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.

Surf City Marathon REVIEW

The Surf City Marathon is held every Super Bowl Sunday in Huntington Beach, CA aka Surf City. The race consists of a full marathon and a half marathon. I ran and will review the full marathon.

Getting in:  I'm not sure how much the price of the half or marathon are. But like every race, the price goes up as the race day approaches. I signed up before October when I was debating running the LA Marathon or Surf City. I picked Surf City because $90 beats $150.

The Expo: The set up is really cute. The race theme is surf boards so they put up a lot of surf-inspired decorations. The bib pick up was pretty fast. I went Saturday morning (10am) and the crowds weren't that bad. After you pick up your bib and t-shirt, you walk though a bunch of vendors and some free samples. I didn't really grab a lot of stuff, I did buy some NUUN. I love this stuff, I'll write a review later :)

The Start: The full started at 6:30 (the half at 7:30), I'm glad that they had separate start time because then the races didn't interact until the very end.  I like this b/c less congestion at the start. I also loved that they had a 2 minute space between corral starts. That was awesome! It allowed for like 1K runners to take off at a time instead of 10 million. 

The course: The course started off really good. We ran through the city of HB and then made our way to PCH. Take a look at the map, mile 10 runs North until mile 12 where you make a U-turn. Then at mile 15 1/2 you turn around and go North until mile 20 and then you come back South for the final 6 miles. I'm not a fan of out- and back courses. They are mentally tough!                                    There were tons and TONS of race support and middle school cheerleaders. I loved all the young enthusiasm.                                      There was also a lot of water stations. Probably too much for my liking but I'm glad I could count of them showing up every mile. 

The Finish: The full and half finished together so there was tons of people making their way through the tunnel. It was quite a walk before I saw water. I grabbed one from the medics on the side. I saw Monica from Run eat repeat, said hi and kept walking to get my medal and find a place to sit.

Overall, I really enjoyed the race. I think it was fun and ran really smooth. I like all the volunteers and spectators. The course is pretty flat, I'm not a fan of the last 10 miles of the course but that's not a deal breaker, I'd run it again.  

This is a cute picture we took at the expo!

Tinkerbell Half Marathon: RACE RECAP

This year the Tinkerbell Half Marathon was held on January 20, 2013. The race starts at 5AM. I think they start so early so that the park can still open on time. 

Getting in:  The race registration opens early. Last year, I signed up early spring/late summer. The race is expensive. $150 if registered before July, $165 from July- September and $180 after September.

It's an expensive race but it is held at DisneyLand and RunDisney races are well organized, spirited and fun. 

The Expo: The health and fitness expo was held the Friday and Saturday before the race. It was held at the Disney Hotel near Downtown Disney. 

Parking in Downtown Disney is free for the first 3 hours. 

The expo was pretty efficient. I went on Saturday morning, there were tons of people but I think I beat the rush. Went in and grabbed my bib number the headed upstairs to grab my t-shirt. 

The expo had a bunch of vendors selling stuff. I did a quick walk through but I wasn't too interested in buying stuff and there wasn't any free sample, so I was over it pretty quick. Plus, the amount of people definitely made me claustrophobic.

The Race: The start was fun. Mickey and Minnie were there! In all true Disney fashion, the start was pretty magical, lots of lights and cheer. The start is set up in corrals that start 5 minutes apart. I was in corral A (They had a total of 5 corrals) and it was still packed. The race was pretty congested for the first few miles. 

At mile 2, we headed into the park and there were a few narrow paths which added to the traffic jam. Plus the runners definitely slowed down to get a glimpse of the characters or the rides. I sure did!

sad attempt at taking pictures while running.

There were awesome volunteers. That's one of the reasons I like big races, organization and volunteers. This race had tons of support and cheer.  I think there were at least 5 water stations- fully stocked. They were prepared with water and power aid. It was easy to grab water and keep going. At mile 8, volunteers were handing out GU's. 

