I was looking for any excuse to get out of Washington State during the month of January and going to the Bahamas, getting a new stamp on my passport and running some races seemed like a great way to do it. I ended up going to Nassau with a friend of mine from residency and did the Koman 5K on Saturday and the Half Marathon on Sunday.

Packet Pick up: for the marathon/half marathon and relay, pick up was only available on Saturday from 3-7 pm. It was such a short time frame, I wish it had been open longer because I kept thinking I was going to miss it. It was at the Melia hotel and for anyone coming from the US, I feel like full addresses that we’re use to (123 Main St, city, state) aren’t the norm. It’s essentially a street name associated with the name of where ever you’re going which made getting to the Melia resort a little interesting (at least the taxi knew how to get there). Not a whole lot of vendors. 1 or two running related, some tourism ones and some resort ones. Getting your bib was easy and the shirts were right next to it. The other issue I had was the expo was not close to anything (but there’s maybe not a good place closer to town to get bibs, etc).

The Start: at Junkanoo Beach. It looked like there were shuttles if you were staying at Atlantis on Paradise Island or at the Melia resort. I stayed a few blocks from the start (British Colonial Hilton), which was an easy walk to the start/finish

Start time: 6 AM. Appreciate it because it got warm and humid quickly

Weather: 70s and humid. It got more humid the more the sun came up. At least it didn’t rain?

The Course: the first mile and change was down Bay St to see downtown before taking you to the Paradise Island Bridges. These are your 2 ridiculous hills of the course, as you cross one bridge, hit mile two and turn around and go right back over the other bridge. At least there’s no further hills the rest of the race. You continue on Bay St to Montague Beach and head up Shirley street. By about 6.5 miles in you’re back at the start and heading along the beach. The half marathon goes 3.5 miles out with the full marathon before turning around about mile 10 (right in front of the Hyatt/Melia etc) and coming back. You finish at the Fish Fry essentially. Minus the Paradise Bridges, relatively flat.

FInish: you get your medal and a Bahamas Marathon Towel at the finish. Plenty of food, some vendors if you have time to stick around (which I didn’t as I had to shower and a flight to catch).

Aid stations: every mile starting at mile 2 with water and Gatorade. So needed with the amount of humidity

Race Size: about 375 runners for the half, about 110 for the full (smaller than I thought)

Overall, fun race. Be warned about the humidity, it’s there and I feel bad for any customs agent who may or may not search my checked bag because my clothes were soaked. Wish the expo was opened longer and that there was a little bit more to see at the expo but a good race overall.