Adam Mattison's Staging Area

I would rate this race a 4.5 shoes, very good right now, make a few tweaks and it could be great.

I chose this race based on several factors: I have a good friend who went to Auburn who agreed to race with me, the time of year (Racing in the southern humidity during a time of year other than winter seemed foolish), good reviews on this site, and a decided lack of compelling options in Alabama. Having now run the race myself I think I made a great choice choosing the War Eagle Runfest Half Marathon for state #18. If you are traveling from out of state like me Atlanta is definitely the airport to fly into, then Auburn is a pretty quick 1.5 hr trip down the interstate. *Note Atlanta/Georgia is Eastern Time Zone, Alabama/Auburn is Central Time Zone.* I was able to stay and travel with a friend so I can not speak to hotel or rental car costs.

EXPO/PACKET PICK UP:
This was a pretty bare bones expo. Really just park anywhere for free around the football stadium then walk up to the east side of the stadium where they are handing out bibs inside the gates of the stadium. This will also be the same area where you will get post race pictures on race day. You walked up to the stadium, stood in line for your race bib (the line was very fast for the half and quite long for the 5k). You could walk through the tunnel in the stands to see the field/finish line, buy some gear or merch with the race logo on it or talk to the local shoe vendor. That was really it. I spend probably 3 minutes there.

Parking/Access: Parking at the start line was probably the easiest race day parking that I have ever experienced. There is plenty of free parking next to the stadium both in the parking garage and in the surface lots. There were several hundred if not over a thousand spots there were still open at the time of the race. Truly a piece of cake. I would only caution you to look at the course map before parking it you need to leave quickly after the race, you might get stuck behind a line of runners if you needed to cross the course.

T-Shirts/SWAG: The medal for this race was above average in quality, it is well made, sturdy and quite heavy. The medal 100% reminds me of the race in that it represents Auburn University and reminds me of the epic finish on the 50 yard line of the football stadium but at the same time they missed the mark with the design a bit this year. The front of the medal for the 5k and the half marathon were identical. A white Auburn football helmet, only on the back of the medal does it in any way show the distance run or even have a race name or logo. Put those details below the helmet on the front and I think we have a great medal, without those details I felt a bit annoyed. (See Attached Photos). The race shirt was a T shirt, I prefer a Tech T that I can race in but I do understand that in the long run I will likely get more use and wear out of a T-shirt. As someone who prefers to run in the race shirt to give all of my race pictures a feel unique to that race I was a bit let down again. I did understand that if you took your race bib to the local running store in the days after the race you would also get a free finishers shirt but I had a flight to catch that afternoon.

Aid Stations: The aid stations were well stocked and plentiful. There were 8!! aid stations on the course. This might be the most aid stations that I have ever seen during a half marathon. It was a frigid 34 degrees this year so it might have seemed like overkill but in the south it could have easily been 65 degrees and humid and those aid stations would have been life savers.
They did great with this and should keep the high number of stations. Every single aid station had water and Gatorade. 1 aid station was giving out Gu around mile 7. I didn’t hear anything about supplies running out at any time during the race. I was near the front so I was never really in a group, but the number of volunteers was more than enough. I’m sure there were some real slow downs at aid station as volunteers were filling and handing out cups as fast as they could pour them at busier times. The volunteers were really clear about who had water or Gatorade. If I could make one critique it would be to have a few more garbage cans 100 yards after the stations so you could have time to finish your drink before trying to toss your cup.

Course Scenery/Elevation Difficulty: The course starts right outside the football stadium which also serves as the finish/post race party area. The race starts at 7:00am which made for a frigid start this year but in a warmer year it would be a huge help in beating the heat/humidity, last year it was much warmer. I found plenty of room to warm up around the large park area. They had a very long start chute with well marked pace groups. The course was definitely a hilly experience. Other than the lap around the University Track and the 50 yards on the football field I’m not sure I ever ran on a flat surface, always going up or down. In fact a mere 1/4 mile into the race you have a monster 1/4 mile hill, the biggest on the course. You finish where you start so every uphill you run is rewarded with a downhill but you will surely feel the hills in the following days in your quads and hamstrings. The course is about 2/3 on campus and 1/3 in surrounding neighborhoods. Like many universities this means lots of trees, grass quads and beautiful brick buildings. If you take the time to look around when you run you will really enjoy the views. About 1 mile into the course you run through “Toomer’s Corner” sports fans will know this as the corner where Auburn fans throw Toilet paper into two oak trees. There are trees there now but they are much smaller after the old trees died when an Alabama fan poisoned/killed them in the early 2010’s. After exiting the campus around mile 2 you spend the next 5 miles in neighborhoods before returning to campus and running on roads and footpaths alike. The lap of the track is at mile 12 then directs you back to the finish stadium. I thought finishing in a football stadium would be cool but it exceeded my expectations. I’m sure it would be even cooler for an Auburn fan. They have lots of cones protecting the course with lots of police helping to direct traffic so I never felt as though I was running near traffic. Crowd support around the course was really plentiful, a little less so in the neighborhoods but I enjoyed lots of cheering and creative signs along the way. The fact that we were on a college campus was also proven in several places when running by the Greek system houses most of which had students in lawn chairs sitting out and day/morning drinking while cheering on runners, blaring music, having a good time. I didn’t see anything inappropriate, just students having fun on a Sunday morning.

I’m from up north but even I found this start weather to be really cold. I can definitely see if it was a warmer year like in 2023 that the heat could cause some issues especially for slower runners who were finishing when the temperatures rose.

Race Management: This Race was very well run, especially so for a small-medium-ish race (1,049 finishers for the half). I found their website to be the best source of info, they also email you a few bits of advice including a race guide and a guide of things to do in the area. Other things to compliment this race on: They had age group awards. They had port-o-potties at the start to use which never seemed to have long lines, perfectly supporting the # of people were there I’m impressed that they got the # seemingly correct. The start area had a bag check area by the start line that was open until the start. The picture area at the finish line allows you to get your picture taken with the Auburn mascot. They did not have pace setters but that may come as the race keeps getting larger. The finish was shockingly lacking in the usual finish line fare like (bagels, water, electrolytes, cookies, granola bars, donuts, goldfish, chocolate milk). You were only given a bottle of water before being sent up the stadium steps to the picture and awards area (the former start zone). You did have 3 food tokens on your bib which meant you could get a hot dog, bag of chips, and a soda THREE times. This was great but some electrolytes and carbs would have helped. They had a band playing and some vendors around but most people took pictures then ran for the surrounding buildings to get warmed up, I’m sure it would have been more fun if it was warmer. The finish area offered medal engraving and a finish stats print out. They have 1 timing mat set up along the half marathon course. They also have free race Photos which they post on their website which I always love.
Overall I would say this race is a very good way to check Alabama off your 50 state list. Fix the finishers medal so it says the distance and race name and include some more of the traditional finish line food and I easily bump this up to a 5 star race. I highly recommend this race.

I chose this race based on both the good reviews found here and the large # of people that I follow on social media posting about running this race and raving about the merits of the race. Having now run the race myself I think I made a great choice choosing the Mesa Marathon for state #16. An interesting thing about this race is how large the Marathon field is compared to the half marathon field. 2200 Marathon runners, 3200 half runners, 1200 10k runners. I think the fast flat course appeals to BQ chasers but I was still surprised that the # of participants at each distance was so similar.

