I was a little hesitant to sign up for this race based on last years reviews but I am glad I did.
The race was really well organized and bib pick up on race day of was very fast. This was the first time anyone has actually asked to see my I.D at a 5k. Tons of people showed up in costume which just made it a fun party atmosphere. The water stations along the coarse DID NOT run out of water and they had a couple live bands playing as well. The first 2 miles were up hill so it made the coarse challenging which was nice. I did not like that fact that all the runners were released at the same time. That made the first 3/4 miles of the coarse pretty congested so it would be great if they fixed that next year. They had plenty of water and snacks at the finish line. To get your medal you had to turn in a timing chip…no chip, no medal. I actually like that since they ran out of medals at the Knott’s Coaster Run due to bandit runners and would like to see that policy enforced more often. The only thing that I would have liked to see is a drink machine or food truck at the after party. Hot Gatorade and mini bottles of water just were not cutting it in that hot Pasadena sun. Other than it is a fun run with lot’s to look at and ton’s of happy runners around. The giant Darth Vader medal was a nice perk too.
