This was my 12th half for the year, and it definitely was not perfect, but it had some great spots compared to other races.
My main complaint about this race was the pre-race planning as far as traffic goes. It took me 45 minutes to get off the freeway and park, despite following the clear instructions they gave about what time to arrive. The exit was supposed to be open until 7:00 and I arrived at 6:30 just to see it closed off and a long line of cars at the next exit. That was very frustrating, and I barely made it to the starting line by the scheduled time of the race. They did delay the race start by 15 minutes to allow for the extra traffic which I am sure was appreciated by those who were behind me!
The course itself had some nice views and was very flat, but there were some rather uninspiring parts–you can’t really get around that in Ontario, though. Also, I would recommend that there is a turnaround mat at mile 8, as it would have been extremely easy to cheat. They did have spots with cheerleaders and music playing, which is always appreciated to keep the spirits up. And there was plenty of water and Gatorade at every station, so from a logistics standpoint there, they did an excellent job.
The fun swag and food at the end made the race worth it. I agree with a lot of the FB posts that said pictures should not be “mandatory” to get out of the race. For a lot of us who do races regularly finisher photos aren’t worth the time standing in line and cramping up. Luckily I got around it by making nice with someone guarding the gate out 🙂
I believe this was a first year event, so with lessons learned from this year as far as logistics go, they can make it a top notch race in the future.