I've run this local 5k 3 years in a row. The shirt and medal were awesome, the bib was pretty boring compared to years past. This year it was pouring. Even though it was 50ish degrees and I opted to run in shorts I still froze. I ran with my boyfriend and his mother. We are all different paces which is part of the reason why we ran this race.
This year the course was different. It was straight up hill for the first half a mile. I ended up walking the hills because they were steep. We ended up turning on to the Kirkland Corridor trail, which isn't bad just silly to pay to run on a beautiful new trail, and then ran through the north part of Kirkland and back to Marina Park. I wouldn't mind the hills if everything wasn't so steep. Even the downhill portions were a bit rough for me and I like to bomb down trails. Pavement is a different story. I still ran a respectable time and had fun. My boyfriend almost won his age group (!!) and his mother actually ran her first ever 5k, she normally walks the races.
The finish line festival was pretty much the same, a few less vendors but it was still nice to get some food and walk around. It wasn't very crowded because of the rain.
Overall, I do enjoy this race and will keep running it with my significant other's family.