Aurora's Blog

With Rock ‘n’ Roll Providence coming up this weekend, I thought I’d take a minute to say that even though it gets hated on a lot, I like the Rock ‘n’ Roll series.

I’m not gonna pretend like I never hate on it a little. I’ve had my various complaints about certain races. But overall, I love them.

I love the huge expos. I love the great courses through fun cities. I love being surrounded by tens of thousands of runners. I like that when you do a Rock ‘n’ Roll race, it’s truly an event – not just a run.

Sometimes, I feel as though I must be weird for liking them, ’cause the Rock ‘n’ Roll races get totally blasted by some people. I used to think that one of these days I’d have that race that ruined the series for me. My eyes would be opened, and I’d jump on the “right” bandwagon (or at least the loudest).

I’ve run 8 Rock ‘n’ Roll races this year. I think that’s enough to judge. It’s not all roses and rainbows. It is incredibly annoying and inconvenient that they say you must pick up your packet the day before – with no mailing or race-day pickup options. (Really, I think they are the ones missing out on money here with fees they could charge for those things.)

However, since I’ve learned that you actually can pick up your packet on race day at the Solutions table, my only big complaint about the series has been taken away.

So, there you have it. I am taking the stance that I like the Rock ‘n’ Roll series. I don’t care how much social media I read hating on it. Unless something drastically changes at a number of future races, I like the Rock ‘n’ Roll series a lot. Hpmh.