I just have to start by saying I had high hopes for Bay to Breakers. I've been wanting to run it for years so maybe my expectations were too high. It is a spectacle of a race and that's great. The costumes were fun and entertaining. Running through Golden Gate Park was beautiful, as always.

Here is where I felt down. First, the expo was at Fort Mason Center. There is no decent public transportation to that location and parking was an utter nightmare. My husband had to circle the neighborhood while I quickly picked up our shirts and bibs. The bib pickup was quick and easy though. The volunteers were incredibly helpful getting people their shirts as well.

During the race be prepared to have to pass a lot of walkers who are drunk and have little regard for runners. We were in corral B and still had this challenge. It seemed like a lot of people who don't run were in corral A and B. Passing people at many points for the first couple of miles was challenging and sometimes dangerous. We run 8-9 minute miles and signed up for the corral in accordance with our time. I do not like to falsify my expected finish time, but would have to in the future as it was stressful running in corral B.

After the race it was madness getting across town in a vehicle. I read the shuttle lines are maddening so we parked near Ocean Beach by the finish the night before the race. It took almost 2 hours to get home.

Really though, the costumes were so much fun. We dressed up as Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Lots of people asked to take photos with us. I'll admit I enjoy that. :-)

In the future we will either get a hotel in the city for the night or take public transit. I really hope they change the expo location. Yerba Buena, which often hosts expose, would be a better choice in my humble opinion.

This course treverces the famous tunnels fire road along Lake Mead. The tunnels (6 total!) are fun to run through. The trail was well maintained and the views were lovely.

Okay, complaints are many. First, the shuttle information about the race was not sent to us until a week before the race. Yes a week! For a race that is advertised as Go Girl Vegas and then the race is in Bounlder City, a 30-minute drive away, this is problematic. Additionally, the shuttle cost $26 a person round trip!

The course map on the website did not share any elevation information. This is a moderately challenging course because of the heat, a challenging hill, some elevation gain, and A LOT of wind. On top of that there were only 3 aid stations on a 13.1 miles course. Yes 3, that's it.

The worst part is the finish. You have to run right past the finish, out a mile, and then double back. Mentally this is a bit difficult when already hot and ragged from strong winds. Additionally, the volunteers did not know where to go at a turn around.

The last straw? The course was not marked properly and ended at 13.32 miles. For those of us submitting proof of time for other races this can be frustrating.

I did come in 9th place overall and 2nd in my age group. It was a fun race with wonderful people. The organizers were asking for feedback and hope they take us participants' observations into consideration for next year.