2022 Ugly Sweater Run Event Guide

Let's talk about the Annual Ugly Sweater Run presented by Hunter Subaru, which takes place near Asheville, North Carolina in Mills River on Saturday, December 3, 2022. The race takes place at the Riveter, a premiere climbing gym, bike park and yoga studio near the Asheville Airport. 

Our Event Guide is a recording of our iDaph Events Podcast, and here we discuss what to expect on Race Day.  The host of this podcast is Amy Silvers, Administrative Coordinator at iDaph events with guest Daphne Kirkwood the Race Director and owner of iDaph events. We talk about the courses, the Ugly Sweater costume contest, packet pickup, parking, and what you will find there - along with many other important details.

We look forward to seeing you at the Ugly Sweater 5k and 10k races!  For more info about the race visit our website here:

https://idaph.net/ugly-sweater-run/

Transcript

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All right. Hello and welcome to another iDaph Events podcast. I'm Amy Silvers and I'm here with owner and race director Daphne Kirkwood. And we are here to tell you everything you need to know about the ugly sweater run presented by Hunter Subaru. Yes, everything and more Yay. Yay. We love this time of year with the holiday events and this one just keeps growing and blossoming and turning into more and more fun. So we're excited about the ugly sweater run, coming back this year. Yay. All right. Let's talk about, It's our third annual ugly sweater run. We're at the Riveter and Mills River Saturday, December 3rd. How did this race get its start? Where did this race come from? Yeah we wanted to have some sort of a festive holiday event, and so we brainstormed a few years ago about what we could do that was a little different, a little quirky, a little fun around the holidays just to keep us all moving and this idea came up and so we ran with it and it's been a hit ever since. And do you have an ugly sweater to wear? Yes, I have multiple now. Oh God. I know. I was trying to figure out do I need a new one this year or do I just pull one out? Cause I think last year it might have been too cold to really show off my ugly sweater. I think I had a jacket over it, or it might have been the year before. They all get all muddled up. But yeah I have a couple, okay. All right. It's a good thing because I'm hearing there's gonna be a costume contest involved here. Yeah. We actually have amplified amped up this costume contest. We didn't wanna leave the old St. Nick out of it, so we have added a Santa. Costume contest too. So the best Dress, Santas top three will win an awesome prize from the Riveter as well. So we're on the search for Mr. St. Nick and so hopefully we'll find him this year. So if you don't have a sand suit, don't fret. We still have the ugly sweater, costume contest. But if you wanna mix up this year, you can pick the ugly sweater outfit contest is for male, female, those awards Amy? Yes. And have one for kids, is that right? Yes. Okay. And in group, a group category. In a group one. Yep. And those winners will get something from the Riveter. Excited about that. So if you're not in it to win it, be in it to win the costume contest. Yes. I remember last year it was so much fun. Just the vibe and the. The energy from, almost everybody dressed up in some form or fashion. Yes. Even if it was just a shirt, but there was tutus and head pieces and just, everything from head to toe, just almost everybody dressed up. It was just, Yeah in worst case scenario you can't come up with something, you run outta time, whatever. You have the ugly sweater, run shirt. Yes. Which you can wear. That counts too. We have the long sleeve and short sleeve shirts, so if you didn't buy one of those, you can buy one online. I think there's a few left. And so if you don't, if you're not super creative or you don't feel like running in an ugly sweater, you can get one of the shirts and that counts. Absolutely. Of course. Okay. And something else to be excited about this is our second race of the Holiday Hustle series. Yes. So here's the medal. Oh, I love it. Cool. It's So cool. Yeah, we're really excited about the holiday hustle this year. It's the inaugural holiday hustle and you can participate in person or virtual or a mix of both. So let's say you're traveling for Thanksgiving and you're not gonna be around, You can do that one virtually if you want. You can run another city's Turkey trot if you want. You just need to be signed up for. So that you can be part of the holiday hustle. And then at the end of the series, which will be on New Year's Day, we'll hand out the holiday hustle medals at the resolution run. Again, if you're doing that one virtually, we'll get that in the mail to you or you can pick it up at Fleet Feet. But yeah, we're super excited about the holiday hustle series. Quite a few people have already signed up for it it is what's happening during the holidays this year for sure. Yes. I'm signed up for all three a months, so I'm excited to, to get my holiday hustle medal. Yes, very. Okay. We know that the ugly sweater