Angela Knotts's Staging Area

I have been running this race on and off since 2010 and always had a great time. In the last few years a half marathon hasn’t fit into my February schedule so I was excited when they added the 10K option, which I’ve run the past two years. In my experience, KP has always been a great, well-run event with a scenic course, but this year the gear check was just a mess.

I finished the 10K a little before 9am, walked through the finisher chute, got my medal and shirt, and headed to the gear check area. Long story short, there was no organization and no system. It wasn’t the volunteers’ fault at all; they were clearly all doing their best to get people their bags. The issue was that either a) there was not a system, b) the system was never communicated to the people who needed to know it, or c) the system was completely ignored by those in charge. And definitely, no system was ever communicated to runners trying to get their bags. I waited for over an hour, got yelled at by one woman who told me I needed to wait my turn in the line (what line??), and when I told her it had been an hour, she just kind of shrugged and said, “I don’t think they’re all here yet.” At this point I was starting to suffer from hypothermia (50F, wind, soaked-through running clothes) and ended up in the medical tent.

Thanks to some wonderful race officials, I finally DID get my bag back–over two hours after I finished the race. So, yes, I will almost certainly run this race again, but I REALLY hope that they fix whatever happened with the gear check in 2020 because that freaking SUCKED.

***LOCATION***
Oakland, CA

***DATE***
Thanksgiving Day

***PRICE***
$40 (I think there were cheaper and more expensive rates but I don’t know what they were; this is just what I paid when I signed up at the end of September.)

***THE DEAL***
This was the second year of the Oakland Turkey Trot, which is a charity race supporting Oakland Public Schools and the Alameda County Community Food Bank. While there are geographically closer Turkey Trots to me, it’s actually logistically simpler to get to & park in Oakland than it is to some of the ones in the city. (If I were doing one in SF, I would probably just run there, run the race, & run home.)

***DEADLINES/SELLOUT FACTOR***
I think they actually sold out this year?

***FIELD SIZE***
Finishers: 2,402

***STAGING/PARKING/ETC.***
This year the race was staged at Eastshore Park, between Lakeshore Ave and Grand Ave on Lake Merritt, which is a lovely little area. (The Oakland Marathon was staged here this year as well, and in fact the start & finish lines were in exactly the same places.) The packet pickup/gear drop tables were right by the finish line.

***BIB PICKUP/GEAR CHECK***
Parking is SUPER easy, especially given that 1) there’s a pretty huge parking lot under the freeway literally steps from the finish line, and 2) it’s a holiday so metered parking is free. There’s also lots of easy neighborhood parking. Just be sure not to park in any of the areas marked “No Parking” for the race — I saw that some people did & got ticketed.

There was also a pretty good brass band playing in the finish area afterward.

***THE COURSE***
The course pretty much circled Lake Merritt on blocked off city streets. I’m not sure if there were aid stations; I don’t remember seeing any. The whole thing was well marked and easy to follow, and the streets were all in pretty good shape. It’s basically pancake flat, with the exception of two reasonably substantial hills (that I recognized from past races). Neither are hideous, but you can definitely see them coming & kind of go “ugh, FINE.” I’d guess they were maybe .1 miles each but I’m not good at estimating those things by sight.

***SWAG***
Logo T-shirt & a cool medal

***IF YOU DECIDE TO RUN***
Logistically this is a super easy race. Race day bib pickup, plenty of easy free extremely close parking, AND they still have a gear check right at the finish line (at the bib pickup table).

The 8:30 start means you get more daylight before the race, and there’s a good chance it will be sunny.

This is a good time of year to run in Oakland in terms of weather. Of course no one ever really knows for sure, and it’s always possible you’ll get a cold/rainy/windy morning, but odds of reasonably good weather are decent.

***OVERALL ASSESSMENT***
I’d totally run this Turkey Trot again. Logistically it’s easier than participating in a lot of the local SF Trots, and this area in Oakland is super pretty in the fall. It was extremely well organized and the whole experience from registration to info emails to logistics to the race itself was easy and seamless. I really liked the vibe and the fact that it was a charity event supporting local causes, and also that it was on the smaller side for a Turkey Trot. (TBH I just don’t really enjoy big, impersonal races that much.)

If you’re familiar with USATF (USA Track & Field), the governing body of most running events in the US, then the Pacific Association (or PAUSATF) is the regional branch of USATF that functions in Northern California & Northern Nevada. They oversee all kinds of events including road races, cross country, track & field races, elite/pro competitions, and even school track & field/xc. In the fall, they run a series of open cross country races that anyone can show up and run in, though most people run for a local team. Some of the teams are more serious or have particular membership standards, while others are open to anyone. There are team competitions where each team scores a certain amount of points for how its top five runners place, and also individual competition for places.

***LOCATION***
San Francisco, CA (Golden Gate Park)

***DATE***
Early September (Sunday, Sept 9, 2018 this year)

***PRICE***
$20 if you sign up ahead of time, $25 race day

***DEADLINES/SELLOUT FACTOR***
I don’t think these races have a particular field limit so they can’t really “sell out.” At least, I don’t believe there is any kind of risk.

***FIELD SIZE**
Women – 132 finishers
Masters Men – 129 finishers
Open Men – 96 finishers

At first I thought it was weird that there are separate masters (40+) and open (under 40) races for the men but all women race together; it makes sense, though, when you see the field sizes. While there were only 132 women in all, there were 96 men under 40 & 129 in the masters field, so you can see why they hold two different men’s races. In any case, it’s only 6K, so none of the races take very long. Women raced at 9:00, masters men raced at 9:45, and open men raced at 10:30.

***STAGING***
Apparently this is only the second year this race has been held on this course. Staging was at the Golden Gate Polo Fields (across from Spreckels Lake), so super easy to get to with plenty of easy parking & even fancy flush park toilets. It was nice to have the bleachers as a spot to leave your stuff, & pretty easy to find everything (by which I mean the registration/sign in table, as that is the only thing you really need to find).

