This race features multiple options - either a full trail marathon (two times round), a full road marathon (same), a trail half followed by a road half for a full, … MORE
This race features multiple options – either a full trail marathon (two times round), a full road marathon (same), a trail half followed by a road half for a full, or either a trail half or a road half. Times are exceedingly generous – if I hadn’t had to catch a plane, I would have tried the trail half followed by a road half to put the medal pieces together. No strollers or dogs, thank all – course was really narrow in spots.
Course is more intuitive than the briefing made me think, except for the turn around at the second half of the road section. Nice scenery overall, very well stocked aid stations about 2-3 miles apart. Not a bunch of potty options, although the heated flush option at the start was a nice surprise.
If this hadn’t been my chance to knock Oklahoma off my list, I’d be tempted to return.
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Wish I'd had more time
This race features multiple options - either a full trail marathon (two times round), a full road marathon (same), a trail half followed by a road half for a full, … MORE
This race features multiple options – either a full trail marathon (two times round), a full road marathon (same), a trail half followed by a road half for a full, or either a trail half or a road half. Times are exceedingly generous – if I hadn’t had to catch a plane, I would have tried the trail half followed by a road half to put the medal pieces together. No strollers or dogs, thank all – course was really narrow in spots.
Course is more intuitive than the briefing made me think, except for the turn around at the second half of the road section. Nice scenery overall, very well stocked aid stations about 2-3 miles apart. Not a bunch of potty options, although the heated flush option at the start was a nice surprise.
If this hadn’t been my chance to knock Oklahoma off my list, I’d be tempted to return.
Humbled, Challenged, HUGE medal
This race was the most challenging race I have done - also my 10th marathon. I did the full marathon, half on the trail and half on the bike path. … MORE
This race was the most challenging race I have done – also my 10th marathon. I did the full marathon, half on the trail and half on the bike path. Both were challenging.
The trail half was first – this was a very technical trail. I was told it wasn’t, so I am either really big sissy or the Oklahoma folks are beast (maybe both!). The trail was tough, rocky and beautiful. There were beautiful sights along the course (if you could look up at all!). And oh my word, the climbs! It was a challenging course! It was so fun (and miserable at the same time!). The first half took my 3hours and 34 mins to complete – my typical half is about 2:15.
As you finish the trail half, you cross the finish line and start out to the bike trail half. There is opportunities to change shoes, socks, clothes, etc. Then you head out for the second half. There is a WONDERFUL down hill to kick start this portion. It’s fairly flat, but some big climbs at mile 21 and 26. The bike paths ran along the Arkansas river and were well maintained and a enjoyable course.
The aid stations – WERE AMAZING! They had french toast, bacon, sausage, every snack you could think of and most importantly amazing volunteers. It was a no-frills race, but the support with incredible.
Medals – GIANT! They call it a double half, so you get 2 medals (13.1 trail + 13.1 road) that fit together. I want to wear BOTH medals everyday. I was humbled by the race. If you are looking for a good challenge, this might be your answer. Small race, about 50 people do the half and half, 300 people total for all 4 races.
Weather was beautiful, course was challenging, support was amazing.
Problems Problems
Expo was a packet pickup. The race is complex with several parts going on at the same time. We weren't always sure where to turn. The timing was done on … MORE
Expo was a packet pickup. The race is complex with several parts going on at the same time. We weren’t always sure where to turn. The timing was done on gun time even though we had my laps chips. I will not do this again even though it is two miles from my house… It could be a good race. Placed first in my age group.
