Craig Anderson's Staging Area

If your race preference is for music, ballyhoo, costumes, and fanfare, you’ll probably want to find another race. But if you’re a half-marathoner who simply loves to run or who’s looking for a new type of challenge to motivate your training, then do yourself a favor and check out the City to the Sea Half Marathon in San Luis Obispo. This half also makes a great option for 50-Staters looking for a distinctive California race.

The course is mostly rural with an urban feel anchored on each end of the point-to-point course. Although the course is a net downhill similar to Boston, the course isn’t necessarily PR-friendly. The first two-thirds of the course gives runners a false sense of security with a rather flat profile. But there’s no such thing as a free lunch, the final third is where runners must pay the piper with two rather noteworthy hills. Within the confines of Pismo Beach, one may brand the inclines somewhere between “rolling” and “hilly”.

City to the Sea serves as the chief fundraiser for the Cuesta College track and field program. Early bird registration is rather reasonable for a half marathon at $75 and increases to $100 for those who prefer to register late, but it’s a solid value – in terms of production. As for swag, you get what you pay for – a cotton tee. That’s it, not even a drop bag.

Besides socializing with other runners post-race at Dinosaur Caves Park, runners are given a complimentary craft beer for those who like such brews. Expect to find a handful of food truck vendors as well as a local band playing music for entertainment.

Given its proximity to Thanksgiving, this race may also serve to rev up your metabolism to tackle the gluttony one may experience on turkey day.

This is the third time running Surf City. It is very popular with over 10,000 runners. Three-fourths of the course can be boring to some with long out and backs on PCH and beach. There is no shade when sunny and can get hot. Course is flat with a small hill at Mile 3. Great food and entertainment. Expo is organized with quick packet pick-up. Parking is easy at various lots with convenient shuttle service.

On a scale of good, bad, and meh, the Two Cities Marathon and Half ranks as a mostly good with just a small essence of meh.

Are there areas where, at least in my opinion, the race could be a bit better? Of course! Every race has areas where they can improve. I don’t care ff you’re talking about Disney, Boston, or Flying Pig, no race is perfect. That said, the Two Cities Marathon and Half (2CM) definitely gets it mostly right in my book of reviews. Let me break it down a bit.

Travel Logistics:

Traveling to and from 2CM isn’t particularly complicated. Woodward Park is located just off State Highway 41 (the road to Yosemite) on the north side of Fresno. Ample lodging is available. If you’re flying in, the Fresno-Yosemite International Airport is close. Obviously, FYI is not a major hub, so depending on where you are flying in from you will likely have to connect through a bigger airport, although there are connections to major hubs like ORD, SLC, DEN, LAX, or SFO.

That said, if you’re thinking of making a trip from out of town to Fresno, the travel logistics really shouldn’t be much of an issue.

Course Details:

The 2CM event comprises a full marathon, two half marathon courses (Fresno Half and Clovis Half), a relay and a 5K run/walk. The full marathon incorporates both the Fresno and Clovis half courses. The course for 2CM is pretty much as advertised – flat and fast!

The course gets its name from the two cities runners pass through – Fresno and Clovis. The Fresno Half utilizes city streets and roads; whereas, the Clovis Half utilizes mostly a paved pedestrian/bike pathway, but also city streets.

The start of the race begins in front of Woodward Park and the finish line is inside the park. Each of the features races begins with staggered start times as a way to spread out the number of runners competing.

Pre/post-Race:

Fresno’s New Covenant Community Church plays host to the event expo and packet pick-up. Numerous vendors and other purveyors of merchandise pack themselves onto the church’s sanctuary floor. Visitors and participants weave their way around the serpentine-like pathway before runners procure their goody bag, tech shirt and personalized bib number before exiting.

Holding an expo in a church building is somewhat unusual, but seems to work well with the size of 2CM. Upon entering the sanctuary, the room was dark, lit with rather poor inefficient spotlighting. In my opinion, whoever the light designer was, he/she needs to go back to school.

That said, the expo was well organized and they definitely had a wide selection of items available (fuel, clothes, etc.) in case you forgot something and needed to grab a last-minute replacement.

The organizers provide for a ton of porta-potties. If you wait for the last minute, long lines form, but if used earlier, it’s a quick in and out.
As for post-race entertainment, there was a local band on the stage (playing mostly covers) and runners are treated with a breakfast of champions – pancakes, sausage and scrambled eggs. The food is usually cold, but after a day of running, it does taste good. Also, the Michelob Ultra beer garden offers free ice-cold beer.

All in all, I have no complaints about the pre/post-race amenities.

Bling:

I don’t know how you could complain about the bling from 2CM. Up until 2019, the finisher’s medal commemorates the autumn season, but the current medal incorporated features of Clovis and Fresno. Not as fashionable as years past.

Volunteers:

Seriously, the volunteers are always awesome! The folks running the aid stations/water stops were awesome, and definitely did whatever they could to support us on the course. Even those private citizens not affiliated with the event coming to help out with their own aid stations – even cold beer and whiskey.

