This was my first year running this race. I went in hearing that it is really hot, some of the course isn't so pretty and the 6th Avenue hill sucks, and people don't like having to be shuttled to the start. I heard a lot of negative things about this race, yet there were still thousands of runners. Here are my thoughts on the race:

The expo was good. I never spend much time at expos so I'm not the best at judging. I was able to get my bib, shirt and leave within 10 minutes. Which is how I like it.

Race day. Apparently they started the race earlier this year. I heard 30 minutes earlier, then I heard an hour earlier - the race was at 6:30am. I like that, I'm sure it is because the past has been so hot. I was dropped off at Balboa Park to catch a bus to Cabrillo National Monument (the start). The drop off was super easy. My by pulled over near the busses, I jumped out and walked right on to a bus. No lines, no waiting. Busses picked up 4:00-5:30am. I chose to arrive around 4:30am. Waiting around for the start was a little boring, and I wanted to sleep but the views from Cabrillo were amazing. The race actually started 5 minutes sooner than scheduled, no complaints here. But the start was a **** show. Too many runners jammed into too little of space. However this was about 1/4 mile and also had a lot to do with slow runners not being in their appropriate pace corral.

Within the first half mile I was a sweaty mess. There was a nice cool breeze, but it was still humid. The first 5 miles was mostly downhill. Which is good and bad. I really prefer uphill if I had to choose. Miles 5-11ish were flat. Nice views for the most part. At mile 7 your running along the ocean with views of the city in the foreground. That was beautiful. Around mile 8 they had misters, which was nice. Miles 8.5 - 9ish we ran near the rental cars near the airport. I didn't like that. It wasn't fun running round a parking lot of cars. But then we were along the harbor, which is always beautiful. The downside of that was the sun right in our faces, it was hot along the harbor. Around mile 10.5 was another mister station...and cheeseburgers. So gross. They were grilling cheese burgers and women were serving them to runners. Personally, smelling meat cooking on my runs - especially bacon - makes me sick. I don't eat meat, but even when I did I didn't like the smell while running. Mile 11 is where it got tough. From 11 - 12ish was ALL UPHILL. I do like uphill, but I was hot so I did have to walk a bit. Then 6th avenue came, but I ran up all of 6th and finished the race. I liked 6th Ave. because of everyone there cheering us on. That was nice.

The finish of the race, we ran down Cabrillo Bridge in Balboa Park (which is SO beautiful), through the museums, past the Organ Pavillion and across the finish. It was a really fun finish, I love running through Balboa. This race is hot, the end is tough, but it is a nice course...for the most part. Water stations were well stocked, however not all stations had electrolytes. I don't usually take course electrolytes because they are often Gatorade, but they had Ultima, so I did drink some. Bathrooms aren't at every station and that sucked. I usually don't use the bathroom during a race but I drank a lot and had to go...so I held it from mile 5-8ish. Which doesn't sound like a lot but it is when your running. You know, you're a runner.

Post race you get bags of food, water and your medal. There are plenty of places for fun photos, and they had post race massages, music and more food. This race was very well organized, nice race shirts and medals. I'd recommend it!