run's gonna be a lot of fun. It has been every year. I've been, I've done it every. Let's talk about the Riveter. What a cool place. I never even knew that was there until we had this race there the first time. Yeah, it's just awesome. It's a state of the art climbing gym slash bike park slash they have a bar there, Libation station. You can get drinks. They've got a really cool shop. They have yoga classes, so it's just a really neat modern. Atmosphere and building, and it's close to the airport, Asheville Airport. They consider that Mills River in that area even though it's next to the airport. So yeah, it's a really cool spot. It's tucked back there and we're just lucky to be able to partner with them and host this event every year. All right. And you mentioned where they're located, so we're good there. Yep. Let's talk, we've talked about history, we've talked about venue. Now let's talk nitty gritty and let's get to the race details. Yes. Okay. Saturday, December 3rd. What time do the races start and do 5K and 10 K? Both start. Yes, as of right now, they're starting together at 8:30 AM If we end up getting a lot more registrations, we might split them up by a couple minutes. But it wouldn't be anything drastic. As of right now, they're both starting at the exact same time. And that helps with the course marshals and volunteers and law enforcement for the races to be going at the same. Okay, great. And I've noticed in some of the events summer events that people had some music on and headphones and really zoned out and weren't really paying attention to what's happening around them. One got mixed up on the race course cuz she wasn't paying attention to the course markings and the signs. So are we allowing head parents for this event? Yeah, we've not Outlaw headphones at any events. I love running with music. I think it all boils down to being aware of what's happening around you. I think the biggest complaint that I hear time and time again from volunteers and police is the fact that runners just all. Are in the zone, they're listening to music and they're not paying attention to them. And so when the volunteers are trying to talk to them or tell them, where they need to go or the police are trying to stop them, they're just oblivious. And a lot of that is because of the music. And so I say, pull one headphone out, just have one in, or keep the music down so you can hear if people are talking to you. I love listening to my tunes and being in the zone too. But during a race, especially when roads are open to traffic and cars and there's multiple things happening, there's a split in the course. Things like that. It's you gotta pay attention and you have to take ownership of that yourself because we can't. Stop every runner and say, Hey, are you doing the right thing? Or, it's, you have to take your own ownership. So yeah, I would say definitely pay attention to the signs. Don't just follow the person in front of you either. This happens time and time again. It's like sheep just following sheep and the person in front of you might be doing a different race. They might be doing the 10 K and you're doing the 5k. They. Be off course and didn't follow signs, and you might be following'em. So really, pay attention to what you're doing. This course is fairly simple. It's the same one we've had every year. And so look at the course map ahead of time and just be familiar with what you're gonna be doing and pay attention to the signs. Good to know. All right. How about packet pickup? Do we have a pre-event packet pickup for this race? You tell us. Amy you tell us what's happening with packet pickup We do. Of course we always we had the option. We have this with all of our events. We have the option to have your race bib and your shirt mailed to you ahead of time. Yeah, and that options come as can be selected during registration or from the race store if you missed it. You can still add it from the race store if the deadline hasn't passed. And that's really taken off. Everybody loves it. You don't have to fool with driving anywhere with wasting gas and that kind of thing. And it's just super convenient. You just show up on race morning, you're ready to. But if you did not do that, if you didn't select that option, We do have a pre-event packet pickup, and it is at Hunter Subaru in Fletcher at their the new location there. Sort of across from the Asheville Airport Friday, December 2nd from three to 5:00 PM and we do recommend that you, if you didn't have your shipped, we do recommend you come to that one just cuz it's just, avoid all that stress on race morning of trying to get there on time. Stand in line, get your packet and all that good stuff. So that's your best option. We will have race day packet pickup from seven to eight, and that will be inside at the Riveter. Awesome. So when they get there, when they've got their packet, we're ready to roll. What's the best way? Like, how's the best way to, there's two ways to come into the Riveter. How's the best way to, to come and where do we park? Yeah. The place the entrance that's closest to Hunter Subaru off of Highway