General comments: (103)

6:30 Start?

A beautiful race

A challenging race, well managed by runners for runners.

A day well spent.

A great race, well organized, great awards to age group winners. a challenging race that attracts A great field. this is a race that will be a fixture on my racing schedule for years to come. I improved on my 2002 time and hope to improve again in 2004.

A great, well run race and a good warm up for Pikes

A superior race!! Superior organization with lots of money going to good causes. I didn’t understand the race for the money part when the horn is blasted twice.

Always a great race, the mid-race primes were a neat idea, but it’s too bad they weren’t available for ‘mid pack’ folks...

Another fantastic race, great job to the organizers and sponsors.

Another great BTMR. Thanks.

As a volunteer, I observed a person at the bottom of the hill yelling out numbers to the announcer. Perhaps a walkie-talkie might work better, numbers would be heard more clearly. There are some on sale this week at Target (?) for $10. They would not have to be high quality, they only have to reach one block.

As usual, a superb job of organization. First-class event. Appreciated the shade-tent at the finish area.

Award duplication ie-top runner also place in age group

Can’t wait till next year!

Congrats all round to the organizers, sponsors and volunteers. The High Schools were great!

Darn hard and loved it.

Difficult in the heat

Finish area to small

Finish line was extremely crowded and frustrating. Also, Barr Camp aid station didn’t meet expectations-- I can usually hear them well outside of the camp but this year I couldn’t hear them until I made it to the camp gate. But my time improved notably, so I can’t be too negative.

Fun race

Fun race

Good race, well run

Good run. Good volunteers and run organization.

Good tough race, not for the weak.....

Great

Great event

Great event — this was my first trail running race and I will plan on making this one a yearly stop.

Great job & I look forward to being back next year.

Great job.

Great job... keep up the good work

Great race

Great race

Great race

Great race — well organized and run — great that you give so much to charity and help the local cross country teams — the finish line is run ok just the “little” hill is a killer

Great race and wonderful organization. It was really fun!

Great race overall, thank you very much for putting it on! The prize money was phenomenal and attracts the good competition. Keep up the good work!

Great Race!

Great race! It’s my favorite. Good organization and great support on the mountain. The race packets weren’t as good as last year, but I won’t complain since the race is non-profit.

GREAT RACE!!!

Great race, but I’m a road runner and won’t be back.

Great race, great atmosphere, try to stream line awards ceremony to 30 minutes.

Great race, I’m glad the BTMR didn’t just give to “mountain related” non profits, giving to human service orgs was great!!

Great race. I’ll run it again any year I can make the trip out.

Great race. Very well organized and I like the fact that all proceeds go to local organizations. Keep up the great work.

Great race. Well put on.

I did not run the BTMR in 2003, so as to focus more on higher altitude training for the Pikes Peak Marathon.

I enjoyed the race very much — I like the fact that so much is given back to the community.

I had fun

I loved running in this race and plan do run next year.

I loved the race and was pleased overall.

I preferred when you pre-drew the raffle items

I think that most runners are early morning people--START IT EARLIER-Would Help w/Heat

I thought it was a very well run race. I love the course, but as mentioned above it would have been nice to have one more aid station. I am not thrilled with the duplication of awards because I don’t see why three or four people would take 3 or 4 different awards and prizes, just seems a little silly, but its not my race and I respect the folks who work so hard to put it on. They can do what ever they want with there race:) Overall, another great event!

I was a little worried about my friends who didn’t finish in time and wondered if they and other stragglers got any support from the returning aid station workers.

I would have like to see something more going on at Soda Springs Park after the race. It’s quite pleasant there as opposed to the heat and crowd at the finish. I was surprised to find more water and watermelon at the park when I got down there. Maybe a band or some sponsor expos/give aways prior to the awards ceremony.

I would love to run again next year, but the Air Force is sending me to Japan :(

I’m an inexperienced racer. This was only my second race ever so I don’t have much to compare it to. But I liked the fact that it was a fairly small race and it seemed to be very well organized. I did this race so I could run part of the Barr trail before the PPA. Something makes me think the crowds in that race will make me frustrated and I won’t have as much fun. Keeping the race small definitely seems like a good thing to me. Get people in the race that want to race, or really test themselves, not just people who want a race t-shirt. I also thought the high school aid station challenge is a great idea. All of them did a real good job.

I’m going to be very sore tomorrow

I’m hooked

Injured this year. Want to run next year.

