This race was every bit as advertised for the beauty and scenery of the hills and wineries that you run past during the course of the event. The Expo is small but mighty with everything you need and in a great location for folks who chose to stay at the start or end of this point to point race. Napa is an easy commute from either San Fran or Oakland Airport. After the snafu with plane delays I would recommend Oakland for the foreseeable future.

The tech long sleeve for the Mararthon is suficient while not exactly what I was expecting for a race of this cost. The BoCo drop backpack did make up for that in spades though. I chose to have my spouse drop me at the start which was very convenient and much less crazy than I anticipated. I would say the start area of this race is the largest area of improvement for the event. I'm not sure if this was a record year for the marathon as it did sell out but they could have easily doubled the porta johns to accommodate the mass of runners who arrive simultaneously on the buses. If you are wanting a warm up and a couple of pottie stops prior to the race start get there early and get your business out of the way.

This is advertised and is a net downhill race. However, this takes some tactical planning as it's absolutely not a downhill course in the true sense of the word. The first eight or so miles of this course have such a steep camber from side to side that your hips will get the workout of your life trying to keep your footing try to stay on the tangents. It is quite the challenge and this is all while the course rolls up and down for the majority of the race so do not come into this race thinking it is some smaller version of a Revel downhill fast course. It is most definitely not.

If you can survive the first half of this race without to much damage to the lateral stabilizers the second half is much more enjoyable as it flattens out and you can start to regulate pacing much more easily. If you're going to keep something in the take to send it toward the end of this race that should be the last four miles as it truly does feel fairly flat for this section and the couple of turns that you make are quite manageable and easy to navigate. This is also one of the better attended sections of the race and the fan encouragement here should get you to the finish line even if you are a little banged up from the camber and the hills.

All in all this was an enjoyable challenge just not quite the race or course I had planned to have. My A goal quickly turned to plan C as my body couldn't quite recover from the hip grinding of the early section. If you like a good challenge or you just want scenic beauty with no frills this is a race for you.

Disclaimer: I received entry to this Marathon to review as part of being a BibRave Ambassador.