Erik Weber's Staging Area

I am an autistic athlete who regularly competes for Special Olympics, and I run marathons and half marathons.
Two weeks before this race, I had run my personal best half marathon time of 1 hour 26 minutes 4 seconds. The Big Sur Half Marathon had everything a runner could possibly want.
Considering the USA Half Marathon was the first ever qualifiers-only half marathon, I had HIGH EXPECTATIONS for it to be infrastructurally sound. Unfortunately, USA Half Marathon lacked the basics and the extras. These deficiencies with the USA Half Marathon were extremely dangerous!!!
Thirty-six hours prior to the race, I contracted food poisoning, but thought I had recovered enough to run anyway. After 3 miles, I knew I was in trouble. Nevertheless, I soldiered through for another 5 miles until I reached MCRD. At that point, my pain level, and the lack of security on the track, prevented me from finishing.
I noticed along the route that there were very few porta-potties and very far apart (Two porta-potties every 2 to 3 miles). At about mile 7, the only restroom available was a gas station bathroom, with a long wait to get in. Having to wait over ten minutes to relieve the food poisoning gas and diarrhea was excruciating because it was starting to press into my diaphragm.
The race also failed to have medical personnel cyclists, and was very short on police officers. There was only one officer every half mile or so. I did not have much of any options for getting help if I desperately needed it. Another reason why I stopped at MCRD is that place happened to have more than one security person (there was an officer and two Marines). What was also EXTREMELY SUPREMELY DANGEROUS was a disoriented homeless person was standing IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TRACK facing oncoming runners and yelling things at runners. NO ONE ESCORTED THAT PERSON OFF THE TRACK AWAY FROM RACERS AND FANS!!!!! IMAGINE IF THAT PERSON WAS SOMEONE SPECIFICALLY TARGETING THE RACE, LIKE IN BOSTON!!!!!
If there had been mobile medics, and a stronger presence of track security, I would have felt safe enough to continue the rest of the way.

Speaking of lack of security, there were no officers at the start line, and there were no escorts to take runners from finish line to start line in the dark.

Another one of the most shameful parts about the USA Half Marathon was it did NOT have uniformed honor guard for the opening ceremony. If this race is going to use a military emblem as a medal and call itself USA Half Marathon, runners better have the opportunity to thank our brave military personnel in person for their courage in defending this country. Especially considering San Diego is a military city, the failure to have uniformed honor guard at the course is unacceptable!!!

If I am ever going to choose to run the USA Half Marathon again, it better have the infrastructure and patriotism from now on!