Summerfest offers refunds to Rock 'n Sole participants
Summerfest will provide refunds to participants in the inaugural Rock ‘n Sole races, which were marred by a lack of water and cups at aide stations along the race route Sunday.
According to an announcement issued late Thursday, participants will be eligible to receive a $15 refund from their entry fees, which ranged from $40 to $100, depending on the race and date of entry.
Options include the cash refund, directing the $15 to the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Wisconsin, or taking no action and having the $15 included in the net proceeds generated by the races. Those proceeds will be split between the Ronald McDonald House and Milwaukee World Festival Inc., which planned to use its share of the money to rebuild the children’s play area in Henry Maier Festival Park.
In addition, those who participated in the race on Sunday will be eligible for a 20% discount on their registration for the 2012 Rock 'n Sole and receive an extra two tickets to Summerfest with their entry. To receive the discount, entries must be submitted by March 31.
Details on obtaining the refunds will be provided at a later date.
Hundreds of participants complained about the poor organization of the race over the Daniel Hoan Memorial Bridge. The water stations on the bridge, in the first five miles of the course, were out of liquids or cups for most of the 10K participants, who started 30 minutes behind the half-marathon.
Tom Schuler, the race director hired by Summerfest took responsibility for the failure to provide adequate water on a day when the heat index approached 100.
“I miscalculated the volume of water and cups necessary at each aid station to adequately hydrate runners for both races,” Schuler said in statement issued Sunday.
“Water was allocated to all aid stations at the onset, but the proportions were not accurate for certain points in the races,” he said. “We clearly missed the mark and many of the 10K runners were affected by it. The plan simply should have been done correctly and I take full responsibility for the issues caused by this oversight."
Suffering dehydration and heat exhaustion, more than 50 participants sought medical attention during or after the race, and 20 were hospitalized. More than 6,500 started.
Don Smiley, president and CEO of Summerfest, sent a message to them: “While there were many fine aspects of the inaugural Summerfest Rock ‘n Sole, and although the race director and his staff have demonstrated personal integrity in dealing with various well publicized aspects of the race, the fact is, we had issues with the execution of the race that impacted runners, which simply are not acceptable.
“On behalf of MWF and Team Sports Events, LLC., we apologize to anyone who had an unpleasant experience, due to operational issues.”
The message did not indicate whether Team Sports would receive a contract to conduct the races in 2012.
Similar problems with heat and lack of fluids created problems in the Madison Marathon and 2006 and the Chicago Marathon in 2007. Offering refunds to the participants appears to be an unusual step in responding to the issues.
28 Comments for "Summerfest offers refunds to Rock 'n Sole participants"
BVModerate Jul 14, 2011 4:26 PM
Yes they should have had enough water for the 10k runners, but for people to continue to insinuate that people ended up in ambulances because of the lack of water is really exaggerating the situation. Every single 1/2 marathon run in that type of heat and humidity and very little shade has many people ending up in ambulances, independent of having enough water or not. Maybe I am talking to the wrong people, but two of them were towards the back of the pack and they had plenty of water for the 1/2 marathon, just the 10k people ran out and not at every station, just a couple.
MU82 Jul 14, 2011 4:31 PM
Jason53072 Jul 14, 2011 4:38 PM
some semblance of a good name, but I'm sorry, no one deserves a frickin'
refund. Either be fit enough to handle the exertion, or bring some water. You
know it's going to be hot and humid, you know it's going to be over a bridge
with zero shade, so prepare yourself. This isn't rocket science.
c-mack Jul 14, 2011 4:44 PM
holy smokes Jul 14, 2011 4:48 PM
I'll agree that this is going above and beyond their apology, and I am really impressed with the amount of accountability shown here on behalf of Smiley and Co. But let's not pretend like this was just no big deal and that the runners didn't have a reason to be as upset as they were.
ExileOnDaytonStreet Jul 14, 2011 5:05 PM
should just limit the refunds to 10k runners (or, hopefully, people are
honest and/or charitable about whether they were truly affected by the
water situation).
"I have never taken water in a 10k race in my life."
That's great, MU82. The last 10k I did was on trail at 9000 feet, I took
water at an aid station, and I won. But the results here are showing the
median 10k finisher taking around 70 minutes, with hundreds taking over
90 minutes.
That's one (among many) reasons that I won't judge the experiences of
others just based on my own. All racers thought they would have water
on the course. Some money was used for prize money, I see no reason
to expect other folks to be forced to make a sacrifice.
madcoca Jul 14, 2011 5:15 PM
mommiebethers Jul 14, 2011 5:25 PM
mkerunner711 Jul 14, 2011 5:26 PM
" Maybe I am talking to the wrong people, but two of them were towards the back of the pack and they had plenty of water for the 1/2 marathon, just the 10k people ran out and not at every station, just a couple."
A correction from someone who was there (I ran about 2/3 of the way back in the 10k pack... I started with the 11:00/mile pace group):
They were out of water at every station on the Hoan bridge. Your 1/2 marathoner friends got water, that's true. But they ran out pretty soon after the 10k runners got there. From what I could gather talking to other runners, you had to have been in the fron 5-10% of the 10k runners in order to have had any water at all. After that, they were out. There were a few gallon jugs with water at the south end of the Hoan bridge, but not enough to go around, and it was gone when I got there. The first water I saw was as I was running off of the Hoan bridge to get into the Summerest grounds (over 9k into a 10k race).
There may have been some water out there for the people at the very end of the group of 10k runners, but it wasn't until after the vast majority of runners had already finished.
ExileOnDaytonStreet Jul 14, 2011 5:29 PM
It might be nice for a course NOT on the Hoan Bridge so the sun isn't beating down on runners for so long of the run.
enpad Jul 14, 2011 5:42 PM
LV2LRN Jul 14, 2011 5:53 PM
I will stand by my point however that the majority of people that ended up in an ambulance were from the 1/2 marathon, which did have water. I think the biggest issue is everyone, including the journal/sentinel, making it seem like a bunch of people needed medical attention because of the lack of water and that simply is not true. Find any 1/2 marathon run in similar whether and there will be just as many if not more drop outs and people ending up needing medical attention. It is what happens when several thousand people run a 1/2 marathon on a warm day, when many of them aren't properly prepared.
MU82 Jul 14, 2011 6:58 PM
I ran one of the first Green Bay Marathon when it was held in June. It was HOT and they also ran out of water. Runners were jumping into the East River and running up to the doors of homes asking for water. The Race Director was fired two months later. I also did the second High Cliff Half Ironman. This race is in late June, they also ran out of water and gatorade on the bike course and run couse. I crashed and burned!!! I will never recommend that Half Ironman to anyone.
Two very good races are Spirit of Racine Half Ironman and Ironman WI. Both races have excellent race directorss, they know what the triathlets needs. There is ice and water every 3/4 of a mile, plus food and electrolites.
I know its a half marathon and its over in 90 minutes. I sweet alot and need alot of water and salt tablets or I will crash and burn. I no longer trust races to provide what I need; I plan ahead just in case.
bingo262 Jul 14, 2011 8:39 PM
tobias Jul 14, 2011 9:14 PM