Lauren Orr's Staging Area

The course is pancake flat and well paved. The race was capped at a fairly small number of participants, so there was plenty of room to run your own race. Weather happened to be perfect, with a clear view of Mount Rainier and some cherry blossoms in parts. Medal was fine, and appreciated that I could have my bib mailed. The rest was pretty no-frills.

Very inexpensive 10K with high ROI. The course was nice (especially the 10K-only portion along the riverfront) and was easy to follow with lots of volunteers along the way. The swag bag was surprisingly full, with gloves, mylar blanket, hand warmers, long-sleeve tech shirt and lots of discount coupons. Warm soup at the finish was yummy, and lots of folks stuck around the after party tent with a band. The medal was meh, but I don’t mind that for a 10K. My only criticism would be that the faster 10K runners had to weave a lot through the 5K pack on a narrow sidewalk at the end. Also would have been nice to have some kind of token memento for the podium finishers. But, I had fun and would do this race again.

I expected the switchback climb at the beginning to be difficult, but the hills didn’t really stop until mile 9. The course was beautiful, mostly shaded, and the weather happened to be perfect. Medal was cool. Lots of food afterward. The dogs on course were an interesting touch, with staggered race starts preventing it from getting too crowded. A good race if you aren’t expecting a PR.

Seamless experience — I drove in from out of town the morning of the race and found it very easy to navigate parking, bib pickup, and bag check. Everyone was very friendly. Course was serene, if a bit unvaried. The path was not as crowded as I thought it would be for the number of runners. Don’t expect many spectators. I admire the environmental awareness of Orca Running, even though I was not super excited about carrying my own water. Free photos are a nice touch.

There are a lot of hotels near the start line that are affordable compared to other parts of Hawaii, a ton of restaurants and high-end shopping nearby, and of course Waikiki beach. The race itself was beautiful, mostly in the shade. The toughest part is the hill after mile 9 — not super steep, just long. Expo was pretty small, but easy to get to walking from Waikiki. Although previous reviews commented on a lack of organization at the start line, this year there were color-coded sections that runners were asked to go based on predicted times, and I found that worked fine. I will be back again!

Having the entire Strip shut down for runners is pretty awesome. The medals were also neat. Everything else was mediocre, and I do not think I would do this race again. There was a lot of walking to get to the holding area before the start, a lot of waiting around as I was in a later start group, then a lot of crowded walking to get to the start. Even though the course was flat, I had my worst half marathon time and I’m not sure why, but part of it might have to do with it being a night race. The start of the race was warm enough, but night fell and the temps got cooler by the finish, so I wish I had dressed accordingly. The finish did not have much to offer (unless you like beer, which I don’t), so I just wanted to get back to my hotel, but had to walk pretty far before I could get out of the course.