Jennifer Albright's Staging Area

This is a very special race. Not only is the scenery incredible, but the entire community treats each runner like family. From the welcome mats to the incredibly jam-packed swag bag to the shirts and medals, every detail was meticulously executed. The marathon store at packet pickup was small but had anything you might need – bandaids, anti-chafe sticks, fuel, all kinds of things. It felt like everyone in town was out cheering on the racers.

The motivational speaker was Robert Key this year, he was so inspiring and open. We saw him several times over race weekend (on our flight, around town, at the race & afterwards) and was genuinely excited to be there and meet everyone. Spaghetti dinner the night before was a bargain and very good.

While I prefer point to point races, the course was beautiful. We saw tons of bald eagles along the way. Rolling hills along the coast. It rained for a bit which is to be expected at this time of year so definitely bring a rain layer. Temps were in the upper 40s so it would have been pretty miserable to also be wet.

A few things to keep in mind if you choose this race (which you absolutely should) –
* You should stay in either Craig or Klawock if you’re visiting from out of town, and book early since lodging is limited.
* If taking the Interisland Ferry, there is one boat to POW per day and one back to Ketchikan so you’ll need to pad your trip on either side to allow enough time for travel logistics. The ferry takes 3 hours and you have to be there an hour before departure. You can also fly in but it’s a lot more expensive.
* Rental cars are pricy and options are limited. Some rental agencies will not allow you to take the car to POW so read the fine print. I rented at the airport in Ketchikan which worked out well.
* Everything is super expensive in Alaska in general but especially on POW. The snack packs of nuts that I paid $1/ea for back home were $7 on the island – bring anything you might need from home or at the very least stock up in Ketchikan.

You will not regret choosing this race.

I came into this one not very well prepared and was not expecting much – but I was pleasantly surprised. I ended up joining a pacer (Amy) who was a hoot. Between her and the other ladies who ran with her I found myself talking and laughing the whole time, and before I knew it the race was over. It was one of the most fun times I’ve ever had on a half. The course was mostly flat and much of it went through a park so it was shaded and pretty.

As for the race production, it was well done. The hotel was great (and offered a dinner for runners the night before), and everything was communicated well. The expo was small but fine, and parking was easy near the starting line. Plenty of restrooms, and a lot of food and drinks at the finish. Normally I complain because the back of the pack runners don’t get the same race experience, but this one was better than most. Plenty of burgers and drinks still available and every finisher got a rose. Really my only critique was that it looked like things were shutting down about half an hour before the cutoff time…I always figure if someone runs for 4 hours they need a massage at least as much as anyone else!

Swag – the medal was pretty and I like the shirt. Overall I’d do this one again.

The scenery was beautiful in many portions of the race – I even saw dolphins at one point! The swag was good, large cool medals and I liked the shirts though a women’s shirt would have been better than unisex. Hilly course in some areas but not the hardest I’ve done.
My biggest gripe was that even though I finished almost an hour before the cutoff, the post-race party was basically over. I was lucky to get one of the last slices of pizza, couldn’t get a massage because they were overbooked…the drink line was so long that I gave up and walked back to my hotel. If any of the organizers are reading these reviews – please, please work to make the experience the same for all runners who finish within the cutoff time parameters. We all deserve to have food and drinks, perks, etc. regardless of our finish time – those things shouldn’t just be for the faster folks. It was super hot that day and I was really looking forward to some pizza and a beer, the after party was a letdown. If you’re faster than I am you’d probably enjoy it.

Petaluma is a great small town. The course was hillier than expected but not not awful. The cowbell medal was super cute and I like the shirt, everything was well organized. My only complaint which is nobody’s fault was that they kept touting the great views at the top after running uphill for 6 miles…and it was so foggy I could barely see three feet in front of me. That was a bummer but overall it was still a fun one.

I think that in a few years this race will be something special.

The scenery is lovely, though it’s all on the state park side of the road (no beach view). Water stops are limited so definitely bring your own if you can.

The course was pretty well marked, with colored arrows differentiating the 5K & 10K Saturday and the half & full on Sunday. There was just one place in the half that was a bit vague, had there not been a volunteer there and the person ahead of me hadn’t asked I’d have skipped a mile or so of the course altogether.
There were some sections of both 10K & half courses that were quite narrow which meant sometimes being stuck behind walkers, and the last mile of the half was on a wooden boardwalk so be prepared for that.

The biggest issue for me was lack of communication. The host hotel didn’t seem to know anything about the event when we checked in, nor did we ever end up seeing the room afterwards with massage guns and other things. The race organizers did send out emails with race info, but it just wasn’t as tightly buttoned up as many of the other races that I do. Swag was okay. If the company putting on the race decided to sell shirts that reference the race vs just their own logo they would probably sell a ton of them!