two 80, which is Ferncliff Park Drive. You come to the roundabout, you're going towards Sierra Nevada. You go round the roundabout and then you see a sign for the rivet. And you'll be parked in the parking lot that is righted beside the Riveter parking lot. There's not enough parking there for all the participants, so we use an overflow lot. So you'll be directed to the parking lot and it'll just help if everybody comes in that same way. So if you put Sierra Nevada. In your phone or the Riveter and come off of Ferncliff Park Drive. That's probably the best thing to do. I will just say, it is, Tight and congested around where the riveter entrance and exit is and the parking lot. I would suggest that when you come, you come and you just settle in to being there until the race finishes. Because if you're, if you finish the 5K and you're trying to hop in your car and leave. There's still people racing and the race runs right past that parking lot, that the overflow parking lot and the entrance to the Riveter. So it's really tricky to get in and out. I'm not saying you can't get out but you might have to wait a little bit and be directed to do that. This is one of those events that just hang out, stay for the costume contest. There's plenty to do, We'll talk about afterwards. And if you can, and you have, little time that morning, just don't plan to rush off. Just plan to hang out for a little bit and have fun. Yes. And there it was fantastic last year. Everybody just really enjoyed it and had a blast. Okay, two important questions. Gotta ask every time. Dunno what they're, I bet you do number one, restrooms. So we'll have. Restrooms available? Yep. Restrooms are inside the riveter. They have a couple options that are in there. Easy to find. Those will be available. There won't be porta johns outside, so you will need to go inside for the restrooms. Okay. And our coffee fix, our caffeine fix. Yep. There's coffee and hot drinks from bare bones Brew. Ha. Dan will be there serving those up. So bring some cash and plan to get your caffeine fixed before you start your run or after. Yay. All right. Yeah, for sure. Okay, we've arrived. We've parked in the proper area. We've picked up a race packet, fueled up, used the restroom. Anything else we need to know before we start? Yeah. So you're gonna put your number on the front of you and there will be two different bibs for the 5k, a different color for the 5K versus the 10 K. So if on race morning you show up and you've had your bib mail to you, or you've gotten it the day before and you show up and you're like, I don't think I'm gonna do the 10 k today. I wanna do the 5k. You need to go in and say hi to Amy inside at the root and swap out your bib. Because that's gonna mess up your timing if you don't, and it will mess it up for everybody. So please, if you decide you're gonna switch and drop down please have that switched. If you decide on race morning, Hey, I'm feeling spunky and my friend's doing the 10 k, I think I'm gonna do the 10 k I. You need to go get your bib switched and pay the difference with Amy to have that done. As well. So please take care of doing that, but put that bib on the front of your shirt so that we can clearly see that if you plan on layering up, if it's cold in the morning and you don't know if you're gonna run the whole thing with your ugly sweater on, you can put it on your pant leg somewhere that we're gonna be able to see it and try not to bend. Your bib because the back of the bib has your number on it the strip, and once it's bent, it does not read clearly. Just some things for you to know. Okay. And let's talk about the run itself. Can you tell us a little bit about the course and can folks go run the course ahead of time to test it out? Yeah, this is one of my favorite courses. I feel like it's just unique. It's different. It's on scenic country, rural roads in Mills River. It is open to traffic, so you are gonna wanna stay on the side of the road. We will put stickers and signs down, directing you on which side of the road we want you to be on. Throughout but it's a mix of paved surface and gravel and dirt farm roads. So be prepared for that. I would not wear racing flats to this event. I don't think you need trail shoes, but you definitely want a shoe that has a little bit of cushion to it and stability. Just because you are gonna be on some mixed surfaces it is not a trail. You're not gonna have roots and rocks that you're contending with as far as, a single track or anything goes. But just keep that in mind. So it might not be your PR course, but that's okay because it's totally beautiful. You're getting to go on North Carolina State property, State University property. And it's really neat. It's farmland. It's a working farm and so you'll get to see that and just soak it in and enjoy it. It's so cool. There is a mix of flat and hills with this race and we do have special permission to run it on race day. This course, but you cannot pre-run it ahead of time. We do have the map posted, but you're not able to go out and run that ahead of time. You'd be trespassing. Which makes it fun