So this is my third Surf City. I love the beach and can not imagine a better place to find your zen and settle in for a long run. The course is fast and the hydration and runner support along the course is good. There are plenty of stops for water and clif shot blocks and I for one certainly appreciated the multiple opportunities to re-fuel.
The expo is a little crazy on Friday when it opens and unless you get there before it opens on Saturday, you should pretty much expect large crowds and crazy parking. The state beach offers close parking but its not cheap (and that is sucky). The security staff they had there were like the mafia. They were rude and very stern. This is supposed to be a good experience,,,geez
My only real major complaint with the course this year was the lack of crowd control at the turn around. When I went through, the crowd has closed so far in to the turn that we were only able to run about 2 wide (and we were coming from a 3 lane road). This could certainly be addressed by the management.
This race has been vastly different every year that I have done it. This year it was nice at the start and then windy and cloudy on the way back. Personally I appreciated the colder weather in the last few miles. The 2 years before were blazing hot and due to the proximity of the water, sunburn is very common so bring your sunscreen.
Post race is fine..good crowd control and the beer tent is fine but since your spectators can not partake of any refreshments, its kind of a drag to grab a beer by yourself while your family/friends are waiting (for another few hours) outside a fence…crummy :(…and speaking of crummy, their snack bags are pathetic.
This did not affect me personally but did affect a couple of people I went to the race with: they RAN OUT OF MEDALS….seriously? how does that happen? so much for photo ops.
All in all, this is a good race and I will definitely do it for years to come….hopefully they will improve on some of these minor things and it will get a solid A from me next year
