First, while this was the first year for this event (which appears to have replaced the former Novato Wild Horses on the Titanium Racing calendar), I'm shocked there were so few people. (Official results list only 121 half marathon finishers, 121 10k finishers, 88 finishers in the two 5k races, and 77 in the Run Like a Girl 1 mile.) Based on the quality of this race experience--and the fact that Dean Karnazes was running!--there should have been like 8x as many people there. Of course it is Northern California, and we are spoiled with a dozen different race choices every weekend, so there were likely other races going on as well.

Expo. There was no pre-race expo. Bib pickup was available at two locations in Marin (one each on Friday and Saturday) but I did not go to either one (it's an hour drive for me, longer when there is traffic).Despite arriving to the race site later than I'd planned, bib and shirt pickup took pretty much five minutes. The start/finish line area had booths for a number of the race's sponsors, with snacks, drinks, and goodies. There was no bag check at the start, which sort of surprised me, but it was only a few minutes back to my car, so no big deal.

Shirt and swag. Titanium racing has had good-looking, good-quality shirts for all of the races I have done. These shirts are a lovely shade of blue with white insets on the side. The race logo is featured in full color on the front, and the sponsors are on the back. I saw many people wearing the shirt at the race today, and figure this is one I will re-wear in the future. The medal has a wide ribbon with the race name and logo; the medal itself is a bronze-ish rectangle with the race logo.

Aid Stations. Every aid station had both water and Nuun, and was staffed by more than enough volunteers. After mile 4, multiple aid stations also had Hammer Nutrition gels. The finish line had Hint and multiple flavors of Nuun available immediately after crossing the line.

Course Scenery. Marin County is beautiful, and this course did a great job of providing both immediate beauty (e.g. running through the forested park) and views (e.g. views of the hills/mountains). I recognized elements of this course from the former Novato Wild Horses race, but this course was vastly superior. The start/finish at Indian Valley College maximized time spent on the campus grounds, in the park, and in the rural-esque neighborhoods with farms, gardens, etc. There was very little time spent in the more modern subdivision areas. I saw baby deer (black tails, spotted backs), red-headed woodpeckers, sheep, goats, horses, and what I assume was a coyote. (I stopped to watch. So cool!)

Elevation. While not as hilly as Tiburon, this course had some serious hills. Most were "rolling hills" but many were too steep for me to consider running up; only one had me gaining downhill speed that made me nervous. It's not that the entire course is hilly, just sections. Most of the course is on paved road/shoulder (open to traffic, but not much traffic in this part of Novato on a Sunday morning), a section is on dirt through the park/college campus.

Parking/Access. Due to the small number of participants, the parking area was more than sufficient. The street address provided in the pre-race communications led directly to the parking using navigation apps.

Race Management. Steady, but not repetitive, emails prior to race day. Even though the packet-pickup locations were not convenient for me, I appreciated that management took the time to send reminders the day beforehand.

Overall. As a slower runner who doesn't do hills, carefully tending an injury, who also took time to look at Bambi and watch the coyote and look for the woodpecker, I came in well behind my own expected time and DLF'd this race (around 3:20). The timing mat and finish line were still up (and there were three cooler/dispensers filled with Nuun), but the finish area with the booths was basically taken down. I'm 100% okay with that, as I was still able to grab plenty of snacks on the way out. I really enjoyed the course, the volunteers/aid stations were top-notch, and we were blessed with perfect running weather. I'd highly recommend this to anyone looking for a beautiful, low-key race with plenty of runner amenities.

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