Here I was again at RnRVB after I swore I'd never do it again. But, who am I kidding? A RnR event in my town - of course I'd forgotten the 90% humidity at 7am, the amount of water I poured over my head just to attempt to cool off, and the boiling water in my camelback heated from my skyrocketing core temp.

I do enjoy all RnR races and this one has lots of positives. There is an abundance of on course entertainment coupled with the American Music Festival going on in VB the same weekend. This usually means the headliner concert is a pretty good one. The course runs you down the resort area, through neighborhoods, through Camp Pendleton, and ends on the VB boardwalk. Locals come out with refreshments, hoses tied to their mailboxes offering a cool down, and plenty of signs and cheers. This year there were two neighborhoods that did themes - one was pirate and the other were dressed like a NASCAR pit stop. Everyone has fun with this race.

The terrain is 99% road with some gravel bits when you get onto the base. The race is also relatively flat - with one bridge you have to cross twice. If you never run hills you might think this one is enormous - but it's a small bridge in comparison.

The medals were a big improvement over last years - partially because this was the 15th anniversary of the race.

The finisher chute has all the goodies every other RnR race provides. I love free stuff so I take a plastic grocery bag with me folded up in a pocket so I'm not fumbling with water, bananas, granola, and Gatorade.

Two major complaints... One is a constant complaint of the RnR race series - why is the remix medal as far away as humanly possible??? Don't you think people want to get their pic taken right after the finish line with all their friends? By the time I walk another 1/4 mile to get my challenge medal - I'm over it.
Second complaint is the weather. Labor Day weekend in VB is a terrible time to have a big race. For the locals we are used to this level of humidity - but for visitors it can be quite dangerous. My advice for everyone is hydrate hydrate hydrate. You cant have enough water/electrolytes during this race. This weekend is always full of news reports of people passing out and being airlifted to hospitals. When I say the humidity is an issue -i am not kidding. When I crossed the finish line I noticed all my clothing was soaking wet - I realized it was 50% sweat and 50% pouring water over my head and down my back. I sweated so much I shorted out my IPod - luckily the only major casualty of this race for me.

Another positive for the race is that there are plenty of bars and restaurants around to grab food and a beer other than the Mich Ultra provided by RnR (blech).

Today I say I'll never do this race again...but ask me again when I start signing up with my RnR Tourpass and I'm sure I'll have forgotten all about my dead IPod. This race also marked my 10th 1/2 marathon to date - I'm just happy to have survived.