EXPO/PACKET PICK UP:
I was quite impressed with the EXPO for this race. I have run quite a few races of similar sizes and this was one of the more complete and impressive EXPOS. It was held in a baseball stadium, I was told that this was the first year for this. The stadium was Sloan park which is the spring training home of the Chicago Cubs and also serves as the home stadium for their Rookie league affiliate. The expo was held the day before the race with a 9hr pickup window. Parking at the stadium was more than plentiful and we parked close and walked straight inside. The first thing you did was pick up your bib, the volunteers appeared to High School Army Jr. ROTC cadets who while slightly slow were extremely polite and helpful. After my friend and I picked up our bibs we were directed around the concourse towards the expo proper. The first thing you did was cross over a timing matt which let you verify that your bib timer was working properly because it displayed your name, race distance, and home town on a monitor. Next you were greeted by several big signature boards (something I have usually only seen at major marathons). They had 8 boards to sign concerning where you came from, who you are running for, what music you listen to while running etc. Next there was a giant wall with every runners name printed on it where people were coloring their name or doing something similar. There was then a large Mesa Marathon gear sale area followed by at least 30-40 different vendors which lined the concourse from home plate to center field. At the end of the expo they had a large wooden 13.1 and 26.2 that people were using to take pictures. Just a well done expo all around.

Parking/Access: Parking at the same baseball stadium that held the expo was more than plentiful…once you got into the lot. The buses to the start run from 4-5:15 am. They specifically state on their website to get to the parking lot no later than 4:30. We got there at 4:30 and the lines to get in were very long and had me stressing that we would miss the bus. In the end we got parked about 4:50 and made it to the line to get onto one of the plentiful buses minutes later. I strongly advise you to use their advised route to get to the start area and then get to the parking lot early. You can always stay in your car a while instead of getting in line for the start area, save yourself the stress of not getting there last minute. Point to Point races where you have to take a bus always add some stress to a start.

T-Shirts/SWAG: The medal for this race was really nice, it is well made and sturdy and has the race logo surrounded by cacti and Arizona’s state bird. The color of the medal changed depending on the race, Gold for marathon, Silver for half, Bronze for 10k. The medal had what I always hope for in a race medal, it looked good and it had elements to it that were unique and represent the state I ran the race in, I was happy all around in that regard. The ribbon for the medal this year also gets high marks from me. (See attached Photo). The shirt this year was a tech shirt that was very well made and soft. The color this year, I guess has a southwest brown and red type theme but I’d say it is the only thing keeping me from giving the SWAG 5/5 shoes. (See attached photo). I generally wear the race shirt during the race and I did so during this race as well and found it quite comfortable. I also need to make a quick comment on the race bib, it was a bit oddly sized, more a square than a rectangle but I really liked how every bib was personalized with the name of your choice but it also included a blurb at the top that said “4th Mesa Marathon” or equivalent to denote how many times a person had run the race. A nice personal touch.

Aid Stations: The aid stations were well stocked and plentiful. There were 8 aid stations on the half course and 14 on the full. That might be the most aid stations I have had during a half marathon. Every single aid station had water and Gatorade. 3 aid stations had Gu for the half, every aid station had bathrooms and medical attendants. There were also a few aid stations with Bio-Freeze, Fruit and frozen treats. I didn’t hear anything about supplies running out at any time during the race. I was near the front so I was never really in a group, but the number of volunteers was more than enough. My friend who finished in 2:10 around the highest volume times said there there were some real slow downs at aid station as volunteers were filling and handing out cups as fast as they could pour them but I think that was just some bad luck/timing at early aid stations for him and I really have a hard time criticizing volunteers. The volunteers were really clear about who had water or Gatorade. If I could make one critique it would be to have a few more garbage cans 100 yards after the stations so you could have time to finish your drink before trying to toss your cup.

Course Scenery/Elevation Difficulty: The course for the half starts in and around some industrial office park area on the outskirts of town. Not very scenic but very spacious. But it really wouldn’t matter if it was pretty because the race starts at 6:30am and it is completely black outside so you couldn’t see anything anyways. I found plenty of room to warm up. They had a very long start chute with large spacing between pace groups. The course is basically flat. It drops about 100 ft over the course of 13 miles so you don’t really notice it one way or another. The half marathon course isn’t very scenic, although for the first hour it will be too dark to notice. You mostly run through light commercial and residential areas. They have lots of cones protecting the course with lots of police helping to direct traffic so I never felt as though I was running near traffic. Once the sun was up I got a brief sunrise view of the mountains around mile 9. My understanding is that the marathon course starts higher up into the valley and is more a downhill during the first half with some really great sunrise views of the area.

Weather: 48 degrees at the start area which is pretty standard for February.
I’m from up north so I found this to be perfect start weather that wasn’t really cold. If you were cold at the start every expo bag provided a pair of throw away gloves and a foil blanket. They also had a ton of tall propane heater towers that people were standing around. The one time I went up to them I had several rows of people in front of me and I was plenty warm. I’m not sure how the people in front of me didn’t cook. If you are a slow marathoner you might find some issues with the heat around the 5+ hour mark as temperatures by then were approaching 70 but you can’t really do much better than those temperatures in a state this far south in the desert.

Race Management: This Race was very well run, especially so for a medium to large-ish race. I found their website to be the best source of info, they also email you a few bits of advice. Other things to compliment this race on: They had age group awards as well as prize money for top performers. This race attracts elite athletes and has an elite start. I was able to say a passing hello to Molly Seidel, aka the 2021 Tokyo Olympics Marathon Bronze Medalist. Distance running and track and field fans would notice that there were 4 2021 Olympians in the field, very cool to share a course with. They had plenty of busses to take people to the start areas, there was a line to get on but I found it to move very quickly. They had port-o-potties at the finish to use before the bus and at the start, the lines seemed a bit long but moved quickly so I think they had the numbers correct especially if you moved past where they dropped people off from the bus I would say that had at least 100 bathrooms at the start. The start area had a bag check truck by the start line that was open until nearly the starting gun (the website said 6:00am it would close but it was definitely open later).
I know some people complained about it being cold at the start but it was perfect PR weather and they had tons of heat lamps that people to stand around. They had pace setters from 1:30-2:20 in ten minute intervals. For the full because this is very much advertised as a BQ course they had a pace group for every single male and female BQ age group then 3-4 other pace groups for the back of the pack people (Yes, they had 14 different pace groups). They also gave a special BQ luggage bag tag to anyone who got a BQ. The finish had plenty of the usual finish line fare (bagels, water, electrolytes, oranges, granola bars, chips, fruit cups and ice cream). Your race bib also included a ticket for the beer garden at the finish. The finish area also included several vendors, lots of photo ops, a PR bell, a place where instead of just entering your race bib # to see your finish time they gave you a print out of your finish time and place on a nice race logo card stock. There was also a concert happening on the large stage they had set up. They have 6 timing mats set up along the half marathon course which is a lot for a race of that distance but meant lots of stats for looking at your results page in terms of pace and time. They also have free race Photos which they post on their website which I always love. My only critiques: their race app for tracking people is utter trash, don’t even bother with it, eventually I gave up and signed up for text message tracking for my friend but by that time he was 4 minutes from finishing. They could use a little more traffic and parking help before the race but if I had shown up when they told me to it would have been zero stress. Finally they could help themselves at aid stations with garbage cans further from the aid stations and some more pre staged water cups especially during peak runner waves.

Overall I would say this race is a fantastic way to check Arizona off your 50 state list. You won’t find many races that are run better with so many amenities. Also if you are going to run in Arizona this is 100% the time of year to do it and with Mesa being right by the Phoenix airport hotels so getting there was really easy. I highly recommend this race.

Before I jump into the nuts and bolts of the review I need to talk about why this race exists and who puts the race on. Jeremy Kunz was a pillar of the local star valley running community. In 2009 while handing out water on the side of a relay race he was a part of in Utah he was struck and killed by a drunk driver. He left behind a wife and 3 children under the age of 5. In 2011 his family decided to hold a half marathon race in his hometown on the closest Saturday to his birthday each year (the 2nd Saturday in July). During the pre race ceremony they talked about how much he would have loved that a running party was being held in his hometown. This race is entirely put on by his family and friends. His brother gave me my bib #. A friend of his gave us my SWAG bag. His now 16 year old daughter was the master of ceremonies at the start of the race and gave a short speech about why the race is run. The whole town turns out to cheer people or volunteer in some way. The night before at dinner our waitress thanked me for coming and for running. When I wore my race shirt after the race around town people around town were also wearing race shirts and thanked me for participating. Normally when you finish a race the volunteers say congratulations, in this race they all said thank you. All of the proceeds from the race goes to help local families in need.

