Pre-race: I normally race with friends and very rarely do we all travel to packet pickup. Typically, we send someone.down to pick up our bibs. This was not allowed at Silver Strand. Either you had to pick up in person or pay $10 fee for race day pickup. I couldn’t travel with my friend, so I questioned her about the “expo” to which she replied there was no expo. Just an opportunity to get your bib and shirt from the store, no goodies, no swag bag, no vendors. At that point I decided it was just less bother and less money for me to just do race day pick up.
Course: The course was ok. It was mostly scenic, but there was a 2 mile loop somewhere around mile 10-12 that was tedious and dull. There were some pockets of crowd support mainly in beginning and towards the end. I think I remember 3 dj’s along the course. The route wasn’t very hilly, but, one of the dj’s was located at the bottom of a hill and it definitely helped having the music there at that moment for an extra push. Other than the dj’s, I don’t remember any other course entertainment. There were 7 water stations, per the announcer. They served the blocs at one station I think. I’m not sure what electrolyte drink that they served or how often. I grabbed one by accident. It was clear like water, flavorless to me except for the sugar. I spit it out when I realized it wasn’t water.
Post-race: After being served cups of cool to lukewarm water thru out the race, I was looking forward to a bottle of cold water at the end, but was greeted with another cup of the same water. There were bagels which were ok and muffins, which I didn’t try. I was hoping that some reps from other races would be there since there were none pre-race, but I didn’t see any.
Medal: I remember getting an email with a picture of the medal. I thought it was adorable! Until, I got to the end of the race and saw other finishers wearing theirs. It was the tiniest medal that I’ve ever earned for a half marathon. Then, I discover that they ran out and mine will be coming in the mail.
Overall: I’ve definitely had better experiences at other races, but I still had a good day out with my friends. The weather was great and I kind of like smaller races like this. My overall experience was dampened, but not ruined by the lack of medals. I would possibly do this race with a friend if they really wanted to do it, but, otherwise, I doubt if I’ll be back. My overall grade is C+.