Nice swag as usual. High quality medal as usual. Course was pretty safe for the back of the pack even though most of it is open to traffic with police … MORE
Nice swag as usual. High quality medal as usual. Course was pretty safe for the back of the pack even though most of it is open to traffic with police and volunteers directing. Could’ve used one or two more water stops this year since it was pretty humid since it rained all day the day before and temperatures rose quickly. I started when it was in the upper 50s or so and finished a little 3 hours later in 75 degree heat.
This was my 5th? time running this race and my slowest to date. That being said, I was still within the course time limit and I wasn’t last. Upon finishing, runners are given a tag on their bib for a beer, pizza, ice cream, and raffle. When I finished, everything but the beer was gone and the raffle was over. This is unacceptable. If a race advertises these finish perks, why on earth would they all be gone for the last finishers? Those finishers who are still within the time limit and, arguably, need sustenance more than anyone else after being on a warm and humid course for 3+ hours need more than an apple and a few cookies. I honestly expected more. When I ran faster times, these perks were all there (and it was only about 30 minutes faster). Course support was great, so what gives, SoNo?
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Not very back of the pack friendly
Nice swag as usual. High quality medal as usual. Course was pretty safe for the back of the pack even though most of it is open to traffic with police … MORE
Nice swag as usual. High quality medal as usual. Course was pretty safe for the back of the pack even though most of it is open to traffic with police and volunteers directing. Could’ve used one or two more water stops this year since it was pretty humid since it rained all day the day before and temperatures rose quickly. I started when it was in the upper 50s or so and finished a little 3 hours later in 75 degree heat.
This was my 5th? time running this race and my slowest to date. That being said, I was still within the course time limit and I wasn’t last. Upon finishing, runners are given a tag on their bib for a beer, pizza, ice cream, and raffle. When I finished, everything but the beer was gone and the raffle was over. This is unacceptable. If a race advertises these finish perks, why on earth would they all be gone for the last finishers? Those finishers who are still within the time limit and, arguably, need sustenance more than anyone else after being on a warm and humid course for 3+ hours need more than an apple and a few cookies. I honestly expected more. When I ran faster times, these perks were all there (and it was only about 30 minutes faster). Course support was great, so what gives, SoNo?
Not the best weather this year
While I've run this half marathon many times before, I had to drop to the 5k as COVID totally messed up my training plan so this was my first time … MORE
While I’ve run this half marathon many times before, I had to drop to the 5k as COVID totally messed up my training plan so this was my first time running that distance at this race.
As always, the race and the swag was pretty on point as was the post race party.
The weather, on the other hand, wasn’t great. It was a bit chilly, a little humid, and pretty windy. I was disappointed in having to drop to the shorter distance, but the weather this year made me kind of happy that I did haha. It all conspired to make the cold biting (even though it wasn’t truly all that cold and when you were out of the wind it was pretty decent running weather). At least the rain held off?
Consistently Fun Race
We had a beautiful day, but the humidity and the fact that it warmed up pretty fast resulted in a pretty slow time...but I wasn't last! Swag, as always, was … MORE
We had a beautiful day, but the humidity and the fact that it warmed up pretty fast resulted in a pretty slow time…but I wasn’t last!
Swag, as always, was awesome. You get a tech tee, buff, great medal, and this year the reusable bag says “I ran the SONO Half Marathon 5k/13k”. They added a new distance this year of 13k which is the same 8 miles as in the half marathon so both started together with the 5k starting after.
The hills are pretty much all in the first 9 miles, so it’s flat or downhill after that mostly. The course is open to traffic for the most part, but runners mostly have a coned off lane to run in, a shoulder, or in some cases the sidewalk. Drivers in Norwalk aren’t known for their patience or caring if a race is going on despite the advanced notice of signs all over town saying there’d be a race and until what time to expect delays.
Water stops were every 2 miles or so on the course, offering both uCan and water.
The course was a little different this year, but nothing major in the way of changes. In past years, the race runs over to the aquarium, across the river, and up some dirt trails, but that part was taken out this year.
As always, race parking was super easy. If you get there early enough (by about 7:15) you can park at Veteran’s Field (where the race day HQ is), but there are close municipal lots and even street parking in the neighborhood nearby. Post race, you get beer, pizza, and ice cream (there are tags on the bib for each), but if you’re slow you only get beer and I was told that the ice cream never appeared.
Cute Small-town Race
It was a nice little race through a cute town. It was pretty hilly during the first half of the race, but flattened out for the last few miles. There … MORE
It was a nice little race through a cute town. It was pretty hilly during the first half of the race, but flattened out for the last few miles. There was packet pick-up the morning of which was quick and easy. The volunteers were great and the start and finish were well-run. The reason for my poor review is due to the fact that the streets were not shut off to traffic and there was inconsistency with safety at intersections. Some intersections had both volunteer support and police holding off traffic, however there were a few pretty busy intersections that didn’t have anyone stopping traffic. Due to this I do not know if I will run this race again.