Another less serious note about this race that I found interesting was the age of the participants. It was an extremely young race, over 50 of the 250 finishers were teenagers. Jeremy Kunz was involved with coaching the local cross country team and pretty much the entire local teams show up and runs along with former members returning from college on their summer break. By coincidence I rode the bus to the start and chatted with the defending champion, who won it last year at 18 and defended his title this year by running a stunning 1:09 half marathon. On a related note he will participating in the U20 world championships later this year.

EXPO/PACKET PICK UP:
I did go to the early packet pick up for this race (there is no expo to speak of), they offered packet pick up from 6-8pm at the elementry school in town that also serves as the finish line for the race. We drove into town just a little before packet pick up and first ate dinner at the only Italian restraunt within like 30 miles. Tootsies was a good meal and allowed me to say hi to lots of other out of town runners who were clearly carb loading before the race. I was in and out in less than 5 minutes. Parking was plentiful and the school was easy to find. Bib pick up was extremely smooth, you don’t have an assigned # until you pick up your bib and shirt, then they just search your name on their list, hand you a bib from their pile and assign it to you electronically on the spot, very smooth and fast. They did also offer bib pick up between 5:15 and 5:45 the morning of the race at the school. The race starts at 7am, and the last bus leaves at 5:45.

Parking/Access: Parking at the school was not allowed on the day of the race because the race finishes in the parking lot. There was plenty of parking at the adjacent church and park both of which were listed on the packet pick up information sheet.

T-Shirts/SWAG: The medal for this race was decent, it is well made and sturdy and has the race logo on it which seems to be used by a lot of the businesses in the valley. It looks like but I wish it had something a little more unique to Wyoming. The ribbon for the medal however gets an A+ this year.
It is one of the best looking that I have recieved. While the race is in the tiny town of Thayne it is one of several small cities in the Star Valley, almost all of the businesses and other things in the area have Star Valley in their name despite being in different towns. It isn’t the prettiest one on my medal rack but for a small race that is very inexpensive to enter they did a good job (see attached photo). The shirt this year was not a tech shirt (although I saw some people wearing some tech shirts from past years), it was a T-shirt (See attached). I generally prefer a tech shirt that I wear during the race but in the end I will probably get more use out of a T-shirt in the long run.

Aid Stations: The aid stations were well stocked and spaced at 3, 6, 8.5 and 11 miles they all had Gatorade and water. They did not hand out any energy gels so bring your own but they did have Bananas at the last two aid stations. I didn’t hear anything about supplies running out at any time during the race. I was near the front so I was never really in a group, and most stations only had 3-5 people which was sufficient. The volunteers were really clear about who had water or Gatorade, and were happy cheerleaders for each runner who came through most of them saying thank you for running. If I could make one critique it would be to have a few more garbage cans 100 yards after the stations, as well as adding a station or two. This course is set up for a PR but I took it easy due to getting over an illness and a worry that the quickly elevating temperatures (highs in the 90s) and high elevation (8000->7000ft) would cause me to have hydration issues if I went too hard with so few stations.

Course Scenery/Elevation Difficulty: The course starts at a campground up along the side of the Star Valley in the woods. The course is a pure downhill. The first 2 miles extremely so with some small rises. The first two miles are however on a dirt road which was not perfectly smooth and had some holes and ruts. A brave runner could make amazing time during the first two miles with minimal energy exertion but they would however risk rolling an ankle. I went fast but responsible, if I was more daring I could have saved a minute or two on my time. After about 2 miles you hit the paved roads and exit the trees and spend the next 11 miles slowly making long straights then 90 degree turns around Wyoming ranches. You could easily find yourself alone but certainly not bored because the views of the area were amazing. You are definitely exposed completely to the sun over the last 11 miles so be prepared with sunscreen depending on your pace. The race is run on an open course so the roads are not closed but traffic was absolutely minimal and caused zero issues, the few ranchers who lived in the area were driving slow and waving and yelling encouragement as they drove by. The open course also allowed my wife to park and then leapfrog me every other mile on the course to take pictures and videos, this could also be used to provide race aid to a friend/partner if desired. The race drops nearly 1000 ft over the course, over half of it during the first 3 miles so the last 10 miles feel pretty flat. The race is also at a very high elevation 7-8000 ft so you might want to make sure you handle elevation ok before you go out as hard as you can. Another thing that must be mentioned about the course was the mile markers, every marker along the road had a picture of Jeremy with friends, or mostly his family. There were pictures with his wife or his at the time very young children. It was hard to keep focused 100% on your running when each mile you saw a dad holding his 3 year old daughter or another similar photo. This again helped remind you each mile why you were running.

Weather: 50 degrees at the start up on the mountain 70-80 degrees by the finish only 1.5 hours later. For finishers at the 3-3.5 hr mark temperatures were well into the mid 80s by late morning. Honestly pretty decent running weather with so little humidity when I finished but even while I milled around the finish area I could feel the temperature rising.

Race Management: This Race was very well run overall for such a small race. I found their Facebook page to be the best source of info, their website has some info but isn’t extensive. Also FYI registration doesn’t open until like February on the race year. If you have any questions I found that sending the race a Facebook message was by far the best way to get information.
They always responded to me quickly. Other things to compliment this race on despite only 250ish finishers (their biggest race to date), they had age group awards for every 5 year age group (carved wooden stars for first place and ribbons for 2nd and 3rd). I placed 2nd in my age group but didn’t realize they had awards so I left and missed my first chance to get to stand on a podium and have my picture taken. They had plenty of busses (Four) to take people to the start which meant no lines. They had port-o-potties at the finish to use before the bus and at the start, the lines seemed a bit long but moved quickly so I think they had the numbers correct (also it was in the woods so many male runners made use of the environment to shorten the lines). They had pace setters from 1:40/1:50/2:00 then every 15 minutes to the 2:45 hour time from a volunteer pace group that drove up from Utah. The time limit for the race is 3.5 hours but they offered an early start option for people who may have needed a little more time. They also hold a kids dash at the finish early in the day. The finish had plenty of the usual finish line fare (bagels, water, electrolytes, oranges). They also have free race Photos which they post on Facebook. Most years they hold a pasta dinner the night before the race, it hasn’t happened yet post Covid but they told me that plan to start it again in 2023.

Overall I would say this race is a fantastic way to check Wyoming off your 50 state list. It is a well run race put on by an amazing family and volunteers. Wyoming doesn’t have very many large races and almost none of them are really easy to access by any direct flight. We picked this race due to its summer timing and proximity to Grand Teton National Park which we visited for several days after the race and then on to Yellowstone. I would recommend visiting those parks before or after the race. Independent of why this race was created and held I would still give this race 5 stars but knowing why they run made it an emotional as well as athletic experience for me that I won’t forget.

This was my first international marathon & my 2nd World Marathon Major. Berlin is a very unique city with a lot of history and it really behooves you to spend some time after the race seeing the city and it’s history. From it’s government buildings to the Berlin Wall to the Cold War History and of course the WWII history there really is a ton to see. A nice walking tour in the days after the race will help you get your mobility back and something I would recommend.

Rather than comparing this race to other smaller local races which this of course blows out of the water, I’m going to compare it to the other Marathon Majors which is more apt comparison. This was also the first Major Marathon to take place in the Covid world so some of my observations may only be truly applicable to 2021.

