This was my first time running this race and I was not disappointed! I have shared my experience with running friends and have encouraged them to add the race to their running bucket list. This was my seventh half marathon but my fiancé's first. There were not a lot of crowds throughout the race route but definitely some great live music! We loved the beautiful ocean scenery as well as the out and back route. I've never been able to see the elite runners during a race and loved being able to cheer them on.

We did not attend the expo and were very thankful for the morning race packet pickup option since we were staying in the San Jose area. The staff was very helpful and pickup was very easy. Parking was relatively easy with shuttles running to and from the course pretty frequently. We ended up running since the lot was close to the start line.

Since I did most of my training in the Midwest, I was worried about some unexpected hills in the race course. Surprisingly, the course was pretty flat with a few minors hills. The aid stations were pretty well run except for the fuel stations. My only complaint was that these stations were just tables set up with packets on them as opposed to someone handing them out.

The post race snacks were nothing out of the ordinary: fresh fruit, chocolate milk, beer, pretzels, etc. Gear check was right outside the post race snack tent (very convenient). I would definitely do this race again!