Miscellaneous:

There is ample public parking in a business development adjacent to the park. There is a little walk to the start and finish areas, but it isn’t bad at all.

Overall impression:

Over the past twelve years of 2CM’s existence, I’ve run the full 2CM thrice, the Fresno Half once and the Clovis Half five times, but my preference lies with the Clovis Half chiefly for the flatter topography and the spectator support along the pedestrian/bike trail. Will I run 2CM in the future? With the number of times I’ve run this race, it speaks for itself.

If anyone is looking for an amazing race experience, run the Mad Marathon – or the half. I really cannot say enough great things about this marathon. Is it hilly? YES! It is beautiful? Absolutely! It’s the laid back and relaxed feeling of this smaller marathon tucked away in central Vermont that I enjoyed so much, and everyone was so friendly and helpful. The old covered bridges, gems of the engineering past and iconic symbols of Vermont, provide a unique and distinctive touch to this event.

A huge thank you to the race director Dori and all her staff and volunteers for making all the runners feel so welcome. She really knows how to throw a party.

If you have never visited the Mad River Valley, I highly recommend it. While there, visit the Mad Taco for some succulent tacos, burritos, locally produced ciders or craft beers, but beware, some of the hot sauces can set your mouth on fire. Lastly, if you have the legs for it, sign up for the Mad Marathon and hope that, like me, you manage to wake up on race morning with an autumnal chill so that hills are the only wrenches thrown into your running gears.

This is a place where one can kick back, relax and digest the hills of the Green Mountain State. While some runners may see serial marathoning as a fool’s errand, there’s no mistaking a race’s ability to bring people together, runners and non-runners alike. As long as there are marathons I have yet to run, there’s still the potential of returning for yet another round of food, laughter, and of course, many long miles.

For those who detest out-and-back courses, this one’s not for you. This inaugural event is sponsored by the Road to 50 Club and is one piece of the Blue Ridge Series that takes runners out 1.1 mi along the Erwin Linear Trail and return back to the start – for twelve complete laps. Fantastic race directors go out of their way to provide water, refreshments, and food. Even though it’s a small race, but it’s huge in fun and camaraderie. Give it a try. The best races sometimes come in places where you would least expect it.

I love visiting God’s Country and the Williamson area. I can argue that this race is still one of the best races ever and I’ve run some spectacular marathons. Of all the marathons under my belt, there is literally no competition in my mind. I’m glad I came back again this year because it firmly cemented my feelings that this is undeniably one my favorite marathons by far. There are a lot of good races out there, but in my personal view, this is probably the most fun you’ll have running 26.2 miles – putting aside those extreme meteorological conditions.
It is evident there’s history between the two families, and that alone is enough to lure history fans interested in seeing the places the feud made famous. Running this marathon is a great way to do just that since the course leads runners into regions where some of the feuding incidences happened. For history fans like myself, this is an unrivaled quality because you’re getting a personal look at the setting where some of the most famous Kentucky/West Virginia events transpired. I think of this marathon as a quick-paced history tour.
The H&M Marathon is a small low-key “hidden treasure” and is a spot-on description the race director Alexis and his dedicated team of volunteers do in the heart of Hatfield-McCoy feud country – except that no feuding takes place, just running. I am blown away by generosity of all the people who came out to cheer or volunteer to hand out course-side treats like watermelon, grapes, oranges, bananas, candy, sponges and rags dipped in ice water, ice water/chips, pickles and even fried chicken. Don’t forget to stop and pet the miniature horses along the way! That’s another tradition that makes this race a special event.
I don’t know what it is about the course, but you’re just surrounded by mountains, and everything is so green, and at the start, there’s typically this kind of early morning fog that appears like it’s shrouding the mountains in a clandestine manner.
Usually, June weather in the Tug Valley is hot and humid – this year no exception. With the area’s unrelenting hills, there are water stops every mile either to cool or nourish your inner self. Even though my finish time certainly reflected the heat related struggles I had throughout the second half of the marathon, somehow, I savored each and every mile. There is no time limit to complete the marathon and the course remains open until the final runner high-fives “Devil Anse” Hatfield or Ran’l McCoy.
Yes, getting to Williamson does take some effort, but once you arrive, you’ll be in for a treat – a diamond in the rough, so to speak. The race organizers and all the volunteers are incredible and the Hatfield and McCoy actors are amazing men – out there each and every year.
The course is both beautiful and interesting, and you get a lot of really unique special touches that you just don’t get at the bigger marathon events. Whether you’re a Maniac, Fanatic or a Fifty-Stater or just want to do something different, run this race. It’s worth the trip and see how far you can run with a stolen pig.
I think hillbillies are actually pretty smart, because they live in a setting way more scenic than I do. Just saying.
One must remember, be in by dark and if you see a pig, look the other way.