EXPO/PACKET PICK UP:
Getting to the Expo was very easy. It was held at the old Berlin Airport so public transit by bus or the U-Bahn (Subway) were both easy options. There was a long but fast moving line to get into the expo for participants. Considering they were checking for ID proof and Vaccination proof the line went smoothly. Sadly we didn’t notice a seperate line for visitors until we were near the front so that cost us some time. They used this ID check to give you a fabric ribbon that they tightly put around your wrist that you then have to wear until the race was over. We went on Friday and wearing it for 3 days was only mildly annoying. The old airport was a unique place to have any event. The baggage claim area serves as a lobby after the wrist band area and from there you walked out onto the old runway/gate area to walk to some maintenance hanger where the expo proper was. You first had to enter a racers only area to pick up your bib and bag. They print the bib when you arrive at the front of the line and this part was pretty easy. It being a piece of paper meant that it tore more easily than a normal bib and I had to re-pin a torn corner mid race. I run mostly half marathons so although they say you can use a full or half time to prove you pace my bib said I was in the very last corral because i didn’t have a marathon time recently, not accurate at all. There was another line to get this fixed, I was able to move through this line in 20 minutes but I heard many people say it took them well over an hour. When I reached the front the volunteer took a swag at what my full pace would be based on my half marathon time (His opinion a 1:31 half last month => 3:25 full) I disagreed but he didn’t care and put me in the slow corral, I was pretty disappointed by his attitude. Another 30 minute line in the regular customer service/question line got me in the proper corral. My advice, print and bring with you a proven Full marathon proof time recently if at all possible, worst case a half marathon time. I heard many many people say they had registered with a proof time that didn’t process so they had to stand in line to fix their start corral as well. If you didn’t have proof of a recent race time for your desired corral then you were out of luck. Lastly in the runners only area you could pick up any merchandise that you pre purchased.
The rest of the expo had a large gear purchase area (I spent my fair share as I do at majors but rarely at small races), get there early so everything isn’t picked over in your size. Also heads up several items are only in the women’s section or vice versa. I found my favorite T-shirt over there and another shirt that I couldn’t find in my size in the Mens area. None of them were Women’s cut so it is worth your time if you can’t find what you want in your area. The rest of the area was large with quite a few vendors but in comparison to an expo like NYC this was a tiny expo.

Parking/Access: Either get a hotel near the finish or take the U-Bahn(Subway). Don’t drive there. Getting into the start area was a breeze with the wristband and bib, zero line very easy. The start area is the Tiergarten (Really big park). This meant tons and tons of room to warm up and stretch with nobody around.

T-Shirts/SWAG: Oddly the default race shirt is NOT provided for free. I suppose it is nice to not be forced to buy it but it is the only race I have ever run that has done this. The shirt was nice with some track suit stripes on the shoulder which felt pretty European (See picture). The medal seems to follow a similar look each year. German flag ribbon which is very cool and distinct but made out of a cheap fabric. The medal is a silver color and come with quite a few chips and dings which happens when you have medals in a stack but felt like more than usual. One side of the medal was a unique Berlin highlights collage, the other side is apparently always a person. I lucked out that this year it was Kipchoge setting the world record. A few years ago they had the face of the retiring race director, I can’t really imagine anybody wanting that on their medal. I would have been really disappointed with that, but this year was ok.

Aid Stations: Aid Stations in Europe are different than in the US. Until about the 30k mark they were spread out closer to every 2.5-3 miles rather than every 1.5-2 like you would find in the US. They all had water and some kind of “energy” drink that I had not heard of so I didn’t trust it. They also had tea which was odd but I guess common over there. The other unusual and a little frustrating thing is the cups they use. You are likely used to paper cups that you can crush/crimp to make it easier to pour the water in your mouth. These were more like small clear Solo cups so they didn’t really crush well without breaking. Getting water down your throat without soaking yourself was extremely hard. Also those cups being tossed all over the ground make incessant noise of clacking that you will take weeks to get out of your brain. The aid stations were long and well stocked through and also had food at a ton of them. Aid station frequency did increase near the end, like every 2 miles instead of 3. Also of note each aid station had a hydro pack filling station.

Course Scenery/Elevation Difficulty: There is a reason the World record was set on this course. It is really really flat. The scenery is a real mixed bag. The start area is pretty and has you run past the victory column like .5k into the race and the finish at the Brandonburg gate is one of the most iconic in the world. That said the rest of the course is really blah, I do tend to laser focus during a race and not notice much but it was mostly just running down residential streets in a major city. The shortest route blue line was well marked and easy to follow and most of the course was kept clear of spectators crowding the runners. In several areas people would cross when there were no barriers but I didn’t see any collisions. I heard the crowds were maybe 50% of normal so it could be a bigger issue in normal years. The course is overall also quite narrow and has some bottlenecks. Again not a huge issue in a year with “only” 25k instead of 43k but certainly something to be aware of in a normal year.

Weather: This race is held at the very end of September so the weather could be anything from 35-80 during the race. In my case we got upper sixties changing into mid to low 70s during the race. This of course slowed down everybody’s pace. Even the race winner was nearly 5 minutes slower than 2 years ago. If those guys lose 5 minutes I feel great about only losing 6 minutes from my goal time.

Race Management: Overall pretty good but also a bit of a mixed bag, of course some grace has to be afforded to the organizers for actually pulling off the first major since Covid happened. Communications in the months leading up to the race was really lacking in my opinion. I found the event Facebook page comments from other runners to have better info than the emails from the event during planning. Eventually the race would send info or respond to emails but it took forever.

The unique fabric wristband/ribbon system for the event to get into the start area worked well. At first I thought it was odd and useless to make people wear the wristbands but it ensures there is zero bib swapping because only a person with a wristband and a bib was allowed in the start area and on race day it meant the lines to get in the start area were non existent since you just walked up flashed a bib and a bracelet and they waved you through.

The bathroom situation was however less than ideal and lines were LONG. Men everywhere (and a few women) were making use of the bushes and trees to make their own bathrooms. This race only had 25,000 people instead of the 43,000 they had pre covid, did they have fewer bathrooms? The same? If it was the same then it would have been truly crazy in a normal year. FYI there are additional bathrooms near the start corrals which are a bit of a walk from the warm up area. They also had standing 4 person urinals near the start area, very fast and convenient but probably not the favorite visual for most ladies.

The start corrals were guarded to make sure you were in your proper area which was nice but of course a few people made it into other areas. They had fun pump up music and a clapping “Skol” chant before introducing the elites on video boards they had throughout the start area. They did a good job making it feel like an epic event in the start area.

The finish area was a little confusing to navigate and shaped like a cross where you had to go down different arms to get things like a free beer, finisher poncho, bag pick up, or food. Eventually you spill out into the park again with plenty of room to recover before leaving for the family meet up area.

Pictures for the event are reasonable $35, and I ended up with 266 pictures with me in them (lots of them very similar). I heard that there was an official photographer after the finish where you could take your picture with your medal but I never saw it and nobody I talked to seemed to have done it either. So either be aware to look for it immediately after finishing or use your own camera to take a picture on the podium they had set up in the park after you exited the finish area.

Overall this race has quite a bit to nit pick about compared to other majors but when compared to other non Majors events it is still epic and very well done. I would highly recommend it as part of both your 6 star journey and just a race that you do as you travel the world.

