This was my seventh half marathon and first time in California. I opted to pay extra to pick up my packet on race day due to my travel schedule. This is definitely a rolling course, but the only very difficult hill is at mile 1.5, and they clearly tell you about it on the website, so I knew what to expect. This race is a really great one and I would run it again, but I do believe the organizers could do a better job of pre-race communication. If I was not recovering from an injury, I believe I could have PR'd with no problem.

Pros:
- The course was amazing. There was lots of variety in scenery---some of it is along a road, and other
parts are through a wooded area. The variety kept everything very interesting.

- The water station volunteers were awesome. There were plenty of cups, and there were separate
cups for Gatorade so you knew exactly what you were grabbing.

- There was good crowd support at the water stations.

- Plenty of medical personnel

- Really cool medal

- Post race food was in a bag so you didn't have to grab your own food. Post race food included a
couple granola bars, an Uncrustables, a clementine, and water. There was plenty of food for
purchase, but I did not buy anything.
- Great directional signs along the route to let you know where you were going

Cons:
- I was extremely frustrated by the communication provided by the organizers. There was no pre-race
email that you usually get which tells you where to go and when, and general caveats about the race.

- The website instructions regarding race day bib pickup were extremely unclear---I wasn't sure whether to go to the start line or the parking lot at Torrey Pines with the shuttle buses to get my bib, as a bib was required to get on the shuttle buses. I tried to contact the race organizers to get some clarification, but received no response. This added extra stress on race day, as I had to arrange transportation to the event and didn't know where to drive to, Torrey Pines or the start line. For future reference, if you select race day bib pickup and pay the extra ten dollars to do so, you get your bib at the start line, not at Torrey Pines.

- The race *does not* end at the beach as the pictures might suggest. You end at a marsh at Torrey Pines across from the beach, but a beach is not in view from the finish line.

All in all, I would do this race again!