The Caribbean Christmas 5k/Half Marathon is put on by 131 Events which, from what I've seen, offers the best races in Indiana. I have also completed the Eagle Creek Trail quarter and the BrewHaHa 5k with them. They like using the Carmel Civic Plaza as a start place, and that's where this race goes from. Unlike the other two, this race was a mixed bag.

Event registration is a cinch. Their races tend to fill, so I registered online early. Unlike the BrewHaHa, I wasn't into the apparel for this one, but you can opt out of a shirt and save a little money and room in your closet. They send lots of pre-race info, but it's not overwhelming. Pre-race was excellent as usual. They are organized, there's plenty of parking, and the process of picking up your packet is simple and featured hot coffee and live reggae bands playing Christmas music. It was a great time to check out some fun costumes, stretch, and try to warm up. (It was about 12 degrees.)

The half marathon started at 9:30, with the 5k at 9:40. Therein lies my first complaint. WIth the two starting so close together, the 5k ends well before the half, meaning the party is really over by the time the half runners come in, making the finish seem sad and uneventful despite the chipper volunteers handing out medals as you cross. It might be better to start the half folks at 9 and the 5k at 10 so they'd finish closer to the same time.

My biggest complain on this race was the scenery. If you're running the 5k, it's fine. You get to see Civic Plaza, a bit of the excellent Monan trail, and just a touch of downtown Carmel. If you're running the 15k, you get about 3 miles of interesting scenery, and then a bunch of business parks. Yup. You run around hospitals, past the offices of some orthodontists, and past some expensive but severely uniform residential complexes. You only get a couple blocks of the scenic part of the downtown shopping district. The terrain is largely flat, with some very gradual uphills and a couple bridges over noisy highways. Given the lengthy trail and the abundance of much nicer downtown area, the half could be re-routed to give runners much nicer views. Running around busy traffic circles with angry drivers honking at you despite the very helpful police presence just isn't appealing. It also didn't help that there were no cheering onlookers because of the cold.

That being said, the volunteers were excellent. There were water/gatorade stops with port-a-pots every couple miles, and people were using those bathrooms because of the coffee at registration. KEEP THOSE BATHROOMS! There's nothing worse than a long race where you have to run off into the woods.The aid stations were well-stocked and there looked to be lots of medical personnel in addition to the numerous police officers directing traffic around the clearly set-up cones. The photographers were well placed and cheerful, and the folks at the finish line were top-notch.

Post-race featured donuts and promptly updated times, though the music was being packed in well before the last folks made it over the line. There was also a free beer with your drink ticket, though many people passed it up this time because of the cold. There were also bananas and a ridiculously fun giant medal that looks like a snow globe. Pictures from the race and results were posted online same-day, which is great. Still, given the boring course and poor timing, this run just wasn't as fun as the 5k. I think I'll stick with trail races for this distance from now on.