| 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | |
| H (°F) | 68 | 53 | 63 | 80 | 76 |
| L (°F) | 45 | 34 | 47 | 57 | 45 |
It is a difficult race with a rolling hills, rocks, sticking out roots with elevation gain 3,500 feet. So far it was the most difficult marathon out of 9th for … MORE
It is a difficult race with a rolling hills, rocks, sticking out roots with elevation gain 3,500 feet. So far it was the most difficult marathon out of 9th for me. Yet the most rewarding.
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The Course: I'm a fan. Well-marked with rolling hills, surface ranged from rocky and fairly technical to smooth and fast, couple of creek crossings. Nothing super-steep, but plenty of incline … MORE
The Course: I’m a fan. Well-marked with rolling hills, surface ranged from rocky and fairly technical to smooth and fast, couple of creek crossings. Nothing super-steep, but plenty of incline and decline. 2021 was a weird year because it was pouring rain the days before and during the race, which made the course ridiculously muddy. I can’t believe the park allowed us to destroy the trails like that, but not my call.
The Finish Line: Disappointing. I passed through the finish area twice (once halfway through, then again at the actual finish), and both times, everyone seemed surprised and indifferent to see me. On the pass through, no one offered anything – I had to ask if there was water and, if so, where. At the finish, there was very little celebration or cheering for finishers, and no one even offered a beer until someone got upset that I sat down on what I thought was just an empty cooler (turns out the beer was inside). Lunch was extremely limited, and they ran out of one of the two options before even the 3rd-place runner finished the 50-mile race. There’s a theme here: it felt like the runners were just viewed as a burden.
The Organization: Disappointing. In addition to the issues above, I know the female winner of the 50-mile, and my wife won the 50k, but no one even bothered to tell either of them that they won. We didn’t find out my wife had won until hours later, that night, when results were posted online (way too late to participate in the winners’ photo and receive the award/plaque). When we asked about it, the response was that she just left too quickly. For the record, she changed shoes, at lunch, then literally stood 10 feet away while they handed me my plaque and took a photo of me (after waiting too long and failing to notify the other men’s finishers, too). Plenty of time to do the same for her. That’s particularly frustrating because the race is touted as female-run. So celebrate the females who worked their butts off running, too!! I’m used to races in which everyone is welcoming, friendly, and supportive. That just was not the vibe here at all.
In sum, this race has great potential, but needs some major work on the organizational front. This was a brutal year to be running, and equally brutal for the workers and volunteers, who were wet and cold with the rest of us. I get that, and I appreciate them putting it on anyway. No one wants to run a race that isn’t fun, though, and this could and should have been fun despite the rain. It’s a shame that it wasn’t.
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Great race and scenery
It is a difficult race with a rolling hills, rocks, sticking out roots with elevation gain 3,500 feet. So far it was the most difficult marathon out of 9th for … MORE
It is a difficult race with a rolling hills, rocks, sticking out roots with elevation gain 3,500 feet. So far it was the most difficult marathon out of 9th for me. Yet the most rewarding.
Fun course, but poorly organized
The Course: I'm a fan. Well-marked with rolling hills, surface ranged from rocky and fairly technical to smooth and fast, couple of creek crossings. Nothing super-steep, but plenty of incline … MORE
The Course: I’m a fan. Well-marked with rolling hills, surface ranged from rocky and fairly technical to smooth and fast, couple of creek crossings. Nothing super-steep, but plenty of incline and decline. 2021 was a weird year because it was pouring rain the days before and during the race, which made the course ridiculously muddy. I can’t believe the park allowed us to destroy the trails like that, but not my call.
The Finish Line: Disappointing. I passed through the finish area twice (once halfway through, then again at the actual finish), and both times, everyone seemed surprised and indifferent to see me. On the pass through, no one offered anything – I had to ask if there was water and, if so, where. At the finish, there was very little celebration or cheering for finishers, and no one even offered a beer until someone got upset that I sat down on what I thought was just an empty cooler (turns out the beer was inside). Lunch was extremely limited, and they ran out of one of the two options before even the 3rd-place runner finished the 50-mile race. There’s a theme here: it felt like the runners were just viewed as a burden.
The Organization: Disappointing. In addition to the issues above, I know the female winner of the 50-mile, and my wife won the 50k, but no one even bothered to tell either of them that they won. We didn’t find out my wife had won until hours later, that night, when results were posted online (way too late to participate in the winners’ photo and receive the award/plaque). When we asked about it, the response was that she just left too quickly. For the record, she changed shoes, at lunch, then literally stood 10 feet away while they handed me my plaque and took a photo of me (after waiting too long and failing to notify the other men’s finishers, too). Plenty of time to do the same for her. That’s particularly frustrating because the race is touted as female-run. So celebrate the females who worked their butts off running, too!! I’m used to races in which everyone is welcoming, friendly, and supportive. That just was not the vibe here at all.
In sum, this race has great potential, but needs some major work on the organizational front. This was a brutal year to be running, and equally brutal for the workers and volunteers, who were wet and cold with the rest of us. I get that, and I appreciate them putting it on anyway. No one wants to run a race that isn’t fun, though, and this could and should have been fun despite the rain. It’s a shame that it wasn’t.