Kelcey Buck's Staging Area

Laid-back but well-organized. Enjoyed running through all four cities and the course made it easy for spectators to see runners multiple times along the course. Overall crowd support ebbed and flowed. Great crowds near aid stations and relay exchanges, but pretty lonely stretches on the trail along the river and VERY lonely on Arsenal Island the last 10K other than aid stations. Great crowd along final .2 to finish and finish area was excellent, though does get crowded with half marathon and marathon relay participants as well. Loved seeing the race director near 26-mile marker high-fiving and encouraging every runner as they passed.

It was warm (mid-70s) and humid this year, which made this a tough race. But the scenery along the river was beautiful. The volunteers at every aid station were amazing. Plenty of people handing out water and Nuun, so helpful and friendly and encouraging. Great course, wish I could have run it in seasonal weather but the volunteers along the way made a challenging day infinitely better.
Love the fleece blanket and finisher hat. Post-race party/food left a lot to be desired. Otherwise a great race.

The altitude made this tough for me as a runner from a much flatter state, but the course itself was great. The 5ish miles of steady uphill at the beginning was very gradual so hardly noticeable. Then some steep downhills for much of the last 8 miles. A little crowded at the beginning, but plenty of space by mile 2. As with all Vacation Races, the medals are awesome, shirts great and views along the course are top-notch. Highly recommend doing the 5K the night before for the Elk Double. Great preview of the first mile and last couple miles of the half. Plus, it comes with an extra swag item and two more medals.

They weren’t joking by labeling this course “difficult.” The ~1,800 ft of elevation gain hits you right away and continues until around mile 8 when you finally get the bliss of running downhill. One more big climb around 11.5 before the downhill finish. It’s been a long time since I’ve had to walk in a race, but my friend and I started run-walking around 1.5 miles. By far the hardest race I’ve ever run, but it was still fun. And I was proud to finish within 30 minutes of my half marathon PR time on such a tough course.

Some logistical issues the morning of the race with more people trying to shuttle to the start line than there was room for in the buses, but the VR team got it handled and the race started on time.

Overall, a great race. Fun weekend. And can’t wait to do another Vacation Races race next year!

This race was on my list of to-dos after seeing a booth for it at the Grandma’s Marathon a few years earlier. Was thrilled to get a relay spot and take on the beautiful course with three of my friends. I ran the second leg, which was the second-longest and had a huge climb, but I knew it included Bixby Bridge so I definitely wanted that. It was chilly and misty, but that actually made it a perfect day for running along that beautiful coast. The scenery is unmatched and I would highly recommend this race. I was a little disappointed by the expo — had experienced much better expos at lesser known races, but the race itself was wonderful.