CA Classic Weekend Half Marathon- Race Review

The CA Classic Weekend is a two day event in Fresno, CA. On Saturday, the city hosts a 35 miles, 60 miles and 100 miles bike ride. The runs (Half Marathon, 5k and kids race) takes place on Sunday.

*** this is just a review of the Half Marathon***

The expo:
The packet pick up was on Thursday and Friday, which is kinda a hassle but they stayed late from 3- 7pm. The pickup itself was super easy. I went on Th at 6 and was in and out in 5 minutes. Seriously, it took me longer to find a parking spot.

The start:
The stadium bathrooms were open- which meant CLEAN Bathrooms with running water- Big Plus! There were also plenty of port-a-potties at the start line. There were a few pacers on the course. I noticed that they lined up really close to each other on the starting line. Also, there was no real corral with meant walkers lined up in the front and made it difficult for runners to get around.

The race:
The course was great. The first third was downtown, heading north towards the zoo. The 6th mile was in a very shady park around the zoo and then we ran into the zoo. We weren't there very long but it was cool to see the giraffes, sea lions and zebras. The last part of the race was back towards the stadium. The course was flat except for one or two on ramps.

There were tons of water stations. They were staffed with a few volunteers but I never felt like it was difficult to get water or gatorade. There were also tons of small local bands and small cheering sections.

The stretch was a very cool run into Chukchansi Park and down the baseball diamond. There was also a jumbotron capturing the finish line.

The after party:
The volunteers had ice cold water!! Best thing ever!! especially after a hot race. After collecting water and the finishers medal, runners have to walk up the stadium to get food or meet with family. I saw that there was a finishers breakfast with a pancake, eggs, banana. There was also a beer garden. I didn't fell like eating anything so I didn't grab anything. There was also a Coldstone Ice cream- I did grab one of those.

Overall, I think the race was well organized, the volunteers were awesome and the experience was a good one.