because everybody's doing the same thing together on race day. It makes it really special. We do have a course preview video also on YouTube that we made a year or two ago, so you can check that out too if you wanna look. Okay. And what about the stinker heel? Is there a single hill? Oh, there's definitely a stinker on this one. I think the past few years I've led this race on my bike and I'm always thinking, Is the runner gonna catch me up this one? Because it's steep stinker and it's gravel and it's, yeah. There's some huffing and puffing going on that one. And if you do the 10 k, it is two loops of the 5K course. So you do that hill twice. Please. Y'all don't hate me. No it's really the only way to make this really cool loop. You have to do it. But yeah, there's, there is a hill, of course, but if I remember correctly, right after you top that hill, you have a little downhill stretch to recover. Yes, there's a. There's a nice couple downhills after that Yes. Yeah. So that makes it a little easier. Yes. Okay. How about water stations? Will we have water stations? No, we have, Yep. Green Moose Fuel, they'll be out there. And they will be about at the halfway point. So you'll stop by the water station there if you want to. And the 10 K will see them again. So there is one out there on the, Alrighty. And how about our furry friends? No furry friends at this one. They're not able to be inside the Riveter and really just because of the congestion factor and being on the roads with cars, it just doesn't make sense to have dogs at this one. Yeah. Yeah, it's probably not safe. And how about strollers? Same thing for strollers. Not the same. You can bring your kids, but again, you're on gravel, dirt roads. It's not the best surface to have a stroller. I know we've had some before and I think it's been pretty challenging for them. So I would caution against strollers unless you're just a pro stroller navigator, again, if you do, you're gonna wanna be on the side of the road because it is open to cars and traffic. Okay. All right. And you mentioned we have the 5K course. The 10 K course, which is two loops of the 5K course. What about places where spectators or family friends can come and cheer you on? Yeah, I would suggest if you wanna be on the course, if you're a spectator, you're gonna wanna go out to Gaia Herbs, g a i A. You can look at it on your map Gaia herbs, and that's a spot you'll be able to cheer folks on. I would just be super careful if you're gonna do that, that you leave before the race starts so that you're not a car on the course when the co, the race is happening and that you stay there until the 10 K runners are done. So if you don't plan on doing that, I would say just stay at the Riveter and just cheer folks on. You'll see them, in the 10 K, they'll come in. And do their loop to go back out. So you'll get to see them there and then of course at the start and finish too. Okay, gotcha. And what about rules? What rule, what rules do we have for the race? First of all, you have to have fun at this race. It's mandatory. always. Yes, we're in your Christmas cheer. Don't be as scr at this one. No grins, no, no grins. Be ready to have fun. This is all about getting in the Christmas spirit. It comes around once a year. And so even though some of us as adults are like, Oh, it's Christmas. This just gets you in that Christmas spirit. At least that's what we hope to do. And then, just don't run in the middle of the roads. Be courteous. You're gonna be on roads with cars even though there's not a lot of traffic usually on the road, stick to the side. Don't take up the whole road and then be courteous to the other runners that are on the course to call out that you're on your left if you're passing and that sort of thing. Just the standard rules. Okay. Gotcha. All right. So we have run, we finished our run. We have grabbed our super awesome ugly sweater. Finish your medal. Thank you. Finish your ornament. I should. And we've crossed the line, grabbed our ornament. What's next? What do we do next? Yeah, so there's gonna be plenty of other things to check out when you get finished. We will have DJ mixology there, DJ Roman. He's gonna be mixing up music in the race hub, which is always fun. Little spontaneous dance parties are always. Fine for this race. We will have the spotted banana food truck that will be there and they're gonna be serving up their famous pumpkin freeze smoothie. It's so delicious. They also have other smoothie options too, if you're not a pumpkin fan, and they are gonna have some paninis and some wraps and so plan to stop by and get your food from them. And then the riveter will have their beers on tap that they normally do, and they're making a special drink for the race. The Mary Mimosa. Which is cranberry and champagne. So that is gonna be delicious. So definitely stop by their bar and get one of those. And then, They also have some non drink drinker options too. Non-alcoholic options as well. There's things inside the Riveter that you can get if you wanna hang out at the bar, but don't necessarily drink. There's also the climbing