All seemed well and was organized in the beginning. I like the idea of a “bag check” although I didn’t know about it beforehand or I would have used the service and not trek back & forth to my car. The course is great… lots of uphill and challenges to get your heart pumping and the views on the downhill gave us something to draw inspiration from. I definitely think more water stations could have been utilized. There are plenty of fire roads where water/electorlytes could have been set up. I’m glad I had the water I did but would have been miserable had I run out.
With that said, the post-race this year was left to be desired and made me feel like the weakling loser in gym class. It took me longer to finish the course than the top finishers and “real” athletes in the 18K and when I finally did reach the finish line and got my medal, I asked one of the volunteers where I could find water. No one seemed to know where anything was. I finally found a table with jugs of water and poured myself a cup. I then went on the lookout for some oranges and the hot meal we were promised. Nothing! There was a couple pieces of croissant left, but the food was gone! I did my run in less than 2 hours…how could there not be a sliver of an orange left? This trail is not in a popular area where you can leave and grab a bite down the street. You have to drive miles to find food. I paid as much as anyone one else in the 11K and yet didn’t get anything to refuel with after the race like those who finished earlier. I had a 1/2 beer to wet my dry mouth and left. Disappointed.
I also noticed the photographers set up on the trails weren’t patient enough to wait for the slow pokes coming up the mountain and took all the photos they needed of the “faster” competitors and started to descend and make the trek to the finish line area and wait for the runners to cross. I didn’t attend this race with anyone and didn’t have a camera to carry with me on the trail so any race day photos I wanted to share with friends and family I hoped I would find on the website. Nope. I saw other volunteers with big cameras around their necks on the trail, but they weren’t taking pictures. Not sure what that was about. There was a photog set up at the Finish line who I thought was snapping photos, but they never made it to their website. Again, made me feel like the loser in gym class who wasn’t atheletic enough for race day photos or food. Disappointing. Gotta say, the photos that were taken of the 18K group and faster 11K runners were great. Glad they all have mementos to share and I hope the food was good.