You may know and love California’s Great America, but we invite you to see it in a whole new way, first with a Run & Ride race through the park, then with an evening at Winterfest! Choose a half marathon, quarter marathon, 5K, or 1-mile fun run in and around …
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You may know and love California’s Great America, but we invite you to see it in a whole new way, first with a Run & Ride race through the park, then with an evening at Winterfest! Choose a half marathon, quarter marathon, 5K, or 1-mile fun run in and around the park before the gates are even open to the public. Or choose the 5-hour lap race to earn as many medals as you can! Participants enjoy some fabulous swag – entrance to Winterfest and an amazing finisher medal!
This year we have added a relay option for the half distance so you can double the fun with friends. The transition area will be located in the Great America Pavilion with ongoing entertainment and food options, so as you wait for your hand-off, you will be all smiles before running the miles.
You don’t want to miss this unique race. Bring the family along! It’s a day of fun for everyone with a run in and around the park as California’s Great America is magically transformed into a winter wonderland with holiday lights and decor, decorated trees, some rides and attractions, live shows, Santa’s workshop, and lots more wintertime fun.
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A walk in the park...with rides
Loopathon - up to 4 medals available. Earn them sequentially. 1 mile loop, followed by 5k loops. Medals: 1 mile, 5k, quarter marathon, half marathon. 3 rides are running during … MORE
Loopathon – up to 4 medals available. Earn them sequentially.
1 mile loop, followed by 5k loops.
Medals: 1 mile, 5k, quarter marathon, half marathon.
3 rides are running during the race – you can ride if you want – during or after the race.
After earning 4 medals, you can continue for overall or AG places. Most laps = highest place.
fun race but does get repetitive
This was a fun race there is a good crowd that comes for this. They had the start line on the inside of the park this year. If you are … MORE
This was a fun race there is a good crowd that comes for this. They had the start line on the inside of the park this year. If you are doing the 5 hour running challenge it will be the same look every time. you just do a 3 mile loop over and over again. They have different holiday characters out during the race. If you are not that fast of a runner it might be weird running/walking up to the holiday characters by yourself and having them just stare at you… but was nice having the encouragement. They say you need to complete a total of 8 laps,
1 one mile lap with 7 5k laps to get all 4 medals. but they were nice enough that if you finish all 5 hours you will get all 4 medals (i was 1 5k lap short). they had one and a half water stations during the route, one of the stations was set in a way that you hit it 2 times during the race and the other one was at the start line in the back (more when you finish the race) that you could go to if you had to. It was cool that they set up an area for people that were doing the 5 hour race to be able to bring their own water, Gatorade, power bars, and what ever else you needed and have a holding area near the start of the race so you can refuel as you go.
I'll be back!
This was a great race, I would certainly recommend this for a fun run and I would most definitely be back! First off, I think registration was about $50 and … MORE
This was a great race, I would certainly recommend this for a fun run and I would most definitely be back!
First off, I think registration was about $50 and you will get a medal, shirt or hat, and 1 ticket to Winter Fest that ca be used anytime during that year. Since the race was on 12/22, it can be used that night, or through Winter Fest which ended on 12/31. So to start off, its a pretty great deal. Parking is also free.
Email communication was good and you can go to a bib pick-up the Friday before, or just pick it up race morning. We picked our stuff up race morning and it was a breeze. Took no more than 10 minutes and they have a good set-up.
There are bananas, oranges, bagels, water bottles, and powerade set-up at the start/ finish for before or after your race and during the race, and also real bathrooms! No porta potties!
When you start the race, the peanuts crew will cheer you on and throughout the course you will see the peanuts crew, or the Great America characters like the nutcracker, elves, or gum drop fairies or whatever they are. They are really good in character so its fun to run by them or take a picture! The course has all the Christmas lights and decorations up, though not lit because its daytime! There is one stretch, maybe a mile long or less, where you run through the back side of the park which is pretty boring. There is a double-sided aid station so you will pass it twice on the loop. The station was stocked with water, powerade and cliff energy gels which is awesome!
The course is flat, with 1 slight hill. But there are lots of turns and curves but the course is marked with small cones. If you happen to lose the people in front of you, be sure you are paying attention to the comes cause there are some tricky parts!
Overall a great, fun race! Good swag and amenities, and its fun to run through the park decked out in holiday decorations. Also they don’t go cheap on the decorations. I haven’t done a disney race, but this is probably the closest you will get to such a fun race with characters cheering you on!