***THE COURSE***
If you’re used to running XC in California, I think this was pretty typical, a mix of flat & hilly, dirt, mud, sand, grass, some brief sidewalk, & single track. It would have been nice if I’d had a chance to run it beforehand, but it wasn’t a big deal that I hadn’t (since it’s not like I was trying to win this thing). I actually enjoyed the challenge of the different terrain, and the “Oooh, what’s next!” kind of broke up some of the monotony of racing a 5K or 10K on the roads. If you’ve done some trail running, just think of it as sprint-trails, with elbows!

***SWAG***
Lololol it’s a XC race. There is no swag of any kind.

***IF YOU DECIDE TO RUN***
– If you have a chance, jog the course (or better yet, do a tempo run on it) to get a feel for what comes up when & the best ways to take the different spots. I think that would have helped me a bit.
– Wear stiff shoes, preferably with a bit of tread. I don’t think I would go trail shoes because of the weight, but you definitely want something with some stiffness. I didn’t wear my racing flats because they have almost no tread; instead I wore Saucony Fastwitches, which I think were good enough, but if I were going to make a habit of this, I might pony up for some spikeless XC shoes. (I don’t think you can wear spikes in CA? But maybe that’s just high school.)
– Don’t be intimidated! I totally was but I showed up anyway. Yes, there were some STUPID fast people there (14 women ran under 23:00, which is 6:10 pace over hills & terrain, if you want to know), but there are also plenty of not-quite-so-fast people. 17 women ran over 33:00 minutes, or 8:51 pace, and people cheered just as loudly for them.

***OVERALL ASSESSMENT***
So, my job at this race was to decide whether I wanted to train specifically for these PA XC races this year or just use them as fun workouts, and I think it’s going to be the latter. I had fun, but I think I want to get some low-pressure practice in on terrain before I throw myself into training for XC as my “A” racing goal. That said, I definitely want to run a few more of these if I can fit them into my schedule. It was really fun and I enjoyed the variety and the crowd.

***LOCATION***
Hopkinton, MA to Boston, MA

***DATE***
Patriot’s Day (Monday, mid-April)

***PRICE***
I think it was $180 my year? But I think it has gone up.

***THE DEAL***
I mean.

***DEADLINES/SELLOUT FACTOR***
Yeah.

***FIELD SIZE***
Roughly 30,000, including qualifiers, invited runners, & charity runners

***WHERE TO STAY***
There are a lot of opinions about this on the internet, as I discovered, but this one is mine, and there are a few caveats to it.

As with non-direct flights, you could not pay me enough to run this race and not stay close to the finish. I considered it, briefly, but then decided, “Eh, you’ve never done it before, you don’t know how you’ll feel, play it safe this first time.” So we ended up staying at the Courtyard Marriott Downtown on Tremont Street, right by Boston Commons where the buses load. Sure enough, I was very happy to be able to walk less than a mile to a shower after the race & that I didn’t have to now sit in a car or on commuter rail for an hour. To me, it’s just not worth it.

It was not cheap. In fact probably the first thing you’ll learn when you start planning your Boston Marathon trip is that if you want to be anywhere even remotely near the finish, the cost of a hotel for the few nights you’re there might well be the same or more than your monthly rent. In my initial searches (which began the week after the 2017 Boston Marathon, when most hotels started opening reservations for 2018), I never found anything for less than $350/night, and that was for shitty hotels before taxes.

The other thing to think carefully about is how you’ll get to the bus loading or start if you’re staying relatively far from Boston. Public transit to Boston Commons (where the buses load) is an option if you plan ahead. Getting someone to drive you into Boston is not impossible, but again, you’ll need to plan ahead for all the various road closures & the fact that a bunch of other people will probably be trying to do this too.

I do know some people who got dropped off at the start in Hopkinton; just, if you do this, know that you can only get so close so you’ll still have to walk a good ways to the Athlete’s Village, & remember that there’s no gear drop there, so have a plan for what you’re doing when you finish. (Because you never know, the weather could be HORRID!)

I knew I wanted to stay near the finish & I was willing to pay a little more for it (but not stupid rates like the $500-600 a night places). At this point I considered three different options.

a) AirBnB or VRBO. They’ll still be relatively expensive, but since rentals tend to be cheaper than hotels in general, you could probably save some money if you went this route. I heard from a lot of people who did & were quite happy. Hell, some people even just went the “rent a room” or “rent a couch” option and saved a TON of money, so if that works for you, look into it!
b) Points. Traveling so much for work can suck sometimes but one upside is that I have a lot of hotel rewards points & I came very very close to using them on this trip. And that would have been a perfectly fine idea! Free hotel? Yes please. So consider it, especially if you have time to plan ahead and take advantage of some sweet credit card bonus rewards. (I banked a free 100,000 Marriott points just by getting their credit card & spending I think $4,000 in the first three months, which, again, with all my work travel, was not difficult.)

c) Marathon Tours & Travels. If you want to stay in a hotel and you can’t or don’t want to use points, this is my top recommendation. Get on their email list and social medias & be ready when they open their reservations in May. You can book a hotel at a significantly cheaper rate, and (at least when I did it), it’s free to cancel other than a $20 admin fee until the end of the calendar year.

I couldn’t believe the rate we got for the Courtyard Marriott Downtown through them ($299/night) considering it was a nice hotel within walking distance of public transit, tons of restaurants, the bus loading zone, & the finish line. In the end, the MTT rate was good enough that I decided to save my points for something else and use this opportunity to bank a whole shit-ton more points. With my Marriott status & also paying for the hotel with my Marriott credit card, it was a pretty sweet haul.

***LOCAL TRANSIT***
Do not repeat DO NOT rent a car in Boston. I kept seeing people talking about doing this in my Facebook group and so many of us who have been to Boston before for any reason were constantly trying to talk people out of it.

