Jason Kell's Staging Area

This race was well organized and began right at 7:00am. The race included aid stations every other mile, and listed mile markers at every mile except for around miles 15-18. The marathon was mostly flat/downhill. Expect an iphill at miles 4.5 and 8.5. You get to run along the river which offers beautiful scenery. The finish line at Hayward field was energetic. You get to see yourself on a big screen and hear your name as you enter the field. The post race festivities include a bag with a cookie, banana, bagel, and race bottle with water. Kristen’s was also there for post race pancakes although I did not partake. The expo seemed unorganized when picking up bibs. It seemed as though you could stand in any line as a corral was never assigned to people. The rest of the expo had usual vendors, and a cool bike race shirt. I would highly recommend running this race. This year the weather was perfect, no rain and overcast at 48 degrees.

The expo and race took place at the drag strip. Very easy to navigate on race day. Be sure to give yourself time before the race to park, as there is traffic getting in. There were a lot of youths running the race that started after 7:00. The race had a lot of rolling hills, which after a while got tiring. The views of bonelli park were magnificent. The run ends where it started at the drag strip, and a snowflake finisher medal. Cons: The race doesn’t have much crowd support. No post race snack other than water and pretzels. Pros: Scenery, great weather, parking can be used for Saturday and Sunday.

I decided to fly out to this run due to its uniqueness in entering Canada. The race coordinators say that you need your passport while running but really only need it at the expo. While running be sure to have your bib on as that is what they check. The highlights were running over the ambassador bridge and tunnel. The marathon really explored the neighborhoods of Detroit which made the run interesting. Not too much to offer at the finish line as you had to walk a distance just to get the medal. Overall would recommend.

This race offered all of the sites of the states capital which went through many neighborhoods. Be careful while running as there are many bike cones sticking up. Early on in the run, I tripped over one and scrapped my leg up badly. There were also some hills later after mile 15 which slowed me down some. The race overall was nothing spectacular. The finish line area was the best part finishing at the capital with a cool belt buckle finisher medal.

I drove up to this race from socal. The race started off at the embarcadero and went through many of the popular sites of San Francisco. Be aware of the hills starting with the bridge and coming out after the bridge. Constant rolling hills can cause for a slow time so take the hills easy. Race was overall very fun and had many spectators to get you through the run.

This was my second rock n roll marathon after running San Diego. I was surprised that I enjoyed this one much more. The weather was ideal in January. There was plenty of water stations. I enjoyed the live bands and support throughout. The course had many spectacular views such as downtown and desert landscape. The medal was amazing. The one thing that wasn’t great was the finish line. It would have been nice to have more than a banana and water after running a marathon. The expo had a lot of vendors and gave a few freebies

This race was postponed to September from January which is why I ran it. The weather did not disappoint as it was overcast in the 50s at start time. I enjoyed how the race started outside the rose bowl stadium and ended inside the stadium. The race itself got boring at times running back and forth on streets in Pasadena. It was more downhill than uphill which was nice. There were a lot of post race goodies for a half marathon & very cool medal featuring a rose.

This was my first ever marathon, so I was a bit skeptical of it. The race day weather was cool and overcast with some rain. The race began in downtown cork and ran by a lot of pubs and crowd support. The rest jogged out on a trail snd offered some river views. There was a huge hill at mile 18 that really made me sick the rest of the race. If you are new to marathons be prepared for uphills as this one really affected my time. Overall it was cool to run in cork, to tour the city.