This was the first time that I had ever been to the state of Texas. Coming from the mountainous west coast the scenery was definitely different in Texas flying in. I was expecting a very flat course when in actuality it had a pretty decent amount of hills. I will review the race itself next but my main takeaway from this race was a huge lesson learned in terms of knowing the conditions on a race day and adjusting your strategy accordingly. This race has a later than I am used to start of 8:30am probably so it is actually light out when people run but it was unusually warm in the morning, 70 degrees by 10am…in December. The start of the race was cool with overcast skies which led to me and many other runners taking off hard and fast and going for a PR. Texas is more humid than the northwest and the warmer temperatures meant that going out at PR pace for the first half especially during the long uphill middle section was a mistake. I bonked at mile 9 and slowly dropped from 7 minute pace to 7:15 pace by mile 11. Then I things went really south and my final mile was nearly 9 minutes and I wobbled to the finish and am still recovering from cramps and dehydration a day later. Essentially don’t make the rookie mistake of going out too hard in any race and then run a responsible pace in a race when the conditions are different than what you run in at home. As I continue to run races around the country, especially in the south I will take it much easier and only go for that PR when the course and conditions suit it. On to the review…

EXPO/Packet Pick Up: The expo was at a convention center only a few hundred yards from the start line. I went on Saturday afternoon and had zero issues easily getting inside and finding the expo. The convention center is huge and many other things were going on including a youth cheerleader/dance competition so among the hundreds of runners walking around were dozens and dozens of young girls in bright outfits and makeup. Parking is limited in the area, I had friends drop me off but the DART (commuter type train) drops off right at the convention center. Bib and event weekend shirt(not a tech T-shirt) were easy to pick up and seamless. The rest of the expo was pretty large and had some really nice BMW(event sponsor) cars inside that you could get in and check out.

Parking/Access: As with any downtown major city race parking is going to be a real issue. I took the DART (commuter train). This worked fantastically as I was staying with friends near Plano. Parking was free at the train station and the ticket was only $3, I was able to use it both ways because the ticket was good for the entire AM, if you run the full you will likely need to buy the $6 all day ticket. After getting off the train at the same convention center as the expo I spent quite a bit of time warming up and stretching in the event center along with many many others, plenty of room and warm with real bathrooms.

T-Shirts/SWAG: I really liked the medal for this race, it is something I had never seen before (see attached picture). It had picture of the Dallas skyline including the event center and the cattle drive statues that area near the start. The really unique part is that there is a hinge in the middle of the medal that folds back the sky above the skyline so that the top of the medal is a jagged skyline and the sky now becomes something that you can use to prop up your medal for display, it was also attached to a high quality ribbon. I like to wear event shirts for my races however I could not do that in this case as at the expo you get a Dallas Marathon weekend T-Shirt (not a tech Tee). The shirt had a great color and design and is definitely something that I would wear outside of a running event. You do still get a Tech Tee, but you get this in the finishers area after the race because it is a finishers shirt. This design was less interesting and a little plain but I have a hard time criticizing the swag in a race where they give you two shirts at no additional cost. Great SWAG.

Aid Stations: The aid stations were well stocked and spaced every 1.5 to 2 miles they all had Gatorade and water. There were even several aid stations from local community groups along the course. The aid station around 7 miles also had liquid energy packs that were given out. I didn’t hear anything about things running out at any time during the race.

Course Scenery/Elevation Difficulty: This was run mostly through downtown and surrounding neighborhoods in a large loop, no out and back repeats of scenery which is nice. Near the beginning of the race you run through the famous triple underpass and past the book depository and grassy knoll where JFK was killed (I also recommend the trolley tour around town that focuses on the assassination, it was really interesting as an out of state tourist). After a rather quick and slightly downhill first 3 miles the next 5 or so miles is filled almost entirely with uphills. I kept my pace up through those uphills when was just too much effort expended and I paid for that in the end. Around mile 7 we entered highland park which my friends who I was staying with tell me is a rather historic and very expensive part of town. I did find it very pretty. The last few miles of the course were a pretty non de-script trip through neighborhoods and downtown.

Weather: Surprisingly hot, at least surprising to me, I know its not unheard of to have highs of 75 in Texas in mid December but the cool start temperatures led to a lot of people going out too hard (i saw lots of walkers or people stopping to stretch on the course which I rarely see at my pace because most runners are quite experienced if you are running in the 1:30’s. I didn’t stick around to see many marathon finishers but I fear that the heat likely led to some carnage as people were trying to finish in the afternoon. It was humid, normal Texas humid which isn’t like the deep south but certainly more than I am used to in the northwest.

Race Management: This was very well run. Great EXPO, SWAG and organization. The corral control was very strict and something that I am not used to seeing outside of extremely large marathons, they had people checking to the gates to make sure you were in the right corral and the fences were 6 ft tall keeping people in so it would be hard to skip into the wrong corral. My only complaint would be there there were only 4 different corrals and they were long and narrow. I probably should have entered the corral sooner but even getting in 15 minutes early I wasn’t quite able to weave my way to the front where the quicker pacers were. The start of the race was quite an event, a very talented national anthem singer, and giant 40 foot tall arch over the start with a huge video board playing a get psyched video and fireworks being shot off the top of it that made it feel like I was at a football game. Very cool. The finish area was well stocked with tons of freebies that you would expect at a race including an area to get your finishers shirt and then gear check pickup was a breeze. They also had a well organized family reunion area. I also give this race credit for having so many types of events. They had a 50k Ultra, Marathon, Half Marathon, 10k, 5k, Kids Race, Friday Mile as well as 4 man Marathon relays and 2 man Half Marathon relays (I saw several people ran the first leg of relays and then continued to finish the race on their own as well. Races were held over 3 different days with only the Half or further on Sunday but they really did have an event or distance for everybody.

This was a great race, don’t try to PR here and just enjoy the organization and course. Also make sure to get some BBQ in the area after the race, food after any race always tastes amazing but BBQ in Texas was something else. The brisket that I had at Hutchinson’s was something that I probably could have eaten with a spoon because it was so tender, the knife was not needed.

I would definitely recommend this race, and it is one I would like to do again someday, pace myself better, and better enjoy the finish.

I had a really good time at this race, it is still a pretty new race but they are doing a lot of things right so far and with a few tweaks they could make it great. This race seems to be getting more popular. For the half in the 4 years they have gone from 350->700->750->1000. There were also nearly 1000 people for each of the 5k and the 10k.

I flew in for this race from Seattle a few days early so that we could visit my wife’s family near Madison. Driving to the race the morning of was seamless and easy, we tried to arrive at the start area an hour before the race.

EXPO/Packet Pick Up: I can’t comment on the expo because I was staying so far away so I elected to pick up my packet the morning of the race at the start line. For this race there was no bag given away with goodies and advertisements. You just walked up to the gazebo with your bib number (which they provided on both a big pin up board and via email), and they gave you your bib with safety pins and your shirt. I was there an hour before the start and this process took me less than 1 minute. They made a point of saying picking up the day of is not recommended but with the size of the race still being ~1000 people it really wasn’t an issue. Maybe it would be harder if I was trying to pick up my packet 10 minutes before the start but personally I’d recommend picking your bib up at the course.

Parking/Access: Getting to the start line couldn’t have been easier, it was less than a mile from the interstate and parking was directly next to the start area. Again I was there early so parking was still available but the closest lot was probably full 45 minutes before the race, they had maps posted on their website with other free lots which were all pretty close and they supposedly provided shuttles.

T-Shirts/SWAG: I really liked the shirts and Medals for this race. The shirt was a half zip pullover which is really soft and would likely be great for colder training runs and races. It is very simple with just a small race logo in the top corner so it is easily something that you could wear around outside of a running event and not feel out of place. Looking at some of the past medals for this race I was not really a fan but I really liked the medal this year. It was in the shape of Wisconsin (as someone trying to run in as many states as possible I really appreciate this) and had the roof of the very unique Milwaukee Art Museum on it. There is also a picture of a beer and a bratwurst which were things they were giving away at the finish line. I was fortunate enough to place third in my age group which also earned me a much smaller version of the finishers medal with a description of what it was for on the back. The only minor critique I would make on the medal is that they all say 5k/10k/Half, the smaller the distance the smaller the medal they gave out and the medals for the half had some color on them that the 5k medal did not. I would prefer that my medal just said half marathon so it was easier to distinguish what it was for, but that is really nitpicking.