The traffic is horrid. It will be worse on marathon weekend. Roads will be closed all over the place & there is nowhere to park that won’t cost you an arm and a leg. There is ABUNDANT public transit via the T & commuter rail, and if the T doesn’t go where you want to go, just take a Lyft or a cab. I guarantee you will save yourself so much money & sanity.

Some people were recommending the 7-day Charlie pass for the T if you’re going to be there more than a couple of days and plan to use the T a lot. It’s probably not a bad deal given that a one-way ride is around $3 and a 7-day Charlie is like $21-22. We ended up not using it enough for it to be worth it but I can easily see how someone could.

***EATING***
If I have one hard & fast rule about traveling to cities for major events, it’s making dinner reservations in advance. I will always do this. Don’t tell me to relax. Don’t tell me it won’t be that busy & there are plenty of restaurants. No.

Part of this is because I am a food snob. Sorry but I don’t want to eat at the Applebee’s or whatever other garbage food is technically available. I want real food and a real wine list with things that don’t come from a grocery store.

Part of it is because I have a very specific routine about when I like to eat and god help the human that gets in my way at the pre-decided Hour of Eating. Hangry is a thing. The struggle is real. I am not waiting.

Part of it is because I’m a planner and really, really, really dislike flying by the seat of my pants when it comes to food. I need to know where I am eating so I can creepily stalk the menu online the day before. Asking me to confront some stranger-menu and make a decision on the fly about my dinner is a big ask.

Part of this is because my absolute least favorite activity in the universe is starving to death & walking from restaurant to restaurant trying to find a good-sounding place with less than an hour wait. So you do you, but I am making reservations for EVERYTHING, especially on a weekend when there will be 30,000+ extra people in town. I want to know what I’m eating and when and I don’t want to have to fight a billion other people for it.

We had four dinners in Boston & spent them at Davio’s, Row 34, Da Vinci, & State Street Provisions. We also had tasty brunch/lunches at Cafe 26, The Thinking Cup, & (again) State Street Provisions. Would go back to any of them!

I started stalking Boston restaurants in January & decided which ones were my top choices. After doing some research to find out when each started taking reservations, I set reminders on my calendar so that I could get them as soon as availability opened up. This was super easy for everywhere except Row 34, where even just minutes after reservations for 4/14 opened, the best dinner time available was 6pm. Luckily, I was able to call & talk to a person, & they changed our reservation to 7pm which I appreciated.

***PRE-RACE ACTIVITIES***

The Expo: I remember some people going absolutely ape shit in past blog posts about the glories of the expo, but this was not my experience. It was pretty much just a race expo like any other. Big, but not massive. (For anyone who has run CIM, I found it to be very similar in size & tone.) You don’t need to plan to be there for hours and hours. I found it really funny that there were signs outside pointing half the bib numbers one direction & half the other direction but they all just wrapped back around to the same staircase down to the expo.

In 2018 it was at the Seaport World Trade Center, which I guess is a change from recent years. People told me to try to go as early as possible because it gets crowded the longer you wait. Because of this I wanted to go Saturday morning but we didn’t end up making it until maybe around 5:30. (It closed at 7.) By then there were plenty of people but I wouldn’t have said it was “crowded,” especially.

I’d say we were there about an hour. I got my bib first (it has to be you, with an ID and your signed bib pickup card; no one else can get it for you) without having to wait at all, & similarly walked right up to the table for my shirt. I visited a few other booths for swag they’d emailed me about (a cool luggage tag at the Boston 2 Big Sur table; a BQ Qualifier tech hat from the CIM booth; a free poncho from the MTT table since I made my hotel reservation through them) & then took a swing through the merch store to see if there was anything I wanted.

But that was really all I felt like I needed to see, since I didn’t need socks or sunglasses or shoes or to sign up for anymore marathons. Also, handily, Row 34 was walking distance from the expo, so woohoo! Saved some transit money!

The Finish Line: If it’s your first time to the Boston Marathon, then obviously you have to go to the finish line & take a bunch of cheesy pictures, duh. We initially tried to do this on Saturday but that turned out to be a no-go because there were still BAA 5K & kids’ race events going on, & they had the whole finish line area barricaded off.

Luckily, we heard from Katie & Layla that it was open for visitors on Sunday morning, so we went down right after brunch to take some goofy shots. I was afraid it would be stupid crowded but that turned out not to be the case at all. Sure, there were a lot of people there, but most folks were very considerate and polite about getting their picture or two and then moving out of the way to let someone else go. It was really extremely civilized. 🙂

***ADIDAS RUNBASE/ANY OTHER RUNNING STORE NEAR THE FINISH***
OMG stay away. STAY. AWAY! It’s an effing madhouse & anything they have there that you want, you can buy on the internet, probably for cheaper a few weeks after the race.

This race was my 3rd half back in 2010 & I though it hardly seems possible I was back this year for my 20th!

***LOCATION***
San Jose, CA

***DATE***
Early October (Oct 8, 2017 this year)

***PRICE***
Competitor shows only the current price rather than the entire fee schedule and I was not diligent enough to track the various price increases, BUT I can tell you that a) I paid $79.99 + $11.99 transaction fee (!?!) in March, b) the price has risen to $175 for last-minute expo registration, and c) they offered a limited 2018 pre-registration special race weekend for $59 (a price I consider actually reasonable for a half marathon).

Truthfully, the cost of Rock ‘N Roll races makes me a bit ill, but it is worth noting that RNR now offers a kind of refund insurance that covers things like illness, injury, pregnancy, etc. that might foil your race (I don’t see the amount listed on the website anywhere now, but one assumes it would be less than the cost of the race?), and you can also defer for $45.

***DEADLINES/SELLOUT FACTOR***
I feel like this race has sold out in the past, but as of the day before the race, there were still spots available if you signed up at the expo. (Online registration was closed on Friday, I think.) It makes more sense now why I saw promo codes floating around the internet a few weeks back.

