Race #82 - MEC Vancouver Race One

The biggest thing about MEC events is the price. If you buy the season's pass, you can get all of their races for $12, or else each race is only $15. That is unbeatable in terms of the price on the market. I think MEC does not actually make money on this, but for them it's more of a marketing thing to bring people into their stores. That said, you get what you pay for when it comes to these MEC Events. A big reason why many events and races cost more is because there are huge overhead costs to running an event (insurance, permits, food, venue prices, staff, timing, swag and etc...). It's analogous to how there are budget airlines vs traditional airlines. There is a varying degree of how much is spent per event too from the organizing perspective. In terms of what is provided for the runners, the MEC events are more on an economical scale. But for many though, that is all they need. These races also don't support charity and they tend to rely heavily on their staff versus investing time and effort into volunteers. But hey, sometimes you don't need all that if you just want to race and nothing else.

Nuun Hydration

Bathroom Lineup

   The start and finish line areas of this race is pretty barebones. It has all the bells and whistles that a start/ finish line should have, such as an arch, some portapotties, coffee and bananas. KIND Snacks and Nuun Hydration was also there. They also had However, the choice of start/ finish was interesting as it was on a muddy field. The usual run for the washrooms before the event happened (I have plumbing issues too - anxiety...what do you expect? haha). As I mentioned before, because this race relies on staff, they have a strict schedule they stick to. They will shut down package pickup and registrations on time and they usually won't make exceptions. They send the staff to the various points on course.
     The course was a loop around the seawall, starting and finishing at Devonian Park. The loop is a classic for many events that want a 10km distance (this is a certified distance by BC Athletics for other events such as the VFAC's Summerfast 10k and other races). It is gorgeous on a beautiful day to run around the sea wall, but on a day that's pouring rain and windy, it can be rather cold. That said, I enjoyed myself. Nothing better to wake you up than a cold shower right? I also enjoy the event because I got to catch up with many people from the running community whom I adore very much <3
   Overall, I would definitely run the races again because the selling point is the really cheap race entry.