Indy Classic

Damn I thought this was going to be a thread about interpol's new album.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I have signed up for the Bloomington half. We'll stay there on Friday and then hang out in Indianapolis on Saturday, fly back Sunday. I'm sure the wife and kids will enjoy it. Since airfare to Indy is still fairly cheap, I will probably fly back alone in October to finish this state. Overall the total cost will still be reasonable. This will probably make for one of my more interesting marathon stories someday.

I can't even root against the Colts like I said I would because I have Peyton Manning on my FF team.

Still no refund yet, but it's only been five days...

darryl wrote:

Still no refund yet, but it's only been five days...

i saw in one of the articles on the indy star that only EIGHT people requested refunds. or at least that is what the organizers claim. my guess is the vast majority may not even know the race date has changed.

but since only 8 want their money back i see no reason why they should not be able to send it out right away...

to read the announcements from the marathon, you get the impression that the registered runners were HAPPY with the date change because the weather would have been too hot etc.

the marathon website continues to have some misleading statement about why the marathon was postponed. it implies they changed it based on weather concerns and says nothing about the fact that the real reason was the city stopped the race since the marathon could not meet its commitments that it made to get the permit.

the city asked for the NAMES of the volunteers, not just numbers of them. the race could not give them names and appears not to have had many volunteers in place at all.

i think you would be a fool to run this race, or not to ask for your money back. i would ask for mine back on principle alone.

interestingly, hal higdon was quoted in an article saying he advises against running first time marathons. hh is an indiana resident.

Darryl -

Some have already given you some solid ideas for what you can do with your family in Indy - you might find this a good resource for additional information:

www.indy.org

Let us know if you have any other questions about anything in particular - there are a few local Indy residents on this thread that I think would be more than happy to help...

word

This place has really good pizza:

http://www.bazbeaux.com/locations.html

Their Broad Ripple location has a rooftop deck that is really nice late afternoon/early evening when the sun is not beating down. It's a family place, the kids can be rambunctious and have a good time, you can sip a Sierra Nevada or glass of wine and watch the hipsters trickle into Broad Ripple for the night's partying. Very pleasant. Not the easiest area for parking, but quite safe if you have to walk a few blocks.

Their downtown location is in a gentrifying/gentrified area that also is good for people watching.

The Hall of Fame Museum out at the track is great for kids and quite a bargain. Many historic racing cars if you're into that.

http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/museum/

The latest update in today's Star. Not all that reassuring if you ask me...

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070905/SPORTS/709050424/1247/SPORTS

I have a hard time believing only 56 refunds have been issued. If that is really the case, I bet the registration #'s are much lower than are being reported...or possibly the majority of them are in the "5k marathon" and the half marathon, and not the full.

Hey, the other locals have chimed in so I will too..... I for one did not think the article indicated things are any more messed up than previously surmised. But I too will be very curious to find out how many registrants for full Marathin they actually have. And lastly I will be very curious to see what comes out of the Oct. 3 meeting.

I just ran 4 miles on Trails at Town Run. It was HOT !

Count me in as someone who can't stop watching this train wreck. The website is absolutely sublime. Every time I view it, I find something new to laugh at.

The best line on the site is this: "5k participants who finish within 6 hours will receive a finisher's medal." How embarrassed would you be if you were the one slug who couldn't pump out a few 120 min/miles to get this medal?

To me, it's not that things seem MORE messed up in that article... it's that things do not seem to be much better. At all. And they didn't even attend the city's meeting? Yeeks.

I was one of the 56 who requested a refund, and FWIW, they did send me a check. Too bad it doesn't cover my travel costs.

If there's really 14k people signed up... which makes NO SENSE... then that's got to be in the 5k and maybe the half. Given the way they've advertised the race and the crappy website, I can't figure that more than a few hundred poor souls would pony up 90 bucks for the full - even BEFORE they changed the date and ticked everyone off.

This race unfortunately has made Joel's Indianapolis Marathon go through a lot of extra work and self-defense for something they have nothing to do with.

Blah.

The original Indy Star article quoted Delen Parnella as saying there were over 4000 registered for the full marathon, 4000 for the half, and over 1000 for the 5k (can't find it any more online, but luckily I printed it out). The numbers have always been dubious. Also amazing to me is that there is yet another new name and title mentioned now (Race spokesman Brian Meyers), who of course adds on to the lie with another lie (...said the event "is going to go on, and it's going to be stronger.") Stronger than what? Nothing builds strength and confidence like postponing the race, ignoring the city, and continuing on with that ridiculous web site. Who's in charge here? Besides Ms Parnella, we have seen Cliff Redden, Jeanne Johnson, Clayton Wilkins, and Sue Bozgoz. So many leaders, yet none can find the time to meet with the city? Preposterous.

On the plus side, I did get my refund. Interestingly, the signature on the check was just a squiggly line - no way to get a name from it. I'm still coming to Indy this weekend. I'm hooked on this bizarre mystery... and I need to see how it all ends!

Well, I hope you enjoy your visit to our fine city. Tonight is a big night, NLF kickoff 'n all that, the weekend should be nice. You got some good suggestions about places to go and things to see. The Children's museum should probably be #1 on your list, if you're bringing kids, the Dale Chihuly glass sculpture there is awesome.

I'll be manning my booth at the Circle City Flea Market on the Southside if you need any t-shirts, stickers, or other knick-knacks.

As for the Indy Classic.....trainwreck. You want to turn and stare, right? I think Joel Sauer should sue them for causing him tons of trouble. Poor guy.

Interesting thread. Glad I am not anywhere near this race. Website is hilarious. Explanations seem very suspicous around this whole fiasco and the race organizers are in way over their head.

My guess: No more than 1000 finishers for the marathon if in fact they do hold it in November and maybe 2500 for the half.

Their website claims that they have 13,000 runners (they don't say what events), and aren't taking any more applications for the marathon. It looks like you can still use ther online registration form.

http://www.indyclassicmarathon.com/index.html

It is funny that many avid runners in the area, who run local road races have not even heard of this race until the article came out that it was being postponed.

I KNOW this is wrong, I truly do, but there is a part of me that wants to see this crash and burn for the pure spectacle of it. I wish I was a better person.

Getting ready for the trip tomorrow...

Don't feel bad JB, this crap-ass marathon deserves to crash and burn. Even the decent people (I think Sue Bozgoz is one) have made the silly mistake of appealing to a small forum - not to insult you all, but still - instead of fixing the gosh darn web site. Isn't that where you should be informing and assuring runners about the changes?

Why leave bagdad bob in charge? "Yes there are no problems, only 8 or maybe 56 persons Are Ask For Refund, many more Prefer the New Date due to the Weather and unanticipated size of this great Race, why Are You So Full of Hate?" - ok that is not a true quote but it is in the TRUE SPIRIT OF THE INDY CLASSIC!!!!

There is not ONE SINGLE PERSON I AM AWARE OF that has been notified by the indy classic that the date was changed. That is pathetic.

Train wreck indeed. In slow motion...

For those of you who registered, have you not been directly contacted about the date change? If not, someone in Indy needs to go to the start line this weekend and report back on how many people are there and what happens!