PRE-RACE: They had day-before and same day packet-pickup, which was great, and when I got there (about an hour early) things moved pretty quickly. There were no corrals but people were encouraged to line up according to mile/minute pace. That worked out about as well as it normally does. For a half these days, it was pretty cheap. I registered the week before and it was only about $65 and we got a 1/4 zip tech pullover, Santa hats, and a Santa beard. They encouraged everyone to wear all these things but I didn't because it was too warm.

THE COURSE: the course is out and back and runs along the sea wall for a good portion of the race. The views of the water were great...the wind (not so much). They had several aid stations throughout, but it seemed like they needed more volunteers. I totally skipped one early on because they had no water or Gatorade ready. They were also passing out cookies and m&m's at other aid stations to go with the Christmas theme. There was some music on the course but it wasn't Christmas music like I was expecting.

POST RACE: I crossed the finish line and was handed a water bottle. I had to go find my medal because they still had them in the plastic in boxes. Again, I think this was a lack of volunteers problem because they had someone handing them out, just not enough to put them around people's necks. Medal was nice though. Post race food was bananas, chips, and more cookies.

Overall, it was an okay race and if you like theme races try it out.

HF#11124

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