Molly Godfrey's Staging Area

This was my first half marathon, but not my first race. The reviews and pictures that I found prior to registering appeared to be from when it was the New Balance Palm Desert Half, and the experience now seems quite different without that sponsor. The volunteers were caring and water along the route was well provided. The route was scenic is areas and then in some took you by the back of the local Walmart, so it was a mixed bag. But, my main issue with this race was the lack of race info on the website and the “swag” given that the price of registration was similar compared to other smaller races I’ve attended. There was no info on if a gear check would be available or what type of electrolytes would be provided during the race. We weren’t given this info until less than a week before race day in an email, which was not enough time to train with what was being provided. They also never published the race shirt included in the registration fee, and the banana yellow shirt with an outline of the mountains and only “2024” on it was a huge letdown. No mention of the race name or distance- it looked like a shirt you could get anywhere. Prior to bib/shirt pickup, they had sent multiple emails about a tech hoodie you could buy ahead of time and it had a great logo on it with the race name- I expected the logo to be the same or similar on the shirt provided. Also, the after race snack provided was a small paper plate with 2 orange slices, 2 Oreos, and 2 red vines. It just felt insufficient given that we had just run a half marathon distance. I’ve never attended a race where the after race snack was so dismal. The medal was nice, but the whole experience was disappointing enough that I probably wouldn’t run this again.