the half marathon to match our 4,000 person cap.  Of course we can't completely predict what size everyone is ahead of time, so we've given it our absolute best estimate, based on past registrant data and allowing for the fact that these are unisex shirts so people will want slightly smaller sizes than gender-specific shirts.  When we're out of a size, I'm trying to post it both here and on the race website. 

You know the saying "A few bad apples can spoil the bunch?"  Well I am trying to eliminate the 10-20 nasty emails or race week registration in-person confrontations that will come where I'm accused of not letting everyone know there were limited shirt quantities.  I don't know why there's this tiny percentage of people who think I have 4,000 shirts in EACH size, printed, standing by, eating up the entire race proceeds, in case everyone wants a Small shirt that year, for example. <sigh>

So tell your friends, tell your running buddies, shout it on your next run around White Rock Lake, but just know that before the race, maybe even before race week in-person registration starts, we will probably hit the race maximum and those left couple hundred people may not all get the size they wanted.

Happy Running, and thank you to everyone for understanding why this race cap has been put in place - to make sure there are plenty of resources (water, Gatorade, finisher medals, event shirts, and volunteers) to make the race an enjoyable experience for our participants.

We still need 40 more people who are not running the DRC Half to help race day morning, November 2.  If you or a friend or family member can help, please email us your first and second choice of these race day volunteering options:
 
* Timers (shout time splits at mile markers)
* Course Monitors (help runners stay on course)
* Aid Station Help
* Race Site 6-9 am shift (variety of jobs available)
* Race Site 8:30-11:30 am shift (variety of jobs available)
* Race Site 9:30-12:00 pm shift (variety of jobs available)

If you can include your shirt size, mailing address, and phone number in the email too, that's a huge help to us!

We want to make sure the runners and walkers have all the volunteers we can handy to make the race a success for them - includes manning bag check, handing out finisher medals, coordinating aid stations on the course, serving post-race food, etc.

A race is nothing without its volunteers!  It just couldn't happen without them!

Registrations continue to be way above the norm for us for the DRC Half on Nov. 2. At this moment, we are 80% full for the capped 4,000-registrant half marathon. There is a lot more room left in the 5K, but we anticipate that this race will quickly hit the cap once the half marathon fills up. There will not be any race week in-person registration if the race fills up before then. Register now.

Registration counts have exploded since we announced the race cap.  Because event shirts have to be ordered in advance, we only have a certain number of these New Balance technical shirts in each size.  There are no longer any XX-Large shirts available for the half marathon distance.  And under 100 left of a couple other sizes. 

Note: All sizes are still available for the 5K event.

If you delay in registering, you may still be able to do that a week and a half from now, but there's a chance you'll be asking your friends/children/spouse if they want a nice DRC Half shirt because you can't wear the sizes still available at that point.

It's less than a month away and we are anticipating a record turn out as registrations are already up 50% from last year.  Due to this overwhelming response, the Dallas Running Club is announcing a cap of 4,000 for the Half Marathon and 1,000 for the 5K. 
 
In order for the DRC to ensure that there are plenty of refreshments including water, isotonic beverages, and energy supplements, as well as, event shirts, finisher medals and additional supplies it is necessary to cap the entries. 
 
So don’t delay!  Now is the time to register!
 
From everyone at the DRC and on behalf of our sponsors we want to thank you for your continued support and we look forward to seeing you on November 2nd!

We'll have a big announcement coming in the next couple days about the Dallas Running Club Half Marathon on November 2.  It will be a first for this race in the 32 years people have been running it here in Dallas.  The title of this post is a clue to what it will be about!  So keep an eye out - I have to go work out the final details and prepare the announcement now!