This race was a beautiful location with just enough rolling hills to keep it interesting. Course support was fabulous and the race medal and shirt were both very high quality. The race is coordinated by the Riverside RoadRunners chapter so it really does a great job of being runner-friendly. I ran the half marathon in 2014 which was the first time they offered that particular distance. I will be running the half again in 2015.
The race starts and ends at the Arlington Sports Park which includes restrooms, lots of shade and open spaces, along with a great playground for the family to keep busy while waiting for a runner to complete the race.
My top favorites of the race were running through the orange groves, the time spent in the historical Citrus Heritage State Park, and the fresh oranges at the finish.
My only real con was that there wasn’t much in the way, outside of the fresh oranges, at the finish to provide post-run fuel. I think there might have been some food truck vendors; however, I wasn’t interested in anything other than a bagel or something similar. But the oranges were so great it almost made up for it. That and a stop at In-n-Out on the way home. 😉
All in all, I had a GREAT experience at this race and look forward to doing it again every year.