I have always really enjoyed this race. It's close, the price is on point at under $50, and the course is flat and fast outside of one small hill. This year they had parking attendants to help in the morning which was a really great idea as I have seen what a cluster it can be down there when you are trying to find parking at the many beach parking areas around. That cut time and kept things running smoothly which was nice. One beef I always have is that there are not enough bathrooms around, so the lines are long and if you don't jump into the line really early you may have to run and use the weeds or you'll miss the start of the race! I am not above doing that, but some are, so it is something to think about. The race itself is well organized and they offered a ton of aid stations this year due to the high heat and high humidity that day with water/nuun stations almost every mile to mile and a half. They were extra cautious with the runners this year as well for that reason. They also changed the course up this year and race it in the reverse direction than past years. This was great for those of us that do it pretty regularly. The only down side is that at the beginning in the past, there is a 180 degree turn you have to make...well this year this was about a half mile from the finish line and that was a PAINFUL turn to make after having already ran 12 and a half miles. That slowed down people considerably and you could see everyone's bodies tense going around that turn. But I guess every race has it's challenges and this was it this year. The medals this year were AWESOME and the tank tops were nice as well; these were an upgrade from years past which was a really nice change to see made. I also had a pacer with me this year to help me reach my goal of under 2 hours and I crossed the finish line at 2:00:04.1. Knowing that I started further back from the start, I know I finished in under 2 hours and I was so happy and thankful for my friend who helped me get there. As the evening went on I waited for chip times to be updated as my gun time was what I immediately knew. Then I got the dreaded email that there was a malfunction at the start so no chip start times were recorded. So, this year the gun times are the official times. I was super disappointed and frustrated as I feel like there are little glitches like this at this race every year. But at the same time, those things can happen at every race and they try really hard to do a good job; overall they definitely do and even with this mishap, I would still recommend this race and will continue to sign up for as often as I can. If you are looking for something to get a PR on that is affordable, fun, and in a beautiful area, this is a great race for that!