This was my 4th time at racing the MESA-PHX Marathon and I’m one medal away from earning my Arizona Copper Star! I represented the race as their Ambassador for the first time this year.

The MESA-PHX Marathon is a highly organized race from their website registration process, social media, expo, race and post race festivities. This is why they sellout. The 2019 full marathon and half marathon distances were sold out! There were available 10k spots on race day.

If you follow them along on social media, especially Instagram and Facebook, you’ll find they communicate well. Tons of updates, discount codes and weekly build-ups on how many weeks/days we have until race day. This momentum got me excited for race day.

Packet pick-up is held only one day at the finish line the day before the race which is always held on a Friday. This is a like a pre-treat of what the finish line will be. There were tons of booths this year, more than last year. People were walking away with lots of good samples to try. The expo bag had full-size jerky and protein bars, fruit & smoothies from Sprouts, sample sized laundry detergent, snack sized chips and crackers. With race registration, you had the option to choose a black tank top or short sleeve tech shirt with the MESA-PHX logo that was reflective. The Altra Racing tent was also there selling lots of their most popular styles — that were open box — for 56% off retail. The packet pick-up process went smoothly, I even volunteered for a while to help the 10k runners.

Race day means you must go to bed early Friday night. Not just to calm your nerves, but because the MESA-PHX is a point-to-point race, you must take a bus to the start line for all of the distances. This is a pain and a blessing. I love point-to-point races because you don’t see the same thing twice. Also, this helps with the downhill-ness factor of this race. There is only 20 feet of elevation gain. Taking the bus means you must get to the finish line parking lot by 5 am to catch the last bus at 5:15 am. The ride to the half marathon starting line took 10 minutes and then we had about an hour to wait for the half to start. It’s cold in Arizona in February. There are 30+ heaters at the half start line but I recommend wearing layers of clothing that you don’t mind donating at the start line. I was smart and bought cheap gloves to donate/ditch a few miles into the race. Also, I bought 6 heatsheets to pass out at the starting line to frozen runners!

At 6:30am the race begins for all runners at all distances. Fireworks were set off and we were off! The start of the race is in the dark. I wore a visor with a light. The roads were good and we didn’t have to deal with potholes. There are lots of police officers on the course and the streets are safely blocked off. I totally felt safe running this race. Since we all start at the same time, if you finish your halves around the 2 hour mark, then the fastest full marathoners will be coming through to pass. The police were good at having the half runners move to the side to allow the fastest runners through. It was exciting to see the fastest runners pass me and pretty much all the half runners were clapping for them. The aid stations were plenty and full of lots of energy. The MESA-PHX has contests for the aid stations so the volunteers that manage them really step it up to show support and excitement for us.

Crossing the finish line is a total treat. The shoot is long and filled with tons of people on either side. The emcee announces everyones name and as you cross someone quickly hands you a medal. After a 400m walk out of the end of the shoot, someone hands you a MESA-PHX hand towel and you could either make your way to the PR bell or the French Toast. There was a bottle neck going into the main booths for runners this year and I think it had something to do with the swag bag hand out process. Maybe people handing out medals should also hand out a swag bag. Since every runner wants their French Toast, the crew at Kneaders started putting the toast on platters and handing it out that way. Very smart of them. The booths at the end were filled with snacks, treats and goodies all full size. My swag bag was filled. It was insanely crowded at all the photo wall stations so I passed all of that up and headed to gear check to pick up my stuff. It was well organized by number and was able to pick up my stuff in minutes.

If you are looking for a well organized, fun race that you could potentially PR at then I recommend the MESA-PHX Marathon. They pride themselves on having a high BQ rate. 26.4% of racers in 2018 qualified for Boston.

Registration for 2020 is now open! Apply code RUNANN10 for $10 off registration fees for the full or half distances: https://thephoenixmarathon.com/