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Submitted by arablover@aol.com
June 17, 2013
Review
This was my first year doing this race and even though it had some hiccups, I enjoyed it.
Pros:
Lots of options for packet pickup
Great parking and very little traffic
Beautiful course that had just enough challenge for a trail race
Really awesome high quality medal, very nice tech shirts and bags
Sweet wine glass with a complimentary pour of Callaway wine at the end of the race
A lot of really nice sincere people running the event
Great after party and lots of table and chair seating
Cons:
Trail was marked extremely well during the race but epic fail at one of the beginning forks that caused us to run on the wrong trail. I doubt this will happen in future races as the RD felt extremely bad and was very apologetic.
Pre-paid after party food was not the menu selection promised. The food was still pretty good but not the vegetarian selection that I thought I would be getting.
Even with the couple glitches, I still give this race an “A” overall. There were enough positives to make up for the errors.
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Submitted by Bell
June 17, 2013
Review
WOW!!! Not my first half marathon trail run…but for sure the most difficult one that I have done. This race had some unexpected hiccups, which for me only served to relax me and make me enjoy the course, the difficulty and the scenery…which was amazing.
Having done races that also had issues, the race director here, must be commended. His heartfelt ownership of the course issues and apology over every arena possible must be commended.
Packet pick up was a breeze and with not just the weekend before the race and a race day pick up available, you were also able to do it the weekend before that. Easy, nice, accomodating staff, even thought we showed up at 5:55pm the day before the race.
A small intimate race with just under 250 participants in the half marathon and a race director with a megaphone at the start line this course is not designed for anyone who love the big street races, it is a TRUE trail run and it is TOUGH!! But I loved every minute of it.
Post race you get your medal, your wine glass and the afterparty had food, wine, music and the awards happened so that even mediocre runners like me got to see them.
This is run I will for sure return to!!!
Loved all of it!!
Overall
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Course
Post-race
Submitted by frazledmom5
June 28, 2012
Review
Packet pick-up was a breeze….I chose to pick mine up the day before @ the race site. Nice little goodie bag, and a quality tech shirt. Free parking was available. Arrived early Saturday for the event, found plenty of parking. Noticed there were only a few porta-potties, so decided to hit them early. The long porta-pottie lines resulted in the race starting a little late.
Last minute course instructions were going at the start line, then we were off!
Course were marked, but around mile 3(?) it was a little confusing and I was sent off course by a volunteer. By the the time I was redirected, my early lead was gone, and we were actually running off course. We had actually bi-passed a section of the course, but they caught the error in time and we got directed back onto the trail and made up the missing miles, and still managed to run the entire 13.1. I got directed onto the wrong trail a 2nd time during the race, having to backtrack again (the joys of trail running!)
The course was beautiful!!! Loved the views and the single track trails the best.
We were instructed to carry hydration, but the fully staffed, friendly aid stations were enough.
I was surprised to receive a wine glass AND a finishers medal at the finish line. Score!!
Water, Zico coconut water, bananas, and oranges were available post race. And wine!
A DJ played music post race while we waited for awards making it a relaxed, fun atmosphere. I was disappointed there weren’t more local vendors at the post race party since I was hoping to get some information about the local wineries.
Awards for overall top 3 finishers fit the wine country theme. I received a a plaque covered with wine corks and also received a gift certificate from runningskirts.com. For a small race, they had better swag then a large race!
It was hard to believe this was an inaugural race because it ran so smooth!!! Some of the larger races could learn from this one.
I will definitely be running this one again next year!
