Leading up to the race there was a lack of communication. There was no course map, no emails to try and get you excited, just a vacuum of information and the premier online website. Once registration officially closed, it took a few days before the packet pick up email came out and while it was helpful, it still left some questions, hopefully to be answered at packet pick up.

Packet pick up was a disaster. The numbers were printed wrong and so on the spot the coordinators had to sift through all of them and reassign numbers, handwriting them in on a master log and reminding each other to change them. The numbers were some kind of weird vinyl/plastic that felt heavy to the touch and was somewhat awkward to wear.

Once race day arrived, these initial sins were forgiven. The race had a lively atmosphere and started under the big lights of the rugby stadium. It was great to see people out socializing, enjoying each others company and getting ready for the start, something that has been missing from the past few races here. The actual race start was klunky. The police showed up late to close of the race so the start was delayed by 15 minutes and the instructions on the staggered start for the 10K and Half Marathon left some of the Half runners fighting through 10K runners from the back and 10K runners starting before they were supposed to. It got pretty messy.

Out on the course water was plentiful, things were well marked or easy to figure out, there were no portapotties though so people ahd to make due with what they could without being seen. The drivers obviously weren't used to being inconvenienced for a race like this so they honked out of frustration, when they were allowed through they sped by runners and it became a somewhat dangerous situation. Nowhere was this more evident than when we re-entered the club for the final 4 miles of the run. Cars were driving 2x2 speeding by as people were still running and at a few points almost clipped runners while making a turn.

The swag was a medal and a race towel. The medal is pretty cheap, it's what you would get from a party supply store with a sticker on it and the towel, while bearing a nice logo is rather forgettable. It's a good course to test yourself, but some of the nice swag you're used to isn't a thing in this one.

There was food afterwards, if you paid. Other than that you received a nice run and we'll see you next year. I'd definitely run it again and a clearer idea of what would happen would mandate taht I bring a post run snack because that sun takes a lot out of you.

For more on the race check out my blog post: http://www.gowithjordan.com/?p=725