Such a great experience with running the Oakland Half Marathon! The communication from them leading up to the race was always really clear and helpful, with tons of updates about what to expect on race weekend, which I love because I am a planner.

The expo was really easy to get to and had parking. A lot of other local races were there, so it was fun to walk around and plan out my race calendar a bit! The t-shirt was a good material, not a running fabric, but that works for me. No line to pick up my bib, which is so great compared to some other races I have seen.

Race morning was a bit different for me. The half didn't start until 9:30am, which I am not at all used to, but kinda ended up loving! Got to sleep in a bit, have coffee, and breakfast, before driving into Oakland. There was no traffic and tons of neighborhood parking less than half a mile from the start. They had tons of ports-potties and no line for those either. Just a super chill and easy race morning, can't ask for anything better than that.

The race started on time and they had pacers for the half, which I ran almost the entire race with. They seemed pretty good about staying true to time. The course was okay, you are running through the city of Oakland, so if you are looking for a scenic race this isn't the one. But I love city races so seeing all of the wall murals in Oakland was great. Plus the city comes out hard with support!! There was barely an empty section in the whole 13.1 miles!

Finish line was great, they had the marathon and half marathon finishing at the same time in the same chute so it was a bit packed. But right after the finish they had tons of water and food choices! More food choices than I have ever seen. Oranges, bananas, apples, popcorn, granola bars, fruit cups, more crunchy snacks, it was amazing! Past all of the treats were the medals, and they were just handing them out instead of putting them around your neck - which was fine with me - but if it were my first marathon I probably would have been a little bummed. The medals were great though! High quality with the bay bridge on them. Also, they have FREE race photos! By the morning after the race I had tons of great photos that were super easy to download - such an amazing perk!!

Overall - a really great race that I would definitely recommend! I'm so bummed I had to drop to the half, was really looking forward to running over the Bay Bridge. But I am keeping my fingers crossed that the course is the same next year and I can try it again!