Poorly organized
Everything went fine for the most part, up until the running of the race itself. I pre-registered a few weeks out and had no issues. I did hear from at … MORE
Everything went fine for the most part, up until the running of the race itself. I pre-registered a few weeks out and had no issues. I did hear from at least one other runner that the deadline for pre-registering online was not accurate, and that because it closed early they were forced to drive up the day before and pay an increased fee in order to register. Packet pickup went off without a hitch the day before the race. Besides a t-shirt, there was no swag except for a few advertisements. But having run lots of races and having gotten my fair share of items that go straight in the trash or to Goodwill, this didn’t really bother me, but it’s worth pointing out. It would have been nice to at least have a few food items (gu, powerbars, etc.) in the packet for use during the race. The first thing I noticed when getting to the race was the timing mat at the start/finish was missing. Our bibs had timing chips implanted behind them, but there was no way they were going to be made useful without a way to activate them. Thus the race was NOT chip-timed. I ran the road portion of the half-n-half which was mostly flat, but did have two fairly significant climbs (one longer and gentle and one near the end that was steep and short). While the portion of the course that bordered the river was nice enough, you have to cross a long busy bridge with lots of traffic twice during the race. You are well protected and separated from the many lines of traffic, but you still suck up a decent amount of fumes from the numerous passing semis and vehicles. On the second part of the course (after crossing back through the beginning) you pass by a wastewater treatment facility and have to breathe in those unfortunate odors for 1/4 a mile or so. Thus if someone was definitely going to enter this event I would recommend they do the trail half. Almost forgot to mention that the race page advertised “famous” and well-stocked rest areas. And while I can’t say for sure on this, I do not believe some of these rest areas carried anything other than water/Gatorade. The conclusion of the race was chaotic and unprofessional. The beer and sodas that were to be available to contestants were nowhere to be seen. I eventually located them at the back of a tent in closed coolers. I’m not sure how many of the runners ever found them. Other than the food truck that was on site, bags of potato chips were all the post-race grub to be had. The lady that was responsible for giving out the prizes for finishers was totally unprepared. She started giving out prizes around 2 hours after the start of the race, but had to stop because she was making so many mistakes in giving out prizes to the wrong runners. Fortunately when the actual winners came forward, the runners that had been given prizes incorrectly were quick to acknowledge and turn their prizes over. She left and went to the start/finish where they were recording the times to try to get more accurate and updated information and said she would return very shortly. She put some poor girl in charge of manning the table that had absolutely no idea what was going on about anything, and was unable to answer any questions about the results or any part of the race. After about 30-45 minutes I had to finally track down the lady and tell her that I needed to claim my prize because my hotel was going to charge me for checking out late if I didn’t hurry up and get going. To her credit she just looked up my name and told me I was an age group winner and to go tell the aforementioned girl manning the table that I had her permission to claim my pint glass. I immediately left after doing so. Many were in similar situations and were frustrated by the lack of communication and poor organization, particularly at the end of the race.
I have found the hills in Oklahoma
I'm relatively new to Oklahoma and figuring out the races and production teams that are worth checking out. I had heard good things about the Half & Half. You can … MORE
I’m relatively new to Oklahoma and figuring out the races and production teams that are worth checking out. I had heard good things about the Half & Half. You can choose to run a half on road, or on trail, or run a full by completing the trail and then then road.
Production: Runnersworld Tulsa manages this event, and many other trail events around. It’s very casual, everyone seems to know each other, very chill and laid back event. Bib pickup the day of was super easy. Parking ran out at the main parking lot (and that had been communicated prior to), but there was nearby neighborhood parking and an overflow lot. Clean port-o-potties at the start, and plenty of staff and/or volunteers to answer questions.
Swag: High quality, cotton, long-sleeve shirts for all runners. I really like getting these shirts. The medal is adorable too. The trail and road half each get a yin and yang type medal, so that when you complete the full, the two medals fit together.
Course: First – super well marked, there was pink tape everywhere, and the course was clear! Great job getting visible marks out there. The course itself was hilly, and we had a big rain come through, so it was also flooded. The race went on, everyone was cheerful, even the chilly volunteers. It’s an out and back across Turkey Mountain. The course seemed pretty technical, but that may have been amplified because of the rain and mud (seriously, I ran through water up to my knees at a couple points).
Post-race: There was a food truck giving a way barbecue! loved it! I got a sliced brisket sandwich with a side of potato salad. I hung out for a bit to cheer people in. There was also beer, but I had a longish drive ahead of me.
Overall: A great little race, put on by a great store! I would def run this again, and it seems that the OK Trail community loves this race too. Super friendly runners out there.