A Coastal Race Productions race, this one is a part of their BAM (Big Ass Medals) series and as such, you get a massive finish medal, the longer the distance you complete, the larger the medal and these are huge, huge medals! This year's medal was locket style, you open it up and there's a color pic of Ocean Isle Beach inside. Super cool!

There was no real expo because of Covid, so you pick up your bib at Fleet Feet Myrtle Beach a day or two before the race, wait till race morning to pick it up, or have it mailed to you for free. I'm pretty sure if you register early enough you can have your bib custom named with whatever you choose up to like 20 characters, which is a nice free twist.

Swag wise, CRP rotates their finisher items as we all seem to have so many finisher shirts and for this race it was a killer running hat that you'll actually use for running that had a neat squid on it and was purple/white. Other races the finisher item is often a beach towel, beach blanket, soft cotton t-shirt, and maybe even a full/half zip (depending on the distance you run). They also have extras that you can pre-buy in advance that are race specific so if you want a hat, towel, 1/2 zip blah blah, you can get it all, and they are all reasonably priced.

CRP is family owned and run and volunteer dependent...you'd never know it. Trust me, these folks know how to put on and run a race. There's always lots of parking with folks lit up in the dark directing you where to park, and the after party is always fun as long as weather cooperates. Post-race for this race we were offered donuts from a mom/pop local donut shop, energy bars, bananas, bottled water, 1 beer (Mich Ultra, Landshark Lager) or cider, and pulled pork bbq. Your bib has tags for a beer attached (1 beer tag), and 1 food tag. Lots of people don't use their tags so if you're looking to drink another beer or two or get more bbq, that's easily accomplished.

This race also offers free course photos so they have at least 1 or 2 photographers taking shots of everyone and they post them all on Facebook, usually starting just a few hours after the race. I've walked away with some nice shots of myself/wife/friends all for free.

It's a super flat 5k and if you're looking for a place to register your personal best, this might be the one for you. In 2021 it was in the low 60's with no wind, so it was absolutely perfect for running fast!

They also offer age group awards in 5 year age group increments, so if you're fast, you're likely to come away with another item to take home like a small plaque.

Pro tip: join Coastal Race Production's email list as they email discount codes for all of their races and sometimes for their merch as well and these codes can be very, very significant. I think I paid only 22 bucks and change after sign up fees for this particular 5k. The hat and finisher's medal alone were worth that, but then I also ate a ton of food and had a couple beers, so it was a terrific value and we had a terrific time. I also scored a PR for my 5k, so that was a monster bonus too!