It was a fun weekend, and I think in the future this will be a great race. It’s good now, and the location is awesome.

We chose this race based on recommendations from other runner friends, and it delivered. It was billed as a boutique experience and that’s exactly what it was. Pre-race yoga and stretching on the beach, a full-on gourmet buffet afterwards, and beautiful scenery. There wasn’t a ton of race support since the island is closed to anyone who doesn’t live there or have a permit but the landscape was so serene that it was kind of nice to be able to soak it all in.

My only critique was the swag. The hoodie wasn’t my favorite but as race shirts go it was fine. Not quite in line with the quality level of everything else about this race but fine. My beef is that there was almost nothing for sale for the half marathon crowd. Tons for the full marathoners but just a couple of things for the half that were mostly for men. Boo.

This was a rough one for me. I’ve done shorter trail runs before but never a half so this was challenging for me. It had rained the day before so the course was muddy and a bit slick which probably didn’t help.

The course was beautiful. Hilly and rocky, lots of branches and corn cobs near the cornfield sections of the race so a lot of potential hazards. Given that the race is on a private farm there wasn’t much by way of spectator support but I was working so hard I didn’t care as much as I usually would.

I crossed the finish line bloody and at a much slower pace than I typically run, so the medal was well earned. Being a back of the pack runner there wasn’t much left by way of post-race refreshments, but it sounds like there were some good things earlier on. Love the shirt.

If you’re a seasoned trail runner you’ll probably love this.

I have very mixed feelings about this race. The expo was fantastic. So many vendors, so many cool experiences (like meeting Jeff Galloway). Great shirts and swag, though the half marathon shirt was the worst of the bunch (cheap scratchy cotton) which was disappointing.

As for the races themselves…Saturday went off without a hitch. Thoroughly enjoyed despite the hills, and lots of good snacks between and after the 10K and 5K. Awesome massage at the end.

Sunday was a hot mess. The weather was dangerous…as I ran across the giant metal bridge in ankle deep water with lightning far too close I was thinking that this shouldn’t be happening. Come to find out that some corrals were forcibly stopped while others weren’t. Yet for those who had to stop the clock didn’t stop so their times were inaccurate. I’ve done a lot of half marathons, my main focus is on safety and consistency. If it wasn’t safe to run then it wasn’t safe for anyone. Very disappointed in the race director though otherwise I really enjoyed all aspects of race weekend and the other distances.

The whole experience was a mess – the shirts didn’t arrive in time so they handed out cheap cotton shirts that went straight to Goodwill. In their defense the did mail the real shirts afterwards. They only offered non-alcoholic beer at the finish…I never drink beer except for after a race, I tried this but it wasn’t good.
My biggest beef with this race was that San Antonio has so many beautiful areas – tons of history, the Alamo, quaint old neighborhoods, missions – yet we ran along the frontage of I-35 and through some more industrial areas. It did end at a park in a historic area but overall it was just a lot of wasted potential.

This was a fun one. It was pretty warm and humid that day so I was not too disappointed when it started to rain at mile 12 – some nice scenery, rolling hills and bridges. Just before the finish line an aid station was handing out lip gloss for finish line photos which was fun. Medals were enormous.

To be fair, I did this one the first year so maybe they’ve gotten the kinks out since then. The course was just boring – a lot of it went through industrial areas and neighborhoods under construction. It was basically what I’d see if I were running at home. It wasn’t a difficult course, mostly flat, just not visually interesting at all.

Production was okay. Communication pre-race could have been better. Post-race there was live music that was pretty good, but there was zero post-race food. No bananas, chips, nothing. Limited water at the finish and some flavored malt liquor type drinks. There were some decent restaurants surrounding the pavilion so we ended up paying to eat at one of them – we would have stayed for the live music but without food and limited drinks plus the heat we didn’t stick around.

The swag was okay. Medal was small and they did tank tops which never fit me quite right.

This was a good one. Scenery was nice and finished on the boardwalk which was great. This was a PR for me, very runnable course. Some sections didn’t have much in way of crowd support but it was freezing that day so I understand. Medals were awesome (8K, half, and challenge) and I liked the shirt – nice to get a long sleeve shirt for once. They also gave out baseball caps and fleece blankets at the finish line. Post-race entertainment was outstanding – lots of food choices and lots of beer.

I was talked into it by friends and had no idea what to expect so it’s hard to review. On the plus side, generally decent race support and communication. The shirts were Brooks and the medals were okay. My biggest issue was that it was 85 degrees and the aid stations ran out of cups by the time I hit mile 7…we were putting water into cupped hands which was not ideal. Overall it was fine.