Overall, my experience was a positive one at the Carlsbad 5000. I picked up my bib the morning of the race, and it was easy to locate and find the tent where to do so. There wasn’t a line when I got there, so that’s a plus.

The race had the beautiful Pacific Ocean on one side, and the beach town on the other. Running through it was serene, and he race was stroller friendly, which was a plus. (You mother runners know how important that can be!) The course was flat and very stroller friendly. There were quite a few strollers on the course, so if you wanted to stroller run, you wouldn’t be alone.

I know some people complained about the train interference that happened at points, but it didn’t affect my run so I cannot judge the race on that. Plus, I feel race management was open about the train schedule and interference ahead of the race itself, so runners should have been aware. I appreciated how the emcee held the start of my race group until the scheduled train passed so it wouldn’t affect us.

The afterparty was fun. There were fun little activities for the kiddos, a beer garden, music, and all the yummy food readily available in Carlsbad - walking distance from the race area. I walked through the festivities, had a beer, and left shortly afterwards.

Parking was easy for me to find on the other side of the freeway. It was just a short walk (no more than a mile) to the Carlsbad 5000 to my car. I can appreciate that a beach town had easy parking that was walking distance from the race.

Overall, great race and great course. I signed my little one up for the Junior Carlsbad for 2020, so I will give a review on that for the mother runners when the time comes.

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