General comments: (105)

A great race to take part in—organized to perfection as always.

Again, great race from a variety of perspectives. I really appreciate the sum of all the little things you are doing to make this an extraordinary race. I point to this race as an example to other races that seem to forgot that racing is about the runners. Please the runners, and they will be glad to contribute to your race year in and out. How about a team competition? How about keeping records for best 2nd place (kind of like what T&FN does), etc? Or best splits (I know this is trivial number stuff but Matt you seem to like to crunch numbers with the rest of us).

All the good things I heard about this race were true. I’ll be back next year for sure.

Another awesome race! It has been beat into our brains via the website, the e-mails and the awards ceremony that sponsors make it possible so I guess the question is how is it this race gets so many sponsors? Is this race just that good or are other races just that bad?

Another seamless race, very well organized

As always, I am grateful for the opportunity to participate in this race. I started running in 2003 and consider myself as someone who is trying to be a runner. And I’ll never stop trying. So, with that said, I appreciate the fact that the BTMR is open to everyone.

As usual, great run, thank you Matt Carpenter for all the help you provided.

At the awards ceremony, the pizza and watermelon were excellent, but there were no drinks in sight. I may have just missed them, but it made for everyone to be very thirsty. So try to remember the drinks.

Awesome job Larry & Matt. Looking forward to next year—note to self, taper for it

Awesome race

Awesome race. Very well done. Great shirt and I really appreciated getting a water bottle at the finish so I could hydrate immediately.

Best race ever. What other race offers all the added extras like the watermelon, pizza, drinks, and prizes? I think the committee did a great job putting this race together! A big Thank You to you guys!

Both years I’ve ran it has been very hot. maybe a 6 or 6:30 am start would be even better

Consider assigning numbers by gender and age class. We do this for a cross-country ski race I help with. It is nice to know who is in your age group during the race.

Cool key chain medal

Could have used drinks at the awards ceremony

Didn’t run this year because I didn’t get in before registration closed.

Don’t lose the pizza after the race. Good food is important.

Enjoyed it hope to do better next year.

Excellent race. I plan to be back next year

Fantastic race, fantastic folks. If I get another chance to travel to this race, I would love to do it again.

First time for this race and was impressed from start to finish!

Great event!

Great job

Great job! I am really impressed with how well the race is run. I’ve run all over the world and this was exceptional!

Great job! I noticed a few more falls than I would have anticipated. Everyone (runners & volunteers) were helpful.

Great organization and execution!

Great organization. It’s fun to be a part of something that gives back to the community the way this race does.

Great race

Great race

Great race again — thanks.

Great race!

Great race!

Great race! I definitely want to do it again next year.

Great race! I like the Chipotle certificate.

Great race, going to suggest to all my friends, great job!

Great race, great training tool for Pikes Peak. I hope to be back.

Great race, one of my favorite trail races.

Great Race, Really enjoyed watching it!

Great race, well organized, great community contribution

Great race.

Great Race... Wonderful Support, Very Organized. This is the best race I’ve ever been in.

Great run

Great support crews & the tech shirt is great.

Had a great time! Hope to do it again.

I am amazed at watching you elite runner coming down the trail, you folks fly.

I am interested in this race as preparation for the next time I do Pikes Peak (i.e., a training run).

I do a lot of local races, including Winter Series, Triple Crown, etc., and never thought this would become my favorite race, but it’s getting close. Everything is great, and it has a great spirit, too.

I had a blast.

I had a great time today. I look forward to the race next year and will be sure to sign up nice and early. This was a great indicator race before the Ascent. Now I know how fast NOT to run up to Barr Camp. Thanks to all those who undoubtedly put in plenty of hours to make this race such a success!

I like that the announcer at the beginning emphasized asking NICELY to pass.

I love doing Barr Trail

I love that you put this race on and so much is going back to our community. It is a tough race for those of us who are slower. I did improve my PR by 1.45 but I still didn’t have much slack. I train with the IC but am one of the slowest members.

I loved to watch the first people scream past me at Bobs Road. How invigorating!! There was not a “maybe” option for running next year. I’m not real sure, however it was a wonderful experience and one I may have to try to relive.

I think it would really be nice to star the race an hour earlier.

I would like to suggest starting the race earlier to avoid some of the hot weather. 6-6.30. Also a bigger tent too cool down in at the finish line would be nice. Maybe a fan to create a draft. Overall a great race with great organization.

I’ll keep putting the race on my schedule, despite hating steep ascents! I need to take out the descent record one of these years, although I definitely respect Bernie’s record!

In general I found the runners polite to non runners, and aware of opposite oncomers. The hikers on the trail were very good this year, and from my perspective caused little or no blocking.

In general, I’d have to say that I admire what you all do with this event! I am in awe of the effort every year of the organization, the financial support from the community, and then the money that goes BACK to the community, particularly the schools and park!

