Rafael Ojeda's Staging Area

I ran this race as the “6 hour sweeper” to try and help those that were trying to finish under that time. The race was mostly well run. Not all downhill but I knew that being familiar with the area, so people needed to be aware. The elevation was shown on the website as well as at the expo. There were many aid stations which were manned by great volunteers, the police helped greatly with traffic control. The last few aid stations provided ice with the water and Nuun which really helped especially once the temperature started climbing. Nice size for the race, small enough to allow the runners to run on the bike path. Didn’t encounter too many others on the path that weren’t running the race – this is probably due to good notice provided in the weeks prior to the race. The street outside the start area for the marathon was not lit up to help those that were parking there or using the porta-potties. A diagram of the start area could have been provided on the website or explained at the expo, as well as showing which streets would be closed in case people were getting dropped off or driving to the start. Small complains compared to the rest of the race which went off smoothly in my opinion.

I was the 2:20 pacer for the M2B half and am a legacy runner of this race so my opinion may be a little biased but I have seen this race grow in size and quality. The start area for the half was the best of the 6 years of the race’s history, more room for the racers to spread out. There were more porta-potties so lines were never long. I think the different start waves could have been signed better, or more announcements to let the runners know what to do. The water stops were plenty and well staffed – the volunteers were great. Running on Ventura Avenue was good that it was wider than the bike path but it was also bad as the road was full of cracks and potholes. Also maybe a few signs on cones to let the runners know that the center portion of the road was open to vehicle traffic and that the runners should stay clear or be careful. The signs on Santa Clara said that half marathon runners stay to the left and 5k to the right. It should have stated half and full marathon runners to the left – I saw some of the marathon runners who were closer to 6 hours were confused as to where to run. The area immediately past the finish line was very crowded, the runners didn’t have much room to stretch out once they finished. The medical tent and food area could have been pushed back a little more, or not allow people to go from one side of the finish chute to the other right after the finish line. Overall I thought the half marathon race/course/expo was better than previous years.