Jeremy Adams's Staging Area

This was my first Ultra anything run. I have done countless half marathons but never more. I knew doing one with Vacation Races was the safest way to go. They are always well organized and have runners of all levels and skills welcomed. This proved great, I didn’t have to be some ultra athlete to run this race. However this corse is not easy, the altitude and elevation gains are killer here! Be prepared but it’s doable 100%. It’s Vacation Races so the course is beautiful. The camping at the starting line is my favorite, no need to worry about expense race weekend lodging. I am ready to do my first 50k now!

As always Vacation Races puts on the best race production of any race company in the country. I have done this race before, the original course 2017, the small groups course of 2020 and now this new course due to snow on the original course. I have to say this one was my favorite and I hope they keep it. You still get all the fun and challenging hills in grass and dirt, like the original course during the first few miles. Then you get rewarded with beautiful pathed path that takes you along a river with bridges and trees. It was so pretty and I saw people even got to see a bear on the course this year. I love the. new course and think Vaca Races should just keep this one. Be ready for the high elevation and not go too hard too fast. Race swag is amazing, love the shirts and medals.

Reading the reviews on this race makes it sounds like this race was crap. As my 74th half marathon this one was not that bad. Yes someone f’d up and the course was short. However I have ran 2 in the past where they were 1/2 mile longer, someone marking them wrong.

The medal was the biggest I have ever seen & I loved it. Also the best race shirt almost ever. They fit to size & had a super cool Chicago logo on them and no crazy advertising on them like most runs do. I thought the scenery was very nice, with the trees, the lake & a distant different view of downtown Chicago you don’t normally see. Anyone that signed up for this race could obviously see that it was not downtown. Not sure why they are complaining. The race did start late which I didn’t like with not being able to use the bathrooms with how long of a line they were. Also I was panicking trying to get to the corral by 6:45am as they said they would close them. Not the case with a 7:15am start. I am sure they had to wait for the roads to clear. However they did a great job with lots of bathrooms on the course more than I have even seen so I did get to stop later.

The expo was super cool being at the tallest building in the city.

Vacation Races pulls off another smooth & amazing inauguration half! The location was perfect, close to the park entrance, the finish line is a perfect little park. The race has lots of different terrain, this makes it fun. It’s not a easy course but not as hard as other VR courses. Very pretty thick forest views, only thing missing was a view of Mt Rainier on the course, but I think that’s because it was cloudy durning race time. The swag of course was spot on like all VR races. Everyone was having a good time, add this to any run bucket-list you have!

The bib pick up / expo was a nightmare. Don’t judge my review by this because this was only due to Covid. The course was super fun & very easy (especially if you are good at trial running). I got my personal best. As always vacation races puts on an amazing show. Shirt was the best one yet. The area has so much fun things to do you don’t even need to go into the crowded park. Also the weather this time of year is perfect.

What a beautiful fun course. Vacation races picked a good one with this hybrid trial & road half marathon. It really felt like you were running inside the trails of the National Park. Very pretty and fun, not a easy course & you will not get a PB. Swag of course read amazing shirt and medal.

This was my worst performance half of my life. Living on the west coast I am not used to humid weather. I actually had to walk part of the course, yet it’s pretty flat. The course was absolutely stunning. Beautiful trees & old buildings, lots of cool houses to see, along a river. Vacation races is my favorite so the swag & medals are amazing of course.

Vacation Races doing the best they can with the current covid situation. This race was very challenging with tons of running hills, dirt & high grass. It was such a fun run, the scenery was not the best but it was one of the most fun courses I have run. They did a great job with social distaining and it was fun how you just picked up your bib and started the race pretty much when ever you wanted during your 30 min time slot. No lines at the bathroom, lots of spread out space to go at your own pace the whole run. I almost liked the way this race was compared to the normal crowed start/finish lines. Oh and my favorite part was picking my time slot to be able to sleep in!

