Julie Brough's Staging Area

Pros First!
– Running a Christmas half marathon at sunset/night was really fun!
– This is a good spectator race! You do a couple different loops and go past the start and finish areas (they’re fairly close to each other) at least four or five times. My friend came to watch, and she got to cheer me on a lot without walking all over the place.
– Swag is great. The medal is hefty and really nice. The half marathon shirt is actually a light sweatshirt. I now wear it all the time.
– The course is well-marked. They have cones with glow sticks in them to help you stay on the path/watch for curbs.
– The announcer at the finish was a lot of fun!
– There were employees in golf carts at each split in the course making sure 10k and half marathon runners went the right directions (like half marathoners going straight while the 10k runners turned right).
– Beautiful course through a golf course and along a nature path

Middle of the road things (neither pro nor con):
– This race course is deceptively hard. The uphills are UP and the downhills are DOWN. I thought it would be more gentle rolling hills. It’s not. I live/train in Utah and thought the hills would be no problem for me. They were haha. Other runners with lots of half-marathon experience said it was a difficult course. It’s still a lot of fun. Just train accordingly.
– A lot of people running the races stay at the resort. So when I was searching for packet pick-up, people gave me directions like I knew things were.

Cons (but they didn’t outweigh the pros for me):
– Parking was a little confusing, particularly for packet pick-up. Better signage and instructions for parking (and also where to go for the pick-up) would have been nice.
– There’s food at the end, but I’m pretty sure the 5k runners (there are a LOT of 5k runners) ate most of it. So the half marathon runners got slim pickings. This was a bummer because we really need the food post-race. I got a banana, one pastry, plain shredded chicken, and a cup of hot chocolate. The website advertised a much better offering with brownies, tacos, various pastries, and more.

Overall, I had a lot of fun running this race. I missed my goal time by a lot, but having my friend cheer me on throughout made up for my disappointment in my pace. Running at sunset and at night on a golf course/resort at Christmastime created a unique race, and I appreciated how well-marked the course was. It’s definitely one worth trying out!

The behind-the-scenes of this race flows so smoothly. Check-in was easy, and there was a runners expo that we walked around for a bit. We stayed at the hotel close by, which made race day a lot easier. Half marathon runners do need to drive over to the shuttles up to the start line (the buses are at a mall about a mile down the road). Marathon runners are picked up right outside the hotel. The bus drivers tried to drop off runners at the wrong start lines at least a couple times. At the start line, it is pretty chilly, but there are fire pits for everyone to huddle around. You have to listen close as they announce which waves will be starting when. The scenery is amazing, especially for the first half. The volunteers at the aid stations were all enthusiastic and cheering us on. I really struggled with a couple injuries during the race, so the extra cheering was much-needed. There were plenty of post-race snacks and some fun at the finish line. The bag drop is a little far away and not well-marked, so just ask around for directions. Also, there is a special “closer” award for people who run faster in the second half than the first, which made a slow-ish runner like me feel cool. 🙂

I’ve done the virtual Giant race three different times. They make it super easy to submit virtual results, and they are super flexible on the date you run it. The swag is EVERYTHING, especially if you’re a Giants fan. There’s a bobblehead of a player or coach every year. They also include your bib and medal, and they did hats one year. Sometimes I wish the swag was sent in advance so my friends/family could give me my medal on the spot and I could actually wear my bib, but it’s not a deal breaker for me. I’ll for sure participate every year!

Everything about this race is amazing. It feels like a celebration of community and like every single person there is proud of you for finishing. The course is mostly rolling hills, but the scenery is so stunning that you won’t even notice! The swag bag is generous and there are bonus items for out-of-state runners. There are plenty of aid stations. The aid stations compete for a trophy that declares them as the best aid station for that year, so they all cheer loudly and are ready with water and Gatorade (and sometimes other things like bananas or pickle juice). There are plenty of activities/gatherings the day before and then the afternoon after the race. They had a free slice of pizza for runners post-race and homemade cookies too! The only downside is that transport from either the ferry or the small airport to Craig is hard if you don’t have connections on the island. We had family that dropped off a car at the ferry terminal, but I’m not sure how other out-of-state/off-island runners get to Craig. But don’t let that deter you from this amazing race! If you are going to run a race in Alaska, make it this one!!