***FIELD SIZE***
Half Marathon – 6,483
10K – 2,403
5K – 1,767

***STAGING***
The start is at Santa Clara and Almaden, just a few blocks north-west of Cesar Chavez Plaza, and the finish is pretty much at Cesar Chavez Plaza, so I was quite happy with my decision to stay at the Four Points Sheraton, less than a block from the finish. Yes, it’s an additional expense, but for a bigger, longer race, I really prefer not to have to drive and deal with parking or public transit on race morning if I can possibly justify it. (Also, more sleep!)

Gear check was maybe two short blocks away, and it was nice to see that they had several smaller banks of toilets scattered around the staging area rather than one GIANT PORT-A-POLLY GALLEY. I never had to wait to use them.

***PARKING***
As of 7:30pm the night before the race, the parking info page still said “Coming soon!” Oops. When I ran this race back in 2010, I didn’t stay within walking distance, and found it very easy to park in municipal public parking within just a few blocks of the start, and it was even free! (The caveat being that since I was driving & am paranoid, I arrived quite early & apparently beat the rush). I’m not sure if it’s that easy anymore, but there are definitely a BUNCH of large public garages in downtown San Jose as the staging area is right near the convention center. If you’re staying at hotel near the start (and there are MANY to choose from), you’re good; you’ll just probably have to pay. (Eg, I stayed at the Four Points Sheraton, a couple blocks from the start, and parking was $29/night.)

***THE COURSE***
Let’s just get this out of the way: The course is USATF certified, folks. People run Olympic Marathon Trials qualifying times on it. It is 13.1 miles. Your GPS is not God.

This course is pancake-flat, and actually has relatively few turns for an urban race. (Don’t let the elevation graph fool you, look at the scale.) Both times I’ve run this race there has been a pretty awesome crowd presence (see: urban races), plus there are the bands if you’re into that. (Personally, I’m not. You run by them so fast that you barely catch any of what they’re playing, and I don’t know about you but when I’m racing I’m a bit too preoccupied to pay attention to that kind of thing anyway.)

Aid stations were sufficient, well organized, staffed by super with-it volunteers, and–be still my beating heart–pouring real actual sports drink with real actual calories in it. Lemon-lime Gatorade 4eva. I carry my own gels but the later stations were handing some out along with maybe shot blocks or something, not totally sure.

***SWAG***
Not that I need more of them but I am happy to say that the tech T situation has much improved since 2010! This one actually fits, and doesn’t make me feel like I look like a can of Sprite if I wear it in public. And of course it wouldn’t be a Rock ‘N Roll race without a goofy rock-themed medal. (Then again I guess if you run a gimmicky race you can’t complain too much about getting a gimmicky medal.)

***AWARDS***
If you are super speedy, it might be relevant to your interests that there are prizes for male and female overall winners 1st-3rd, plus 1st, 2nd, & 3rd male & female in five-year increments. At 6,000+ runners, including a fair number of elites and pros, though, they were definitely not relevant to mine! (I believe the men’s race was won in 1:03:xx & the women’s race in 1:12:xx hoooooly Jesus! AND she was in my age group!)

***IF YOU DECIDE TO RUN***
– If you can swing the additional $$ I definitely recommend staying nearby as it is just so easy with the approximately 10 gazillion hotels within a five block radius. It saved me so much time & stress in terms of sheer logistics & variables to manage.

– The thing about this race is that yes, it’s a fall race, but just barely, and it’s still in San Jose, so it is unlikely to ever be particularly chilly (though it did rain a bit in 2010). The high this year was forecasted to be 87F, so although it was not super hot during the time I was actually running (8:00am start), it was full sun on asphalt so it felt warmer toward the end of the race than it actually was.

– Officially there is no race day packet pickup, but I overheard some race staff talking and it seems to me that they will definitely give you your bib on race morning if for some reason you weren’t able to get it at the expo, but they don’t advertise that fact since they don’t want 400 people going, “Pshhh, I’ll just be a slug & pick it up in the morning.” So be a good person & pick it up at the expo if you can, but don’t panic if disaster strikes.

***OVERALL ASSESSMENT***
You know, for all that I am not a fan of Competitor Group and some of the Rock ‘N Roll races have gotten bad reports in the past, I have to admit that this was a really great, really well-run and convenient race for me. My only complaints are that the website needs to be updated with key information (ie, parking, aid station info, etc.) in a few places and maybe put the trash cans a bit closer to the tangents. All in all, though, it’s a pretty great Bay Area option if you’re looking to run a fast race, and I can see why so many elites and other super speedy folks run it. No, it is not the cheapest race you could run, but I just took advantage of that $59 2018 pre-reg deal myself, which I think is pretty fair.

Do people still run West Coast marathons other than CIM? If so, I’m sure I don’t know why.

(WAIT. Is it the lack of big-headed cartoon characters???? Well, if that’s your bag….)

I kid, I kid.

Mostly.

***DATE***
Early December (Dec 4, 2016 this year)

***FIELD SIZE***
6174 Finishers. The cap is 7,500 plus the guaranteed entries (see below) and CIM always sells out, so this number of finishers seems awfully low to me. I wonder if that is partly due to the new deferral option.

***PRICING/DEADLINES/SELLOUT***
The pricing & deadline structure works a little differently than most other races I’ve run.
– “Re-Run” Registration Special: $89. Available to finishers only, immediately after the race. Limited to 500 registrants.
– “Re-Run” 2: $99. New for 2017, I think? Apparently the $89 “Re-Run” entries sold out super fast so they offered a second round at $10 more. Also limited to 500 registrants.
– Early Registration: $125 (1,001st registrant through May 18)
– Standard Registration: $139 (May 19 through July 13)
– Late Registration: $150 (July 14 to race sell-out)
– Guaranteed Entries: $175 (October 1 to October 16). Basically, if you’ve met the guaranteed entry standard in the last year (10 minutes slower than BQ times), you have this window to sign up even if the race is officially sold out.
– 200 Charity entries available $275 (Until sold out)

***EXPO***
At ~7000 runners, CIM is a reasonably big race (though obviously nothing like NYCM or Chicago), and the expo is fairly sprawling as well. It usually runs for two or three days, I think, usually closing at 5pm the day before the race. It’s held at the Sacramento Convention Center & involves many of the usual suspects–running shoe/clothing purveyors, fueling companies, booths for a variety of California races, car raffles, etc. Picking up my bib & shirt has always been super easy & straightforward, as has finding last-minute accouterments (like sunglasses).