Aid Stations: The Aid stations were spaced at 1.5 miles and then about every 2 miles the rest of the way. I had no issues with the stations but I was up front with few people around. The volunteers all did a great job calling out who had Gatorade and who had water. The aid stations were a bit small though in terms of number of volunteers so (just assuming no first hand knowledge) things would have gotten a bit crowded and the volunteers would have trouble keeping up when the big part of the pack of runners was showing up. My other critique of the aid stations was that they need to put a big garbage can with a volunteer ~100 feet past the water stations so people would toss their cups there. With no obvious place to throw things cups were getting tossed everywhere which would be a pain for the volunteers to clean up and it just felt weird littering like that in a park.

Course Scenery/Elevation Difficulty: At this time of year the course is not especially pretty because there are no leaves on the trees. You start in a park on Lake Michigan then quickly run up an overpass and are then on a greenbelt along a river for ~12 of the 13 miles. The bike path is nice and so is the river but until the trees start to come alive this place isn’t anywhere near as pretty as it will be during the summer. The course itself is extremely flat which makes it pretty fast. It is an out and back with most of it along the exact same path which I assume led to some traffic issues near the turn around point which the larger pack of runners were going through. It is a slight uphill on the way out which pays you back with a downhill on the return, very gentle so nothing that really hurts your stride or pace too much.

Weather: The temperature and the wind did add a degree of difficulty. 15-20 mph gusts, probably expected so close to the lake. The temperature at the start was also a brisk 35. I had a running hat and running gloves which after getting warmed up a few miles in I tossed the hat to my family at mile 4 then tossed the gloves to them on the way back at mile 9. Very few spectators were on the course so that option wouldn’t be available to most people which probably made running in that temperature pretty tough due to either carrying gear back or being cold to start. I’m not from the area so I’m not sure if those temperatures are the norm for mid April, but the past 4 years the weather has been. 70 and sunny, 30 and snowing, 40 and raining, 35 and sunny so be prepared for anything.

Race Management: Lots of good things to like about this race, a few things to improve.
Things I liked: T-Shirts/Swag, Lots of Port-o-potties, they had everyone lined up by goal pace then called everyone who was <8 min mile pace (indicated by the color of the numbers on your bib) inside the start corral to start before everyone else I really appreciated the attempt to allow the faster people start more easily, Beer, Brats, and Cheese Curds at the finish, very tasty and very Wisconsin, top 3 by age group medals for all events
Things to improve: The trail was not closed for public use, this wasn’t an issue during this race because it was so cold but people riding their bikes into a 1000 runners in the opposite direction can be dangerous, the finish line was a bit of a mess after you got your medal-they tried to combine all 3 races towards the same finishers area to get food and freebies but it was very hard to figure out what was where. All of the races started at the same gate, the half marathon people returned to the same gate while the 5 and 10k people used a different nearby gate to finish, all of this is fine but at least according to my wife who missed me finishing it was not made clear who finished where (in all fairness she could have not been listening but either way it could have been clearer for spectators. They also need to add some garbage cans near the water stations which I mentioned earlier.

This was overall a very fun race that I would recommend, I feel like they are doing very well for a race that is only 4 years and with a few changes could be great.

I really really enjoyed this race, it had a lot of unique things that I had not experienced in a race before and of course setting a new half marathon PR after more than 4 years since I had set my previous PR leaves you with really good feelings in regards to a race.

I flew in to Salt Lake City on Friday afternoon, got picked up by my cousin at the airport and drove straight to Provo so I could pick up my packet at the EXPO. Plan on at least 45 minutes to an hour to Provo from the airport.

EXPO: The expo was quite small and so was the parking lot associated with it, although parking was free. Packet pick up was quick and easy and had several freebies in the bag. Overall nothing special about the expo other than a few booths but it is a small race so it is about what you would expect.

T-Shirts/SWAG: The T shirt for this race is a little unique, it had bright red sleeves and a black shirt. The Utah Valley logo on the front and giant “Pain You Enjoy” letters on the back. I actually like the shirt in the sense that it stands out from the rest of my race shirts but i definitely heard some complaints that people didn’t care for it. The race medal was really nice, it is a large spinner medal so the outside of the medal is a solid ring with a disc in the middle that can spin. Another unique addition to my collection, the only negative would be that it doesn’t have anywhere to have my name and PR time engraved but I still really like it. Another thing they do that I liked is that the race bib isn’t simply a rectangle. The top of the bib is jagged and has a mountainous design, I have done a few other races that did something unique like this but little touches like this are things that I love about a race.

PARKING/ACCESS: This is a point to point course so you park near the finish and take a bus up to the start in the mountains. Parking was at a shopping mall and more than abundant. The buses were easy to find and had plenty of room although I got there pretty early so there wasn’t much of a line yet. Once on the bus you drive up a highway into the mountains where they drop you off at the start area. There were plenty of outhouses at the start, especially if you kept walking towards the start line from the drop off area and didn’t just stop at the first one you found. One thing to know though is that even during the summer it gets very cold up there at 4:30 am, waiting for the 6am start time. They do however have camp fire barrels set up along the start area to keep warm which I really welcomed. They had a big truck right by the start line to check your bag which really just meant have your bag labeled and throw it in the back of a UPS truck but that did allow you to keep your warm up clothes on until only 10-15 minutes before the race. As for getting back to your car after the race the finish and the parking lot are over a mile apart and while you could walk it they do have buses to get you there which were easy to use.

Course/Aid Stations/Elevation: Aid stations were spaced every 2 miles or so throughout the course and were well stocked with water and electrolytes. Because you are running through a canyon there isn’t much crowd support during the majority of the course until you get near Provo/the finish but you don’t really mind it. The canyon portion of the course is very pretty, there are waterfalls and nice views and while you are running the sun is rising so it only adds to the beauty. As for the elevation I found this to be the easiest elevation race I have ever run. It was almost entirely a very very gentle downhill with only 2 minor uphills. The great part about the downhills was that the gradient was so slight that it helped you keep running fast while never feeling like you were pounding your knees trying to slow yourself down as you would if you were running down a steeper hill. The only reason I didn’t rate this as a 1 star elevation difficulty is that all downhill running can be very hard on your quads. I’m sure the people in the full marathon felt it, I didn’t have any issues during my race but during the next 1-3 days I thought it was weird that my quads were really sore until I realized that the elevation is what did it. I’m sure some people started to feel it during the race which could at least add a little difficulty. This race is made for you to PR and I managed to finish in 1:29:56 for a PR, finally breaking 1:30.

Race Management: I really enjoyed the execution of this race. Busing to the start was smooth, fires and plenty of bathrooms at the start was great. They have a beautiful downtown finish location by the courthouse after you pass by BYU (the edge of campus so unless you know its there you wouldn’t assume it was a university you were passing). They have several other nice touches like a PR gong which you can ring, you tube videos of the finish so that you can see how you finished, and FREE pictures. They had finish time printouts which you could get to show your results.They also had lots of free food at the finish including Popsicles and cinnabon. The bag pickup area is a little concerning because they just lay everyone’s bags out and you just grab yours with no real security but it didn’t seem to be an issue.

I do want so give one final shout out to the race management for going above and beyond for me. For the first time in my life I placed in my age group at a race but I didn’t realize that they gave awards out all the way to 5th in your age group instead of 3rd so after my wife finished we went home. I later realized that if I had waited around for 15 more minutes I would have received by age group award but by that time I had already flown home to Washington state, after several emails I was able to get a hold of the race director who I offered to send money to in order to ship me my plaque. They said they would figure something out and then shipped it to me for free. I know it only cost them a few dollars but it did take their time and it was just a really nice gesture on their part which I appreciate. I have my eye on this race for future years when I might try to get my full marathon BQ here.