It seems that this race is more geared for the professional runner. There are duplicate awards which I can live with, but the primes. Nobody but the top 2-4 runners have any chance at those. So, I sat at the awards ceremony and saw the same people get the overall and age group awards as well as the extra cash. I would rather have seen that extra money go to charity or non-profits. The king of the hill prize is fine, but I did not like the others.

looking forward to next year--another 1st place age group award?

My first time doing the BTMR also my first race in 5 years. What a way to break back into things.

NICE JOB

Overall a great race.

Overall a very well run race.

Overall very well organized race.

Perfect

Really enjoyed the race and the drawings were a nice touch for those of us who did not place!

See you next year

START THE RACE AT 6:30am...??

Thank you all much for a terrific, well run race.

Thank you so much for supporting the high school teams. The contributions can support a team for the whole year which means the athletes can focus on training and not on fundraising. P.S. could you please let Palmer get in next year?

Thanks for a putting on a great race. The website was very informative. I checked it often.

Thanks for all the hard work. I’d like to be more involved with the race next year.

Thanks for great organization. High school groups were great. Wonderful day.

Thanks for putting it together

Thanks for putting on a super race!!!

Thanks to everyone for a tremendous race experience

The committee puts on an amazing event. It is wonderful seeing so many high school students involved in trail running. The donations to the local schools and other organizations were so terrific! Big thumbs up on the good deeds!

The feel of this race is professional but friendly. The high school track aid stations add an upbeat, fun energy. The race is extremely well-organized and communication is excellent. Matt Carpenter is so generous with his talent and expertise. It is an honor to run in a race that clearly has his footprint all over it.

The finish line seems a little too busy and crowded. But I don’t know where else you guys could do the finish.

The focus on local charities is commendable and adds a lot to the race. The aid station challenge and the enthusiasm at the aid stations were great.

The race committee deserves a big pat on the back. The race was great and all of the money going to the non-profit goods was wonderful. Keep up the good work. I hope to make back in the future.

The sound system was muffled at the awards ceremony which made it difficult to pick up what was being said at times. It sounded like the bass was cranked and the treble was minimized. Overall, despite my knee injury, it was a great race. Keep up the good work!

The website was a little vague on parking and transportation for spectators. Manitou’s shuttle does not run on Sundays.

This is a good event.

This is a great race!

This race is awesome! I can’t wait to do it next year.

This race should be the benchmark for all races! You give back to the community and yet you still strive to bring in the fast runners. Most claim it can’t be done!

This was a wonderful experience!

Thought it was a fun race. Loved the aid stations. Was quite a bit harder than I thought it would be... especially on those switchbacks.

To make this race even better for the participant I provide the following suggestions for improvement understanding that there are limitations that cannot always be overcome. First would be the shade factor at the end of the race. There were only two tents to seek shelter under and that last part of the race was pretty warm. The addition of a larger tent for runners to gather under would be appreciated. The other issue I found frustrating was parking. There was plenty of it and I had no problem finding any close to Ruxton Ave, staying off that street as the race requested. The issue at hand is with the Manitou Springs Police Department. I finished in a time of 3 about 10 AM. Another runner and I returned to our vehicles located on the main avenue off of Ruxton. As we were getting in our cars a parking enforcement officer marked our vehicles with chalk for being parked there longer than 3 hours. This seemed a bit silly considering the effort that all runners put into running a race like this. I think the race should issue each runner a parking pass to put in their vehicle to avoid future problems regarding ticketing for overstaying a 3 hour parking limit. I expect most people would stop by some of the shops and restaurants before leaving. This benefits Manitou business. If the parking issue isn’t resolved it could cause a problem for the races future. The other runner whom I met while walking back to the car was quite miffed to find his car being marked for being parked to long. I am a former law enforcement officer and there are ways to work around this issue. If I can be of any assistance in helping the BMTR resolve the parking issue, please let me know. I’m sure you have already been working with the MSPD for this race anyways.

Tough race! The fee could be higher to earn more for the cause.

Very nicely done. Thank you.

Very well done. I had a great time and it seemed many other people did as well.

Very well organized very runner friendly

Was a great day

We volunteered carrying water up the W’s. Lots of young kids struggling with broken plastic bags and sore arms. We had rucksacks which made all the difference and were able to help out where we could. Got to get the advice out to everyone to bring a rucksack next year! Heard several cursing kids saying they won’t do it again... Otherwise looked like a great race.

We will keep you on staff another year.

What happened to the sodas at the finish line? There weren’t any this year.

You guys did a great job. see you next year

You guys do a great job!