***STAGING***
Incidentally, quite close to the Johnny Cash Bridge, where Folsom Blues Breakout Half started. I totally did not realize at the time that when I hit .2 miles or so into FBB Half, I was running right across the CIM starting line! Basically the shuttle buses park on the bridge, & the start is staged on Folsom-Auburn Road–starting line to the south, potties to the north, & gear check right across the road.

There have always been massive numbers of port-a-potties at this race, but for whatever reason this year those lines were LONG and SLOW. In the past I’ve stood in them for max 5 minutes, and this year it was over 20. So if I ever do the shuttle bus again, I will definitely get my butt out there before 6:30am.

The finish is at the State Capitol Building, which makes for a pretty background what with the architecture & giant Christmas tree. They also do separate finish lines for men & women so that the female winner can break the tape, which I’ve always thought was nice.

***BAG CHECK***
This was the first year I used the bag check, and it was quite easy to go up to the “bag yard,” have a volunteer take my bib number, & then go grab my bag for me. I assume there was food or something but I had absolutely zero interest whatsoever.

***LODGING***
Given that it’s a point-to-point course, you have two options: 1) Stay in Folsom near the finish, sleep in a little later, but find yourself showerless at the finish, or 2) stay in Sac within walking distance of the finish (super easy as there are many many hotels nearby) & do a late checkout, but be sad because you’re catching a 5am bus (or your friend/loved one’s car) to the start. Super creative options include #3) get a buddy or a group together so you can justify a reservation at each end, or #4) be lucky enough to have friends or family who live at one end or the other.

There are many perfectly fine hotels in Sac within walking distance of the finish line at the Capitol building, but this year we stayed at the Holiday Inn by the freeway, about 6 blocks from the finish, for $159 + $16 parking, which was nice but not super fancy or anything. It was also less than 2 blocks from one of the shuttle bus pickups, key since it was ~40F outside & I was not trying to walk a long way in the cold 2 hours before a marathon. There was a bit of road noise from the freeway that I was worried about but ended up not bothering me at all. Solid recommendation, though there are plenty of others. As always, I recommend making a hotel reservation as soon as you think you *MIGHT* want to run since they fill up fast & you can always cancel it.

***THE COURSE***
The course is gently rolling for the first 20 miles, basically flat for the last 10K, with a net down hill of ~300′ or so. There are a grand total of like six turns. That combined with the location & time of year, at least in my book, means your chances of fast, favorable race conditions are significantly better than in the vast majority of places. (I mean yes there was that one year there was a monsoon, but it was only one year. And yes there was the year it was like 15F at the start, but let’s just remember that everyone & their grandmother ran, like, 20:00 PRs that year & not get too worried about it.)

Now, let us talk about the hills. To be honest, I talk about the hills in this race differently depending on who I’m talking to. When I’m talking to people who train in relatively flat places I say, “There are near-constant, gentle rolling hills in the first 20 miles. None of them are long or super steep but you should know they are there and you should train for them, especially the downhills. Don’t go crazy on the uphills & prepare your quads for the descents so that you can enjoy that last flat 10K, less the freeway overpass at mile 21-22 (I forget exactly). Just be sure to do some hill training & you will be fine.”

When I’m talking to people who train in places like San Francisco where significant hills, up and down, are more or less an unavoidable part of your daily training, I say, “There are no hills in this race. You will be completely fine.” Personally I like the variation in terrain because it lets me alternate muscle groups without totally wearing anything out too early, but I’m also used to it.

Aid stations are maybe every 2-2.5 miles or so for the first 20 miles, then more frequent after that (so basically, the perfect distribution). Now, this brings me to my one complaint about this year’s CIM, which is the sports drink issue. In the past it’s always been something with actual calories in it, like Gatorade or Ultima or something. This year there was only [expletive] [expletive] Nuun.

No. Just, no. You want to stay hydrated & have a few electrolytes during your yoga class? Fine. Bring a bottle of Nuun. If you’re running 26+ miles, you need something with some goddamn calories in it.

Let’s finish on a positive note. I love the spectators at this race. Love love love. They’re not constant, but there are pretty solid corridors at several points throughout the race, and they are among *the* most earnest, sincere spectators I have encountered at any race and they are absolutely screaming and cowbelling their hearts out for you, whether they know you or not.

***SWAG***
Long sleeve logo tech shirt & finisher medal, plus post-race snacks (I assume?). I know some other marathons give you like fancy backpacks or duffel bags or furry ponchos or whatever, but this is how they keep the costs down and the focus on running a fast, competitive race rather than tourism.

***IF YOU DECIDE TO RUN***
– Reserve your hotel early. You can always cancel it.

– Make your dinner reservations early. There are lots of good restaurants but they WILL fill up with large groups on Saturday night. (We quite enjoyed Hook & Ladder & it was about a mile from the expo.)

– Train for the hills, if you’re not used to them.

– Don’t wear too many clothes. Yes, it’s cold at the start (except when it’s cold & wet) but people are always shedding clothes like maniacs 4-5 miles in.

***OVERALL ASSESSMENT***
Guys. You know my feelings on this. CIM is basically God’s gift to western marathons and if I had to run only one marathon for the rest of my life and forsake all others, it would hands down be this one, no question. Some people will tell you it is hilly and cold and boring and not as fast as everyone says but those people are lying liars. There are reasons people come from all over the country to run BQs and OTQs here. Ask the BAA. CIM is hands down the best marathon there is, the end.