I think I counted at least 8 HS bands and cheer squads. They were all really good. At mile 11.5, one band was playing Carly Jepsen "Call me maybe". That made me happy. There were spectators on random parts of the course, mostly in groups when we really needed them. These cute ladies were from the Red Hat Society

The After: Mickey, Minnie and Goofy were at the finish line. As soon as we finished we got out medals and a mylar blanket. The race was really organized and we headed down a tunnel and grabbed water, power aid and a box of treats (hummus, pita chips, luna bar, banana). After that we were in the family waiting area. There was nothing special there, but I took a picture of myself looking pretty pale.

Overall: It was a fun race. The Disney excitement really rubs off. The course was good, I wish we would have spent more time in the park and that we may have run through it during the daylight. The downside, it's an expensive race really expensive. Race day parking was not included which sucked especially after that huge registration fee. Plus, I wish they would have had free stuff or samples. 

I don't think I will be running this race again, it's too expensive. But I'm glad that I had the opportunity to run it this weekend. And I'm excited that even though I had to navigating through a bunch of people, I still ran a decent race. 

Plus, this thing is pretty awesome….

Camarillo Half Marathon REVIEW

The Camarillo Marathon, Half Marathon and 5K was held on January 6, 2013. This is the third year this race was ran. Previous years had been criticized over the race course and organization. This years race seemed to have some of those kinks worked out.

The Start: The Marathon started at 7am, the Half Marathon at 7:30. There was a free, and easy to find parking lot right next to the start line. I arrived at 6:30 and stood in a quick 10 minute line for my bib and t-shirt. There were also public restrooms which beat port-a-potties.  The announce said they're were 150 participants for the full marathon and close to 300 for the half. The race started on time and without any problems.

The Course: Have you been to the Camarillo/ Oxnard area? It is covered in strawberry fields and other types of agriculture. Yes, the race course is boring. I didn't mind it. I grew up in an agriculture based community so for me it was like a game of trying to guess what kind of plants they were. The race was run along side of the road, so many areas were not closed off and you did have to be careful with traffic. I hate it when races do this :( The course is flat but because of the rain it was also muddy which made me fearful of slipping so that was not fun. The race course was difficult to figure out. I pretty much had to follow the person in front of me. At one point, there was nobody in front of me and I did feel confused as to what direction to take. My suggestion would be to make sure the path is clearly marked.  At one point, we needed to turn around but I wasn't sure where to make the turn so I ended up running further than I needed to and added a whole 0.2 of a mile to my time :(

There were not many volunteers and some water stations were self-served. But I want to make sure and thank those who are out there in the chilly weather.

The After Party: After finishing, I got my medal and headed for some water. There was a small booth set up with water, bananas and pretzels. It was small but not congested at all. It was a small race so I guess people got what they needed and moved on. Shortly after, I walked to my car and was back on the freeway in no time.

The race is small and the course is not awesome, it needs a little help with clearly marking the path. Overall it was a decent race, the weather was nice and the volunteers were really nice.

Commitment Day 5K review

Commitment Day 5k is a multi-city event, where thousands of Americans kicked off the new year by participating in a simultaneous 5K run/walk event spanning 35 cities.

The big point is to commit to something and follow through. At one point the commentator said something like "you could have slept in, but you made a commitment by signing up and here you are".

Getting in: I'm not sure what the price of the race is, but I would guess between $25 and $30. I found an awesome discount code online for $10.

The Start: In long beach, there were a few hundred people. The course was spacious and there weren't too many people so there wasn't a big congestion problem at the start. Like every other race, after a few steps the crowd started to space out allowing everyone to run/walk the race at their own pace.

The Course: The course was beautiful. It was held at Long Beach Aquarium Center along Shoreline Village. We ran around a marina and saw the boats for a while, the Queen Mary, a nifty little light house and the beautiful little shops at the shoreline village.

The After Party: Participants received a Commitment Day T-shirt and a 2013 Commemorative Commitment Journal.  Water, Coconut water and snacks were also available after the race. There were a few vendors and a DJ playing really good oldies.

There was also a giant poster board with the words "I commit to …" and people could write down a few resolutions/ commitments.

This race was small but very well put together. I enjoyed the low pressure feel of it. I think it's a great way to start off the new year and I can't wait to do it again.