This was a truly amazing experience. I have run large races before but this race was on an entirely different scale. It is also a race that I will never forget.

I managed to get extremely lucky and get in via the lottery on my first attempt. This race also thankfully gives you a 9 month lead time to plan and prepare since you are notified of your acceptance pretty soon after you apply. This should be standard (WTF London Marathon). They do a good job of sending you lots of emails in the months leading up to the race, lots of them are ad type things but you can’t just ignore them all because important things like your registration confirmation email which you have to take to bib pick up is sent via email, the ferry/bus selection email and well as the email notifying you of your need to pick a post race poncho or check a bag are in there as well so it is not all spam.

I flew cross country from Seattle on Thursday and then went to our hotel on the upper west side. I highly recommend staying in the upper west side if you can afford it for two reasons: First the exit for people who got post race ponchos dumps out there so you can find hotels that are only a few blocks from the finish, also the #1 red subway line has various stops in the area and drops off at the Staten Island ferry which is also how I recommend that you get to the start line. You can take the #1 red line without having to make any transfers.

It is important to arrive a few days early to adjust to the time change, but unless you are from the area you will likely want to see some of the sights while also trying to stay off your feet. A few things I would recommend are taking in a Broadway or off Broadway show and then something I never would have though of on my own was the bus tour of the marathon route that my wife bought for me. This was nice for two reasons, it allowed me to see the city and familiarize myself with the course and hills. It also allowed me to have a much better picture of the course in my head in my memories, when I am racing I tend to get in a zone and don’t really notice the scenery around me, i tried to do a little more of this while I ran this race but there are many things I would not have seen without the bus tour.

EXPO Quality:
We took the subway across town to get to the EXPO which was a thing to behold. A massive building with banners and decorations everywhere. If you really only want to get in and out to get your bib then you would have an easy time because it was very well organized and not crowded. The rest of the expo was actually quite crowded even on Friday afternoon/evening when I was there. There was tons of merchandise (something I never buy at expos but for a marathon major i made exceptions) and tons of vendors selling everything under the sun. An expo tip for NYC would be that if you find something you like but they only have the item available in giant sizes that won’t fit you, you can find it all online in the weeks after the race for the same price or cheaper. Just take pictures of the tags and item numbers and get it shipped to you, very easy. Do yourself a favor and buy a shirt or two for the memories then at least spend some time walking around. They also have a booth where you can find all of the pacers (I was able to meet the guy I would be running with 3:15) and they also have pace bands you can put on your wrist which would give you all your split times for your goal pace.

GETTING TO THE START:
I was scheduled to take the 6:15 Staten Island ferry since I was in Wave 1 (9:50 start time). I took the red #1 line from the upper west side and got to the terminal around 6 am. The terminal was packed and it quickly became apparent that I would not make the 6:15 ferry. My family and I were able to make the 6:30 ferry, barely. The ferry is nice because it allows you to sit down during the transit and it also allows you to go to the bathroom if needed which you can’t do if you take the bus. The ferry also goes close to the statue of liberty which means you can get some nice pictures. Once you get off the ferry things get much more crowded. My family took the free ferry back to Manhattan before heading to the course while I got in a giant line of people waiting for the bus. This probably took close to an hour slowly shuffling forward in a giant crowd of people before we made it to the bus. Then it was a 15 minute drive to the unloading area and another bit of a walk to the start area, security was very tight between the bus and the start area.

THE START AREA:
I found this area to be remarkably easy to navigate and really not overly crowded. I was able to find a place to sit down, I was able to walk around and get some free breakfast and the bathroom lines were very short. This all must be taken under the lens of me being there from 8:30-9:00am, i was leaving in wave 1 so not many people from later waves were there, I’m sure things got a little more crowded as the day went on and people who missed their start mixed with people who made it on time. I had warm throw away clothes from good will and was not checking a bag (they still give you a bag for the start area so you can carry a few things), which is what I highly recommend you do. When I entered my corral they had a little walled off area with bins for throw away clothes and plenty of bathrooms although finding a place to really stretch out was a little tight. We were in this area for a long time (probably 30 minutes) but it was completely fine. You then trudge to the start area in a big crowd and hear the national anthem and cannons.

COURSE/ELEVATION/AID STATIONS:
The first two miles of the course are the bridge, it is both oddly quiet as there are no spectators but also exciting because you are so amped up to start the race. Do yourself a favor and make sure to take in the view while you are on the bridge. If you are on the lower deck stay near the center as people are famous for peeing off the upper deck and showering those below them. I really don’t understand why because I found bathrooms to be plentiful in the start village.

When you come off the bridge the spectators are there in full force, make sure to move to the side from time to time to get some high fives. Also if you can write your name on your shirt do it because people will cheer for you directly. Brooklyn is most peoples favorite part of the course due to both the fan support and I suspect that fact that you always feel your best during the early part of the race. You are on slow rolling hills that you need to be careful on to keep your pace. People were on their stoops cheering, church choirs were out front cheering, it was amazing. Queens had fewer fans and was pretty short before you head to Manhattan via the queens-borough bridge.

That bridge SUCKS, it feels like a 1.5 mile uphill that just wont ever end. The downhill into the wall of sound in Manhattan is great and gives you a lift but that bridge really takes something out of you. The early miles in Manhattan were well attended and fun and it where you finally really have room to spread out across the full breadth of the road. The long straight to the Bronx can really feel long since there is not much to break up the monotony. The Bronx was also quick but well attended and had good cheering sections but it is also at the 20 mile mark so you will probably start to feel it at this stage.

Coming back into Manhattan there is a very long slow uphill which really started to hurt my pace until you finally reach Central Park. It was a minor boost to make it there and know only 3 miles remained but I was getting tired so it felt super hilly and hard and I wasn’t able to enjoy the beauty because I just was ready to be done. You leave the park for a quick half mile then enter back in on the southern end of the park to “sprint” to the finish. I crossed the line with a 3:18:15 PR. My GPS watch showed I ran an extra half mile which of course is partly due to satellites but also due to not being able to cut tangents due to how crowded it was and due to the amount of weaving around people I was doing. The course doesn’t have steep hills other than the bridges but it is almost never flat, lots of slow uphills and downhills, I would call the elevation deceptively hard. Aid stations throughout the course were plentiful and well stocked, due to the number of racing amateurs you will likely encounter aid stations can be a bit frustrating with people who get a cup and just stop dead in their tracks nearly causing collisions, but that is not the fault of the race just inexperience.

The finish chute is long, very long. You get your medal and lots of pictures taken then have to walk a good .5-.7 miles even if you did the poncho option which is much shorter than the walk to the gear check line. You get a finishers bag with some food and then you get the wonderful fleece lined poncho. We had some drizzling rain through most of my race so this poncho felt fantastic. I can’t recommend the poncho option over the gear check option enough.

TSHIRTS/SWAG:
The free shirt is long sleeve and pretty nice. The design and things were not amazing but because of the race it represents I still really like it. The medal is all one color and if it were a normal race you would call it pretty bland but the medal has been similar for so long that I would call it more classic and understated and again is one I cherish.

RACE MANAGEMENT:
First class all the way. It is crowded and you are on your feet for a long time before the race, but when you consider the logistics of organizing the largest marathon in the world and making it go as smoothly as it does it really is amazing. The app they have for the race is great because they have timers at every single mile so your family will have an easy time tracking where you are within less than 5 minutes. Make sure to set up places on the course where you know your family will be, the crowds can be 5-10 people deep in places so you need to know exactly where they will be and again where they will be after the finish so you can find them.