(Even if they did pour f—ing Nuun this year.)

**PRICES**
$45-$75 depending on when you register. I signed up in February to get the $45 price and WOW what a deal!

**DEADLINES/SELL OUT FACTOR**
I don’t think either distance fully sold out, but the deadline to register was 10/17. The incentive to sign up early is really all about the early-bird price; I signed up in February, so getting the half for a whopping $45 made me feel a little better about springing for gas & hotel.

**FIELD SIZE**
1055 finishers in the half, 259 in the 5K

**LODGING**
There were special rates available for runners at several area hotels, as well as shuttle service to the start and back from the finish. I highly recommend staying at the Lake Natoma Inn directly in front of the finish line!

**THE EXPO**
I don’t think there was an expo per se, but there was packet pickup at Dick’s Sporting Goods two miles from the finish in Folsom 3:00-6:00pm on Friday and 12:00-5:00pm on Saturday. I was VERY happy to learn that race morning packet pickup was also available at Dick’s 6:00-6:30am, and parking/shuttle service to the start & back from the finish. (Also, there were donuts, bananas, and coffee at Dick’s. I love it.)

**STAGING**
The start was on Folsom Lake Crossing Bridge (aka the “Johnny Cash Bridge”) over the American River, which has some spectacular views of both the river and Folsom Dam. Buses dropped us off near the start, and one of them also served as the sweat check/gear drop and took everything back to the finish for pickup. (Gear drop mostly involved a folding table, a box of trash bags, and a bunch of sharpies, but for the size of this race that worked fine. Bags were organized in piles by bib number at the finish and I found mine easily just minutes after crossing the line.)

The finish was right in front of the Lake Natoma Inn, & was pretty well organized and easy to navigate as far as my experience went. The only slight issue I had was finding the bus back to Dick’s Sporting Goods, but it was fine once I remembered that I’d seen them on a particular side street that morning.

**THE COURSE**
This course was very nearly everything I want in a half marathon course. Smooth concrete roads. Closed course. Gently rolling, with nothing particularly steep or particularly long. A handful of aid stations serving something with calories in it. Not too many turns. Lovely fall foliage, with the occasional breathtaking view. Given the location and the date, it’s a pretty darn good option if you’re looking for a fast race.

Now, is it a time trial-fast course? Ehhhh probably not really. None of the hills are very big and it is slightly net downhill, but if it’s your last chance for meeting some kind of high stakes time trial standard, there are a couple of *slightly* longer uphills that could ruin your day. (For example, the winding approach to the bridge in the Nimbus Dam area that crosses the American River, and that really demoralizing last .2-.4 right before the finish.) I would still absolutely 100% consider it a good option if I thought I was ready to PR.

**SWAG**
Logo tech shirt & finisher medal, plus post-race snacks & a free beer. (I don’t know what the beer was because honestly the idea of alcohol after running hard for 1.5+ hours is nauseating to me.)

**IF YOU DECIDE TO RUN**
– It didn’t sell out this year, but if you sign up early, you can save yourself some big bucks.
– Lake Natoma Inn. There is no question here. Just book it, as soon as you think you even *might* want to run this race.
– There is race morning bib pickup, but if you go ahead and get your bib the day before AND book the Lake Natoma Inn, you are basically guaranteed the smoothest race day experience possible.
– Get in the potty lines early.

**OVERALL ASSESSMENT**
I LOVED this event so much. A great course, super well organized, and $45 to sign up early? Yes please! Sure, if pressed, I can come up with a couple of TINY, WEE little quibbles, but in terms of the things I actually care about when I really, truly want to run a fast race, this one scores pretty highly.

I ran this race with a friend as part of a long run while marathon training. It was pricier than I usually like to pay for a half ($95 I think?), but it was well-run and gorgeous, so I didn’t feel too bad about it. I registered in June or July I think and the half did end up selling out sometime after that.

Parking was at 333 Airport Road & the start/finish area was .4 miles away at 371 Princeton Avenue. Officially the lot was scheduled to open at 6, but they opened at 5:40, which I appreciated. There were also shuttle buses running between the parking lot & start/finish area. Honestly it’s a pretty short, easy walk, but I am sure many of the full marathoners appreciated having the option to NOT walk .4 miles back to their cars.

This was not a huge race (617 finishers in the half, 173 in the full), so the staging area was pretty compact, with the start/finish, a few sponsor tents, first aid tent, bib pickup, toilets, & bag drop all within a few dozen feet of each other. It was pretty easy to figure out & there were plenty of volunteers happy to answer questions & direct you to whatever you needed.

The half marathon course was an out-and-back along a very nice, paved, virtually flat seaside path. Some parts were shaded but a lot of it was exposed. There were aid stations with water, sports drink, & sometimes gels maybe every couple of miles, and there were plenty of public bathrooms (mostly flush toilets) along the trail. (I believe the full marathon involves some non-technical trails and a few significant hills, because I accidentally ran part of it during my warm-up.)

It’s hard to think about it when you’re 45 miles or so into a 53 mile week, but I actually think this could be a decent PR course. It’s flat and paved, and although it’s kind of curvy (so you have to pay attention to tangents) there aren’t too many actual turns. It probably won’t ever be cold, but the fact that it’s right on the ocean & starts early means it’s unlikely to ever get terribly hot. (The high this year was 82° and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and it was still fairly comfortable by 9-9:30.)

Swag included a pretty nice medal, and maybe a shirt? I honestly do not know as I really just can’t with race shirts at this point. No one ever shoved one into my hands and I did not go looking for one. Also free snacks at the finish, and all the full-size Zola coconut waters you could guzzle. (I had one before the race and one after and at the time it was THE BEST thing I had ever tasted in my life.)