Again my favorite racing company put on a show. This is probably the pretties course you will ever run. The entire course has views of the mountains of Zion National Park. The town around has so much to offer. The course is difficult if you are not used to hills & higher elevation. The t shirt was nice & of course the medals are 10/10.

This race goes to a great cause & is super fun! The scenery on the course goes though Fort Vancouver, along three river & the new waterfront, very pretty! The swag was great, lots of free things. I love the Adidas employees store 50% off passes. The free hot coco was to die for! The volunteers from the Electric company were amazing. The only thing this race brea is a race medal (maybe have a $10 option to get one).

I see why this run is in the top 5 trail runs to do. You get to run under waterfalls & thick forests with trails full of leaves. Just when you think it’s over there is a killer hill at the end. You can camp or get a cabin and make a whole weekend of it. The production was great. I was disappointed with the photos, they only got 2 shots the whole time & one was around a corner that could have been an amazing photo with the waterfall in the background but everyone had deer in the headlights look. Maybe give a heads up to look good. Also the medal was the same for everyone no matter what distance you got. There is a big difference between a 5 & 50k. You earned that! Maybe charge a little more and make a cool medal with a waterfall or something. I will for sure do this one again maybe the half next year.

I always dreamed of going to the International hot air balloon fiesta in Albuquerque (largest in the world). Who knew that had a half marathon for it on the side. It was well organized, everyone was so nice, the nicest volunteers I have ever had on a run. It felt like I was running in a small town race. Even the people walking along the race cheered you on. However the highlight of this run was seeing all the 100’s of Balloons on the horizon as you run along the river. It was truly unreal and a running experience you can’t get anywhere else. I would highly recommend this run to anyone. Than you make it a trip for a few days and check out the amazing festival and see the balloons up close.

This was an amazing run for a few reasons. First off it’s at night, so warmer outside & also for those night owls like me you get to sleep in! Also you get tons of free race photos with amazing backdrops of Fort Vancouver and the air museum. They even give you a free carb loaded dinner so I could just eat for free before the half marathon in the morning. That makes it worth it alone plus entertainment and meeting new friends. + free apples!

To add to the Missoula Marathon weekend experience this is a must 5k. You get to run all around the town, get the coolest 5k medal I have ever seen & add to your swag to get the 3 challenge medal if you do this, the beer run & the marathon on Sunday.

Only Vacation races would somehow find a way to get views of the Grand Canyon without being able to be in the National Park. Yes you had to drive 30 miles on a dirt road at the break of dawn but that made this run so special. The run had deadly up hills & was rocky, 1st time I have ever had to actually walk some of a half marathon. That being said the race production was on point & I had a blast.

This was a great run with a meaning. Course runs along the river & very pretty if you do the 10k it goes back into better scenery than the 5k part. They line the course with pictures of fallen hero’s from the military its very moving and makes you appreciate what they did for our freedom. Awsome Run! The swag is amazing with free photos, shirt, medals, free beer pints, free lunch, free beer free free free. The women that is the spokes person at all the Why racing runs is funny and super outgoing I love what she does.

Why racing put on another great show. The course has changed with it shifting over to the new waterfront downtown area that was recently opened. This made the course even more scenic. Race swag was top notch, with amazing medal for a 3 mile/ even a free running pack to put your water bottle in and beer glass with the race on it/ shirt all free!! Plus free race pictures!

Fun new location for this race this year. Much more room for parking and before/after race. Fun Flat Course, just a little up hill the 1st 1/2 mile however on the way back its all down hill the last 1/2 mile. Very organized and everyone seemed to have a good time. People singing on course and you could even grab free candy.

2 amazing things about this race, you run around one of the best Christmas Light displays in the NW and they give you a while regular size pie to each person. You also get a nice tshirt & a cool race mug. I wish they had a medal for this race it would be a perfect run. Great run for the whole family to burn those calories before Thanksgiving dinner the next day.