The Inaugural San Diego Half Marathon was held on Sunday March 11, 2012. The early bird entry fee was $55. Late entry was $100. It was advertised as a fast course with an “Epic” finish inside of Petco Park. The race date for 2013 has not yet been announced. There was free street parking with easy access to the start.
The Course:
The start was organized by waves which made things very easy. The first 8 miles of this course were fast and flat through downtown SD, Harbor Drive and Point Loma. There was a short, steep uphill at mile 8 and then a long climb that started around at 8.5. The uphill continued into Hillcrest through mile 10 and then the awesome downhill started from 10.5 to the finish. The last 2.6 miles were AWESOMELY FAST. Like I wish every race had this type of finish. I really liked this course and had no problems with crowding.
Support:
There were several aid stations on the course with marked signs advising runners of the distance between each station (really cool!). If I remember right they were about every 2 miles or so. Each station had water and an electrolyte drink and there was a GU station right before the big hill. The volunteers were so kind and supportive and kept the area litter free. This was the first the race in a long time that I wasn’t doing hurdles or getting lost in a wasteland of cups.
Post Race Activities:
All of the vendor booths from the expo were there giving away stuff. In addition there was an “Inflataworld” set up in the outfield for kids. There were jumpies, bounce houses, obstacle courses, etc. There were several speakers (Meb! and pastor Miles McPherson from the Rock Church) and Lifehouse was the headliner.
Food and drink were for sale and the atmosphere was a lot of fun!
Overall I thought this was a great race. It was organized, the volunteers were great and ending inside Petco Park was freaking RAD. I will definitely be back to run this next year.