Things to Know:
* Apparently it’s selling out now, so don’t wait too long to register.
* The fact that it’s an early start and takes place right on the ocean makes a huge difference temperature-wise, but still be prepared for full sun and moderately warm temps. It seems unlikely to me that this race would EVER be cold enough to warrant layers.
* There is race day bib pickup (I did not know this ahead of time & wish I had).
* There are shuttles between parking & the start. (Not that it’s that far, but it’s nice to know.)

I enjoyed this race and had zero logistical problems with it. Yes, it is a bit pricey, but it’s also gorgeous, and the flat, paved course & friendly weather makes it potentially a good PR course. I’d recommend it to anyone not on a tight race budget.

* Very reasonably priced
* Did not sell out
* Nearly pancake-flat course with plenty of space, some shade, & a bit of scenery
* Awesome spectators/volunteers/spirit groups
* Just the right amount of swag (nice medal, tech T, & plastic water bottle)
* TIIIIINY expo (but seriously who cares)
* Pancakes!
* The bag check was a little crazy but ultimately it was fine

I 100% loved this race & if I was local I would probably run it every year.

I decided to run this race at the last minute to see what kind of shape I was in. I really wanted an accurate course, so I felt like I was lucky to find a race that a) fit my schedule, b) was super close to home, and c) was USATF certified (ie, you know for a fact it’s exactly 5K).

The race was super small (~120 finishers) and plenty well organized for a tiny local race. Parking in Golden Gate Park was super easy, and the flush toilets by the Conservatory of Flowers were open & just a short walk away. The course was a nice lollipop from the Conservatory to Stow Lake, looped around the lake, & back–no sharp turns & maybe just a couple of short hills. Finishers received a logo cotton T and a metal UCSF water bottle, which was nice.

The race was chip timed, but there was only a finish mat & not a start mat, and my one complaint is that there must have been some other issue with the timing. I turned my stopwatch on when I crossed the start & off when I crossed the finish mat, but my official time was nearly a minute over that, which seems really strange. (I didn’t mind too much, though, since I knew the distance was accurate.)

Definitely a good option if you live nearby and just want to run a reasonably fast 5K (or mile) and see what kind of shape you’re in.

This is a nice “big-small” race with a local feel (~1300 runners in the half, with a few more hundred in the walkers’ half, 5K, relay, & wheel chair division). It’s an inexpensive, all-volunteer charity race benefiting the maintenance of the Parkway, so don’t expect a lot of frills. Still, everything was well-organized and ran quite smoothly.

If a lot of scenery and crowd support and entertainment are important to you, this is probably not your race. The course is really just an out-and-back on miles of mostly exposed bike path without much too look at besides trees. (Though there were small musical ensembles every mile or two.) Also, it’s often sunny and warm in Sacramento this time of year, even early, so it’s important to be prepared for a hot race. But, if those things don’t bother you, this could be a good choice for an excellent price if you’re looking for a well-organized, small-but-not-too-small spring half.

I’m kind of torn about whether this race should get 3 or 4 stars. If I could, I’d probably give it 3.5. See, the trouble is that how great of a race it is depends on what you want out of it and what you expect, and how much what you want is worth to you money-wise.

PROS:
– good organization
– flat, fast, somewhat scenic course
– small field (a con for some people but I like small races)
– professionally timed/supported

CONS:
– little to no crowd support
– not much post-race action
– no medal
– no pictures
– kind of pricey for what you get

All I really wanted was a fast, supported course on which to run 10 straight marathon pace miles without stopping, so for my purposes, it was fine, but I know that for a lot of people, if they’re forking over $70-$85, they’re expecting a few more perks. (It sounds like part of the reason for the higher prices right now is the small field. If more runners signed up, fixed costs would be distributed among more people and the prices might go down.)

Since SFM is sort of my “hometown race,” I kind of felt like I should participate in it in some way at some point. I’ve never been able to get myself psyched up for the full, though, because a) it is a DAMNED hard course and b) it is not cheap. The 1st half has the appeal of going over the bridge, but a) the 1st half is the hard part, b) it’s STILL not cheap, and c) I can run the bridge any time I want (and more importantly, when I can pick my weather).

So instead I waited until I could get the sub-seeded discount on the 2nd half & ran that instead. It was fine, but the course is not that interesting, the late start can mean uncomfortably warm temps, & for all that it’s the “easier” half, there are still a lot of hills, so it’s not really PR friendly. I can see people wanting to run SFM as a destination race, but as a local it is NOT worth the money.

I ran this 5K because I had a hankering to race, but was coming back from an injury & did not want to invest much travel time or money into a race that I knew I wasn’t all that prepared for. It was cheap, not too far away, fit into my schedule, I had a friend running, and hey, it was for a good cause, so why not?

It was basically exactly what I expect from a community 5K, with perhaps slightly more elaborate staging (it was in the Microsoft parking lot, & there were a couple of local bands & a DJ, & ladies serving pastries & bagels & OJ & stuff, so that was nice). The course wound through a local park, and the only notable thing about it was that at one point the course crossed itself (!) so that could have potentially been dangerous. My friend & I both clocked the course at a little over 3.2, but I kind of feel like that’s par for the course with local community races like this, and we did not get too bent out of shape over it. (Also, there were timing chips, but only a finish mat, not a starting one, so unless you start right at the front, know your official time will probably be a little off.)

I didn’t find out until after, but there was actually a podium ceremony with medals, and, hey, I managed 2nd in my age group, so that was kind of cool. I’d run it again if I just kind of wanted to run a 5K & wasn’t too concerned about a PR or anything.

This race happens mostly on Silverado Trail, part of the same road as the Napa Valley Marathon, and thusly suffers from some of the same drawbacks.

1) Wine country can get really hot, even in the morning, and the black top makes it worse because any direct sun is reflected back up at you.
2) The road is uncomfortably canted in a lot of places.
3) Not-so-gentle rollers. They might not be so bad if it weren’t for the canting, but with both, it can be tough on your legs after a while.