Inspiring.

It was a great race with great volunteers and I like the way you put the entry fees to use in your community.

It was fun

It was great!!!!

It would be nice if there was water at Soda Springs Park. I know there are fountains but just plain cold water would do.

Just a great great trail race!

Keep up the great work. Its a good feeling to know that the race proceeds are going to a good cause, not into someone's back pocket.

Kudos to all involved in setting up the race, coordinating everything, thanks for all your hard work! I had lots of fun.

Like your race very much. Keep up the good work and over all it is the best one I run.

Loved it. Hard, very hard, and training it in the rain isn’t the same as running it when it’s 85.

Matt and Larry, I’m sure you get a lot of emails, so I’ll get right to the point of my comment: Have you thought of offering a small cash bonus/incentive ($50.00) to course record setters who just don’t happen to come in first place? For example, John Victoria set a new Grand Masters record today. Blah, blah, blah. Just wondering about your thoughts on this. I’m only asking about this because the older guys seem to get overlooked a lot, even though they are still out there “hoofing it.” You’d probably be shocked how far a little recognition when you’re in your 50’s and beyond goes. John’s wife, Sheila Geere

Matt shaking hands with all the finishers was a nice touch.

Matt: great job as usual!

Maybe if the race can start at 6’o clock and 2 weeks out from the Summer Round Up;)

Need some drinks at the finish in Soda Springs park. At least cool water & Gatorade. Cold sodas would be very good. Any chance of getting a sponsor to add that ?

Nice race

None

Overall, an excellent race. Thanks for the great experience! I will definitely recommend it to friends!

Overall, I was very impressed with the race, this being the first time that I have run it. I am new to mountain running but have truly enjoyed the training and the race just topped it all off.

Perhaps an earlier start? 5:30 or 6:00am?

SAR did a nice job helping several runners that I saw.

See comment about primes. Otherwise, I love this race.

See you next year!

Seriously fantastic. This has to have been the best trail race I’ve ever done. So much fun. So beautiful...

Super race. keep up the great job.

Thank you for a fun race!

Thank you!

Thanking people as they finish the race is outstanding. Keep the number of people the same or smaller. It makes it an enjoyable experience and not a rat race

Thanks a lot for a great race...keep up the good work.

Thanks to all for another AWESOME year!!

The categories to choose from for the following questions do not provide options that I find fit me very well: - Total miles run each week - Total miles on trail each week - I consider myself primarily...

The combination of everything is just amazingly good. Thank you for putting together such a great event.

The first BTMR had sodas available at the finish line. I would like to see that again.

The high school aid stations were very enthusiastic! I especially like one of the race volunteers addressing me by name and pointing out that I was 7-8 minutes faster at Barr Camp than last year. In 29 years of racing that’s never happened to me! I really appreciated his comments and encouragement.

The other great improvement I noticed from past years was that you really ran through the raffle numbers quickly.

This is the best race ever to run. It is hard and challenging especially for a very back of the pack runner like myself. I love having to beat the cutoffs and I get to see top runners come out and watch them run. The aid stations are great and all the kids running them really keep our spirits up. I’m glad to be a part of this even if it is in a very small way. Thank you Matt, Yvonne, Larry and all the volunteers for making this a race I always want to come back to.

This is’nt a complaint — just a thought. I jogged/walked back up the trail after the cutoff time — to the site of the first aid station. I encountered people with numbers who were coming down well after the cutoff some of whom looked in pretty bad shape. Now, I know that if you enter a race and sign a waiver that explains the rigors and potential dangers of the race you should be responsible for your own welfare; further, every race has entrants that get in over their heads. Nevertheless, it might be a good idea to emphasize to entrants (in some way - on the waiver?) that aid stations will be closed at a certain time and that the runner should, if anticipating a time close to the cutoff, take self-protective measures to carry/replenish fluids. I understand that the No Name station was watching out for stragglers — good for them!

This race is so great for the runners and the community. Thanks so much. If I can point out one thing that needs improved: we didn’t have anything to drink (prefer Gatorade and water) at the awards ceremony!

This was my first mountain race and I loved it. I watched it last year but hadn’t trained enough to run it. I’ve looked forward to running it for the last year and was excited to have finished in a good time, in good health, with good people at the finish to help me. The volunteer who brought me water to the shade when I could no longer stay upright was a lifesaver.

This was the best organized race I have ever done.

Very good event, world class!

Very well done, great bags, lots of fun...even though I’m pretty sore today.

Water/Gatorade at Soda Springs park would have been nice. The bottles at the finish were great, but once I drank all the water, I wanted to refill it during the post race period and there was food but no drinks.

With the temperatures what they have been the last two years, an additional tent or two at the finish to provide shade would be nice.

You do a great job. I hope to run next year in a more efficient time

You guys rock!