gym. There's a bite park as well. So you can make a whole day out of being at the Riveter. I. So much to do, especially if you bring your family. And you can find out all about the Riveter. Riveter nc.com is their website. And you can pre-book things, bike park passes, all those things so that when you get there, if you wanna stay longer you have that stuff already set up. Okay. And I do have things for all levels of bikers. We do. Yep. Okay. So since we're talking holiday hustle and ugly sweater and santa suits you can also go shopping after you check out the Riveter. We have if you're looking for gift ideas, we will have our merchandise area set up in there. Yeah. We have the awesome new run local hoodies and some brand new run AVL long sleeve. We'll have the run local, the long sleeve runs, local shirts. We all will have tank tops, free to run tank tops and shirts, water bottles, magnets, decals all kinds of stuff. If you've got a runner in your life or you are a runner, treat yourself or treat somebody, we'll have it there. Yeah, it's great. We'll take cash or credit card. We always prefer cash so that we don't have to pay those credit card fees. But yeah our things make great gifts, especially for the active people in your life. Think about that when you're coming and shop with us a little bit at the race. Yes. How about results? Where can we find race results after we're done? Yep. They'll be on our website@idaf.net. They'll be on the blog. You can also find the link for those on the ugly sweater run Facebook page so that those will be posted as soon as we have the first. You in. And like I said, if for some reason you're not seeing something, if you go on and you're just not seeing yourself on the results, go over to the timing tent and let them know before the award ceremony you telling us is the only way that we know that you're. Time hasn't shown up for some reason, and a lot of times it's an issue with the back of your bib. Maybe it got crinkled or bent. So make sure and check out those times online and let us know before the award ceremony if you see something that doesn't look quite right. Okay. And that was my next question is how about the award ceremony Yeah, so the 5K will do about 9 45 10 o'clock for the 10 K or shortly thereafter. We have some ugly SP run mugs and fleet feet gift certificates for the overall winners. And then we have top three age group categories. We'll get an ugly sweater run. Mug. And those are all listed on the website as far as what those categories. Okay. And if they're not able to hang around and wait for their award, where and how can they get that later? They can get it from fleet feet starting on Tuesday after 3:00 PM or they can have it shipped for 10 bucks. And they can contact you at support@idaf.net to have that taken care of. Okay. And what happens if you wake up that morning and you're not feeling well, or if plans change, between now and then? what are the options? We have the virtual option so up until a certain point you can switch to virtual on your own and then that deadline will come. And so if you wanna switch to virtual, you'd need to email support@idaf.net so that Amy can help you with that. And help take care of that. But yeah, if you're feeling crummy or sick, we don't want your germs at the race. You can switch to virtual Yes, please do Okay. And I know for our events, we typically have at least one charity partner that folks can donate to through their registrations or by setting up their personal fundraising pages and collecting donations. Who are we supporting this year? Yeah, we have the same charity partner we had last year, which is Asheville Home Builders Association. They have scholarship programs that they offer in the community, and so we have partner with them again, and then I Dream Athletes Foundation which has all kinds of different scholarships and group activit. To do for training coming up in 2023. So both of those are the non-profit partners this year. Fantastic. Okay. How about sponsors? Who do we need to thank for supporting us for this event? We always gotta mention Hunter Subaru when they come in and help with supporting our community events. We couldn't do it without'em, thank you Hunter Subaru. And they are really close. If you don't go to the packet pickup, you can stop by their new dealership that's over there. It's real close to the Riveter. Always wanna thank Asheville School. They're super supportive of all of our events in the local athletic community. Fleet Feed Asheville. Green Moose Fuel, which we mentioned already. And then vitally PT e Compass pt they will be there doing injury screenings after the event. So make sure and stop by and say hi to them. Yes, we're so grateful for their partnership and their support. Yes. Okay. Anything else you can think of? I think that's it. I. We're good to go on this one. I'm excited. All right. Me too. I can't wait. Okay. Thank you guys for joining us today and we're looking forward to seeing everybody on Saturday December 3rd for the ugly sweater run, presented by Hunter Subaru. Thanks, Amy. We'll see you guys soon. Have a great day.