So pre-race: I didn’t like that they had the packet pick up on Thurs/Fri until on 7pm. I had to take a half day off work to get there on time. The packet pick up was quick and easy though, friendly staff at the Hilton. Kind of sucked to pay $10 to park for 10 min in the packet pick up though.
The start was quick and on time, probably the best start of any race I have participated in. I didn’t use the port-a-potties, but the lines were ridiculous because there were only about 20 of them at the start. Didn’t mind that the 5k/10k/Half were all smashed in to start together because the streets were wide enough to accomidate this.
Course: Deceptive. When they said “kill the hill” was gone and that the course was flat, they lied. Mile 5 I think had a large hill, then there was another one around 6/6.5 and then a gradual incline from mile 8.5-9/9.5. These were killer!!! Especially when you don’t know they are coming. The participants were great though because the people on the downhill gave a lot of encouragement to the people on the uphill. Also when the elite runners went by, everyone cheered for them which I thought was pretty cool. Finish was great, but this was the only area where there were spectators which was kind of sad.
Post race: No me gusta. It was so congested and there was not enough water or food (only bagels and bananas that I saw). The line for the bars was about a mile long so I didn’t get one. I also had to walk 1 mile back to where I parked near the start.
Overall, B. I would do it again because the medal was awesome, running through Hollywood was interesting because there was a lot to look at and next time I would be ready for the hills. My advice for next year is bring snacks to eat in the car after and park near the finish!!!