A local favorite
I've run this race for the past 4 years now. This year, the race got a new date and a new course (though it was mostly the same). Once again, … MORE
I’ve run this race for the past 4 years now. This year, the race got a new date and a new course (though it was mostly the same). Once again, not all roads were closed and, while most didn’t have much traffic to speak of, one was basically a main road and in parts had no police presence or shoulder for runners to be in or coned off lane like the rest of the course. Luckily, the sidewalk was paved like the road so it was fine to run on since I’m around the back of the pack where it’s less congested.
The race offers pre-race packet pickup on Saturday or race day pickup which is organized and easy. There is free parking at Veteran’s Park (where the race stars and ends) as well as various paid lots within a short walk of the park. Water stations along the course offer both water and UCan. I have to say there is a nice local support presence on the course and great volunteers. The course also goes out to Calf Pasture Beach which has great views for photo ops. In the last mile or so of the course, you run past an ice cream stand that hands out samples to runners.
After the finish, your bib gets you a beer (or hard seltzer this year), Colony Grill pizza, and a scoop of ice cream as well as an entry into the raffle. They also have various flavors of sparkling Poland Spring water and regular still Poland Spring water as well as apples (honeycrisp!) and bananas.
As always, the medal was very cool, the shirt is a nice tech shirt, and runners also got a reusable shopping bag that was race branded, a beer coozy from Sam Adams, a mini frisbee from North Face, and a race branded 12 in 1 neck gaiter. This year’s weather was almost perfect. It was cool (probably in the 50s for most of the race), overcast, breezy, but a little humid.
Oh, and race photos are free!
A must run every year
This year's weather was perfect. Swag keeps improving. Always has a nice medal, tech tee, and a gaiter with the race logo, but this year also included a race branded … MORE
This year’s weather was perfect. Swag keeps improving. Always has a nice medal, tech tee, and a gaiter with the race logo, but this year also included a race branded mason jar. The race offers packet pickup the day before, but also on race morning.
They have plenty of free parking at the race start/finish, but also at various lots in town if you are not planning to stay for the post race festival (which includes, beer, pizza, ice cream, fruit, and both regular and flavored sparkling water).
The course is pretty flat with about 4 hills of note that are well spread out along the course. Parts of the course are open to traffic, some have a lane coned off for runners, others runners are practically forced onto sidewalks. There are a good number of police officers on course directing traffic.
The course itself goes through downtown SoNo twice, up onto a hill that overlooks the pier, river, and aquarium, out to a beach, and back along the water where you are met with samples of soft serve ice cream around mile 12 if you so desire. All water stops have both water and UCan. Oh and race photos are free!
There’s a good vibe at this one and the town comes out to cheer folks on, especially around the start/finish. The race also features a 5k that usually sells out.
Annual staple on my race calendar
In its 3rd year, the SoNo 1/2 made some improvements. The race offers day before packet pickup or day of pickup. Registration once again includes a short sleeved tech tee … MORE
In its 3rd year, the SoNo 1/2 made some improvements. The race offers day before packet pickup or day of pickup.
Registration once again includes a short sleeved tech tee (that runs true to size even for women’s sizing), a nice, large, medal, and a swag bag (this year’s included a race branded buff and sunglasses as well as all natural lip balm).
Most of the course’s hills are in the first 7 miles, the rest of the course being flat. The course itself winds through the city of South Norwalk, from being on the main street, to residential areas, past a golf course, and along the beach (can you say photo op?). As last year, the roads were not all closed. Those roads that were open had a coned off lane for runners (with a few exceptions, some being quiet residential areas, some being a more main thoroughfare). One thing I didn’t like was that we were at times on roads open to traffic with no lane to ourselves and uncaring motorists who came too close to runners. There were also some intersections with no one directing traffic and, at one point, an older man in his car ended up driving in the coned off runners’ lane and just stopped dead in front of me despite me motioning to him that he needed to be in the other lane because a race was going on. The course, thus, could use more people directing traffic (volunteer or police) and, in my opinion, runners should have their own coned off lane on any roads open to traffic.
The weather this year was disgustingly humid (though thankfully the sun stayed behind the clouds until after I finished), but the temperature was still in the low to mid 60s.
The finish area offers runners Traveler’s Beer (pumpkin or grapefruit), ice cream (which was down to 2 flavors by the time I finished), and Colony Grill pizza from their food truck (which had left about 45 minutes before I finished). Immediately after finishing, you can take water or iced tea. They also had sponsors on hand offering massages, stretching, and cryotherapy. The raffles were nice, but you had to stick around to win. Parking was free and easy, but if you didn’t plan to hang around you would’ve had to park in one of the nearby paid lots.