On the plus side, it’s a small race and was logistically well-run in my experience. As long as you’re not expecting fancy schwag (in 2013 we got a T-shirt and a very nice but small, more traditional medal) and know what you’re in for in terms of the course/weather, it can be a nice little local race.

I’ve run the Oakland Half twice now, and for all that there are a) lots of turns and b) GPS issues, it’s earned a semi-solid place on my calendar of PR-worthy half marathons. Both times the race has been well organized and the staging in Snow Park was perfect. I would not call the course particularly scenic, but it’s not boring, and Oakland definitely does crowd support like no other. Yes, there are a bunch of turns, but it’s almost completely flat (though ugggghhh the hill at the finish line is killer), and if it’s cool day, it an be a great PR race. (Yes, your watch will probably show 13.2/13.3/13.4, but I’ve been assured the course is USATF certified & it’s just due to some GPS issues, including, I’m sure, the tunnel you run underneath. If you have a slow mile 3, don’t panic; it’s probably just that.)

This is a laid-back, well-organized, no-frills race put together for runners, by runners. You want rock bands & expotiques & fancy jackets or jewelry or whatever? This is not your race. If you want to run a reasonably priced marathon in a cool place put on by people who are on top of their shiznit, it might be.

It CAN be a fast course (an 11:00 PR for me), but there are a few caveats that I wish I’d thought better of ahead of time:
– You are running a MARATHON in SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA around MEMORIAL DAY. Even with a 7am start, it is still likely to be warm and sunny towards the end (and full sun radiating off the pavement will make it feel even hotter than it is).
– A downhill course sounds cool in your heard, but it’s all between 6 & 20, and it is STEEP in places. I wish I had trained more on prolonged downhills because my quads were absolutely done by mile 21. If you don’t train for it, the grade will end up being your enemy more than your friend.
– More aid stations were needed in those last extra-warm miles.
– The last few miles are a giant out-and-back on the coast. Mentally that just sucked.
– TAKE THE EARLY BUSES. Because I signed up early, I got to take the later buses, which seemed like a perk at the time, but there was a lot of traffic getting those last buses into the start area and I came within minutes of missing the bag drop as well as the start.

But still, overall, I think it is a good race (as long as you’re aware of the challenges) at a reasonable price point and I hope they keep it small & simple & don’t try to cater to the froo-froo rock-bands-and-chocolate crowd.

I love this race (and its sister race, Summer Breeze, held on the same course in August). I haven’t yet found a better course closer to home (San Francisco) for a PR/time trial 10K, plus a) it’s not too big, b) the price is right, and c) it’s Brazen so I know it will be well run and well organized.

All three races are staged at the San Leandro Marina and, with the exception of a short stretch of grass at the start & finish and a small patch of gravel at the turnaround, the 10K out-and-back course is absolutely flat on a paved trail that runs through Hayward Regional Shoreline. (Read: no turns / tangents to manage.) Sure, if it’s windy, you can end up running into a headwind one direction or the other, but I’ve run this course I think four times now and there’s never been significant wind for me to feel like it was messing with my race.

Great organization, great swag. (See: Every review/race report of a Brazen event I’ve ever written.)

I ran this race in October 2012 and it’s still one of my fondest racing experiences. The race is part of a series of fairly small wine country races (“Run Wine Country” — Windsor Green Half in May, Water to Wine Half in August, & Healdsburg), and they do a great job putting them on. Yes, there are a lot of hills on the course, but they’re sort of large and rolling rather than super steep, and for some reason that seems to have resulted in a lot of PRs for people I know who have run it (myself included–as of early 2015, that PR still stands). The age group awards are bottles of wine (though they gave me a non-alcoholic one for some reason–what the hell??) and if you run all three races in the series, you get a bottle for that as well. Also, nice medals and some of my favorite race shirts.

It’s important to note that there are two half marathons in Healdsburg in October that get referred to as the “Healdsburg Half Marathon.” This one is put on by the group Events With Sole & generally happens in mid-October. The other one, whose official title is Healdsburg Wine Country Half Marathon, is put on by Destination Races & usually happens on the Saturday before Halloween & has kind of a costume theme. I have heard lots of great things about the other one & went back & forth between which one to run, but in the end I went with the Run Wine Country one because it was significantly cheaper.

I loved this race & am really hoping to be able to run it again this year!

I ran this 10K in 2011 and did NOT do my homework re: the course. It was on pavement until about 1.8 miles, at which time it went up an incredibly steep fire trail (Live Oak Trail), with the turnaround basically at the top of the hill. I ran for as long as I can but ended up walking the second half of the hill & trying not to die, then had to stop for a break at the top. So that was a rough surprise! The moral of the story: when you look at the course elevation diagram, LOOK AT THE UNITS. The end.

A Brazen event, so as always great organization, smooth production, nice shirts/medals/etc. I probably won’t run it again because crazy steep fire trails are not really my thing, but if they are your thing, maybe you’ll enjoy it.

Full disclosure, here: I strongly dislike Competitor Racing Group and have sworn off Rock ‘N Roll events for many of reasons, so I’m not exactly what you’d call an unbiased source of information. But, I will do my best to give a fair review of this particular race.

Yes, the stories are true. This is an *incredibly* flat course and, although there are a lot of turns, very PR-friendly as long as you run tangents well. And the benefit of paying $100+ for a half marathon run by a large corporation is extremely good organization. Parking is easy and you get a big medal and a big concert at the end.

On the other hand, it’s kind of a depressing course in terms of scenery (mostly strip malls and the ‘burbs, as I recall) and extremely noisy with all the bands and other groups out, which I found very distracting. (Of course, this will be a pro for many people. Don’t get me wrong, I like a little crowd support but the year I ran it was just unrelenting, and between that and the bands, I felt afterward like I needed to sit in a dark, silent room for a week.) And I have to be honest, it is just really hard for me to justify more than about $75 for a half.