Disclaimer: I received a free entry to Blooms to Brews 10K as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

Expo:
I drove down Saturday and arrived at expo before it opened. I ended up waiting in my car until noon when the door finally opened. The packet pick lines were a bit disorganized and it was a bit cramped due to the merchandise they had for sale. There were some sweet growlers!

Once I finally got my goodie bag with a super cute neon pink women’s cut tank, reusable bag, and printed program and map of the course I went to check out the expo. There wasn’t much. It was about five booths total. I headed back to the car and drove off to Portland to go explore for the rest of the day.

Race Day
Getting to the race was pretty was easy. I stayed in Vancouver, WA about 20 minutes away. There was plenty of parking in the field next to the start line. I will say the weather was not as warmed as I hoped, which is standard for Spring in Washington. I originally was going to race in shorts but ended up changing into tights the car right before the start. I will say their finish line was well organized except for the port-a-potties. My recommendation is to add two or three more to make the line move a bit faster.

All three races, Marathon, Half Marathon, and 10k started right on time. People did a pretty good job at organizing themselves in the correct order. The 10k course is a lollypop where you run about farms and tulip field. Unfortunately, there weren’t flowers out but that was ok, it was still beautiful out. If you are not a fan of running on dirt roads or compacted gravel, this is not the race for you. All courses start running on road, the dirt compacted gravel and then the last stretch you have to run on the shoulder back to the finish line.

The finish cute was well organized and I got my medal, a mylar blanket and a bottle of water. The finish line party was great. Each runner gets a free beer and bbq sandwich. I highly recommend the Blooms IPA, I believe it’s brewed just for the race from a brewery in Vancouver.

Even though I didn't run my best I still got second in my age group! They had an award ceremony and a podium to stand on. I highly recommend this race to someone looking to PR since the course is flat. I know a lot of people run the marathon to BQ.