NW Trail Runs knows what they're doing! This is an excellent trail event for early in the year in the PNW.

Much of the surrounding area on the mainland had been hit hard with snow and rain in the preceding weeks (so much so that a few trail events were cancelled and others pretty messy). But trails at Fort Ebey/Kettles were in excellent condition. The half marathon course, which is just repeated to get to a full marathon, was essentially dry—almost no mud—and a couple of trees that had blown down were already cut to ensure an unobstructed path.

The trails were mostly single track dirt, a mix of hard pack along the bluffs and softer trails through the woods. Although narrow in places, the trails aren't super technical—an occasional root and one short section that's steep down with some loose rock underfoot. The race started with a short loop around a field to get the pack strung out a bit. A few stretches throughout the course were wide enough to easily enable easy passing, and generally there were places along the single tracks for people to step off to let faster runners pass. There was a very short section of trail with two-way race traffic. There was a cold, stiff wind along the bluffs—but also some incredible views—but we didn't spend too much time in that exposed area.

The marathon course provides about 5500 ft of elevation gain, yet it's very runnable terrain. There are a few short steep climbs, a lot of rolling trails and some sustained but very low grade climbs. Most of the descents were pretty shallow too.

It takes a lot of turns to get 13+ miles in Fort Ebey/Kettles Parks. But consistent with prior NW Trail Runs experiences, the course was really well marked. The turns were clearly indicated—pin flags and a sign or chalk arrow pointing the way, plus often a tape blocking the way you're not supposed to go. Confidence streamers and chalk arrows between turns helped settle concerns too.

There were 2 aid stations along the half marathon loop, around 4.5 and 9.5 miles (so again around 18 and 23 mi for the full), and another at the start/finish/half marathon point. They were well stocked with usual trail event goodies, and the volunteers were wonderful and encouraging. At the finish, they had sandwiches, soup, coffee, and other excellent options on offer.

We opted in for the race shirt at additional cost. There was no finisher medal or other swag, but that really helps keep the cost of events down, and I'm happy with that tradeoff.

Overall another great event from NW Trail Runs! Looking forward to more to come.