Tim Szym's Staging Area

Love Whistler and like this course a lot. A nice mix of road, paved trail, and gravel trail. Great scenery and even a run through the village at one point. Pre-race events are pretty weak, especially vendor booths. Post race is really chaotic because they cram the runners in an amazingly small space for food, water and coffee. This year the water was in a spot where everybody was bunched up and once you got water you had to turn around and fight through a crowd of people trying to get water. Who thinks up these plans? I have run 2 years in a row and the biggest disappointment both years is the race shirts. They suck. Last year the men’s shirt was a weird, blocky fitting shirt that was a rough knit. A couple miles in that and nipples are on fire! This year there was this giant ugly zebra design on the front including a big circle the size of a dinner plate in the middle. It was a rubberized screen print that —you guessed it!—lights up your nipples when you run. And, the rubber really causes extra sweat. It is a really feminine design too – clearly designed by a female. Medals are ok – nothing fancy, but not cheap either. So, if you don’t mind throwing away your shirt like I have for the last couple of years, or lacking delight in pre-race or post-race stuff, it’s a nice course in a terrific location. At least you can find a good burger and beer at numerous restaurants after the run.