If you like to run, do this race, enter every year for years if you have to, but if you get the chance to run it you will never regret it.

This was a well organized fun half marathon. I would certainly do it again.

Expo: This is a Rock & Roll series race so it is going to have a large well attended expo. If you want to get in and out quick and just grab your bib it is pretty easy, the Events Center is big and well laid out for these kinds of things. If you want to walk around the expo you can find all sorts of things to fit your running needs. The only annoying part of this expo location is that there is virtually zero parking in the area unless you have someone drop you off you are going to have to pay

T-Shirts/SWAG: I was a bit disappointed in the medal and shirt for this year, it was the 20th year for the event and the shirt celebrated that with balloons but nothing on the front unique to San Diego. The finishers medal was similarly disappointing, it was meant to look like a silver colored vinyl record complete with a middle spinning disc but in the end just looks like a big silver circle with again nothing unique to San Diego about it. Other years have looked much better so hopefully this was just a one off problem. The shirt and medal are both of high quality the designs just felt like they were lacking.

Parking/Access: Parking was going to be difficult for this race since the start and finish were a decent ways apart and parking isn’t plentiful for a race this size. I was dropped off by a friend which made things pretty easy, they were doing a good job policing the drop off area and it was an short walk to the park where I could do my pre race routine and stretching.

Course/Elevation/Aid Stations: Aid stations during the course were well stocked and offered electrolytes and water. They were also well spaced throughout the course. The race started on the edge of Balboa park then headed to the northeast winding through neighborhoods. The elevation changes at this point were not much although the scenery of just running through neighborhoods was nothing very exciting compared to the overall beauty of what i normally think of in regards to San Diego. Eventually you head back towards the park and go up a decent sized hill entering the park, then a pretty significant downhill through the park before heading to downtown and finishing on a nice decline. The course is pretty flat overall but the few hills there are can be a bit steep both uphill and downhill which left my hip a bit sore by the finish.

Race Management: They did a good job with this race. The corrals are well managed and the finishers area was well organized and very large, it was pretty easy to meet up with family and friends near the waterfront when I was done. An unusual thing I will give the race credit for managing was when someone went through cones and drove onto the marathon course at some point there were quick notifications and the police were all over it (this didn’t affect me in the half thankfully). This race also started really early in the day, 6 am, which was a tough start but also made sense considering how hot the weather can get especially for those running the full at a slower pace. The bands along the course also offer a welcome break along the route. The combination of the bands, cheerleaders, and start corral organization are all things that I really enjoy about Rock and Roll races.

Overall this race isn’t particularly pretty other than when you run through the park however the management and size of the event make it fun and worth it.

I set my Half Marathon PR on this course by several minutes. It is really well set up for running fast.

EXPO: This was a well put together EXPO although parking an access was a bit difficult which can be expected in most major cities when the EXPO is downtown. As with most Rock and Roll races the EXPO is really well done and large with numerous vendors and things to do.

Parking/Access: Parking in any major city especially near an event is going to be terrible. We took the MAX light rail system which made things a breeze. Plenty of parking at those locations and easy train access in and out of the event.

SWAG: I love my Portland Rock and Roll shirt, several of the shirts I have from the R&R series are a bit hit and miss but i loved the big block Portland letters with scenes from the city inside the letters and the little series name and city logo down around your hip on your back. Very unique. Most Rock and Roll series medals are nice but I especially love my Portland one, the Lanyard/Ribbon that goes around your neck is plaid (very Portland) then in the middle of the medal the shape of Oregon is punched out as a hole and the hole even has a bottle opener on it. I don’t even drink and I think that feature is amazing and unlike anything I have on any of my other medals in my collection.

Course/Elevation/Aid Stations: The course started with a quick out and back covering the first 3 miles on the west side of the river before going up an overpass then across a bridge to the east side of the river, and few quick turns and then a slow gentle up hill heading east for the next 3-4 miles. While a long uphill sounds terrible when it is gentle like this is doesn’t break up your stride where you are running on the balls of your feet. Also after a mile heading north at the top you turn back towards the river for 3-4 miles of gentle downhill. This was perfect for the 2nd half of a race and really helped you keep your pace as you began to tire. We crossed another bridge over the river then turned south for the final mile along the river. This course took my PR from a 1:35 to a 1:31, a large jump which i attribute to the course and the cool overcast conditions. The aid stations were well stocked and well spaced. They gave out GU at the halfway point.

Race Management: As with any R&R event the management is well done. They have pacing groups of all speeds and abilities and do a good job managing corrals so that people are spread out with people of similar abilities. The bands on the course are actually quite entertaining and really break up the monotony of a long run/race.

I highly recommend this race, sadly it has been discontinued though 🙁

This was my first ever full marathon so it is also one I will never forget. At the time this was the largest race that I had run. Full disclosure I am writing this review several years later so the course is now much different but the race experience remains similar.

EXPO: No day of pick up which is to be expected for a race this size, they had the expo in the events center attached to the Seahawks Stadium. I went in the evening after work so parking and getting to the expo was not really an issue if you know where the free parking is (most who have been to Mariners games know). As with any other Rock and Roll series the EXPO is really large and filled with vendors of all kinds and you can get your running needs met. I bought a few shirts to commemorate the experience (again first marathon) while I now tend to buzz in and out and just get my bib.

SWAG: A few coupons and pieces of food from around town but nothing special. The finishers medals as with all the rock and roll races is solid and nicely made and shows off the scenery of the city. The short sleeve tech T shirt was nothing special although the design is mildy interesting.

Parking/Access: This was a point to point course from Boeing Field to the Mariners/Seahawks stadiums finish, this means that someone had to drop my off. The course has changed nearly every year some as a loop some as a point to point which means you either need to get dropped off or find parking in downtown, neither of which is easy/cheap.

Course/Aid Stations/Elevation: The course started near Boeing Field which isn’t a real pretty area and made its way towards lake Washington where we ran along the water which was really pretty. We reached I-90 and the half/full split happened at around the 9 mile mark. The half marathon people headed for the stadiums/finish, the full marathon people got on the I-90 express lanes and headed on an out and back along the freeway to Mercer island and back (this was safely guarded by barriers and was actually pretty cool, friends who are slower or ran in hotter years have told me this stretch can be hot/brutal due to the lack of shade). The course headed back towards downtown through the I-90 tunnel which was really cool and had a band inside. After running by the stadiums we ran on through some of the tunnels and roads all the way towards the Freemont bridge over lake union where we turned around and ran back on HW99 and then the viaduct (RIP) before finishing in front of Safeco field. Running on the top level of the viaduct made for some really pretty views.

It’s Seattle so of the course was hilly which can be difficult especially at the end of a race (did they really need to make us run back up to the top level of the viaduct at mile 24.5 just to run down the off ramp to the stadiums a half mile later?)

Aid Stations were plentiful throughout the course, I’m pretty quick (3:22) so there was plenty of liquid there when I ran through but I have not heard of friends telling me they ran out at any time. They also handed out Gu packs twice on the course.

Race Management: I love how the R&R series does starts and uses Corrals, they do a decent job of policing things and then they give a little gap between letting each group start which means that you are running almost entirely with people with the same goal pace as you (you can also change your corral at the expo if your expected time changes). Also this meant that it took only 2-3 minutes before I had room to run and stride out since they close the entire street that the race is on. The bands on the course are a really nice break every mile or two even though you only get to listen for a few minutes. Also something that I thought was really cheesy when I heard about it was how they ask the cheerleaders from local schools to come out and cheer for the runners (elementary through high school). For the first 20 miles or so I ignored them and ran by them, but towards the end of the race especially when crowd support was sparse I really really appreciated the encouragement and now always give a wave and say thank you when I run by similar groups in races.

I highly recommend R&R race series events due to their high level of management. The Seattle event continues to be one of their best and most attended.