well the pre race was ok, the start wasnt very exciting. they didnt let the slower heats know that we were starting, everyone was in the corrals, and they only sent off the first 2 or 3 corrals with the fog horn. it seems after that, everyone is the middle to end corrals just followed and took off, they didnt really show any enthusiasm to the runners at the start. the course was ok, a lot of bumps and cracks in the road, the course probably could have detoured towards sites that people dont see very often, maybe towards gromans chinese theater, instead we traveled through town and just small shops. they ran out of cups at mile 6 and 7!!! people were drinking out of their hands, and the gallon jugs. not ok. the final mile was a hill, which isnt that bad, but it was hard. the finish line wasnt very glamorous. the finish for the 5k and 10k had a big blow up sign that said hollywood half and the marathon runners just had a simple sign that read finish line. we crossed the line and everything seemed to be stacked on top of each other at the finish line. water and snacks should be farther down the line, so not everyone is piled up at the finish line. they stopped the limo busses from picking people up at the end of the race, so runners had to walk the hill to get to the parking structure. we had to wait in a line a mile long to get up the walkway to the parking lot. not very organized for a first inaugural race. the times werent posted anywhere that we could see, so runners knew their times.
