The race started at 7:30am. We were easily able to walk to the starting corrals from our hotel and along the way, there were plenty of signs to get us to the right place. The corrals was self-seeded with 2 minute intervals in between each wave. I settled into Wave 4, 2:15-2:30 estimated finish. My wave crossed the start line 7 minutes after the first wave and it was crowded, but people were not bumping into me. It was a nice surprise to not be overcrowded at the beginning of the race. I was not weaving in and out of people.

The course.

The course started near the convention center is a downtown area. The first few miles had lots of turns winding through downtown. Overall, the roads were nicely paved and this was the hilly part of the course. There was one or two short and steep hills, but it was not too challenging.

Once we got out of downtown, the race went over a bridge to a very cute neighborhood in Kitsilano Beach. Runners passed by a massive cheer zone at the Lululemon headquarters, and then made a button hook back over the bridge. I didn't mind running the bridge twice, but I hate button hook turns.

Once back over the bridge, the course lead to Stanley Park and the sea wall. Beautiful! The only negative was that the course went from city streets to a mixed use path, which meant it got narrow. 10,000 runners on a narrow path was a little claustrophobic for me.

It was breathtaking though. There were mountains, the water, redwood trees, etc. I had to steal some photos from others (Andrea C and Christy R), because I didn't stop to take my own. This is definitely a course I could run a PR - mostly flat, scenic, and very good surfaces, but I don't think I could PR in this race because of the narrowing of the course during the last half. Perhaps, longer times between the wave starts would have made it less crowded.

The support.

Lulu does know how to motivate. There were water stops/aid stations about every 2 miles. At the aid stations were oranges, bananas, and Vega gels. I didn't try the Vega gels because I had never had them before, but the bananas and oranges were great. The water stops had water and Vega hydrator. Yuck! This is one of the few races I didn't wear a fuel belt and wish I had so I could have Gatorade or Skratch with me. The volunCheers at the water stop/aid stations were amazing.

Plenty of kilometer AND mile markers on the course. I liked that they had signs as well as markers physically on the road.

The entertainment on the course were something to be matched. Besides the usual music, there were: dinosaurs, drag queens, Canadian vikings, mermaids, Bigfoot, an opera singer, ocean life, stilted Mounties, performers riding stacked bikes, and a drum band.

In addition, there were plenty of signs to read and keep you entertained on the 13.1 miles. The first one was in the portapotty at the start line.

Then, there were signs all along the course like this one.

The finish.

The finish line was not as well planned out as the course. Once we crossed the finish, we were handed our medals (that doubled as wooden commemorative photo frames). Runners meandered through the finishing chute collecting water, coconut water, and some premiums including special SkullCandy earbuds. The finishing chute was crowded and it was not clear where I should have been going. One of my running friends missed the earbuds, and they wouldn't give her one when she figured it out.

After exiting the finishing chute, there was lots of lines. Lines for massages. Lines for brunch. Lines for photos to put in your medal. Lines for shopping. Lines, lines, lines! Despite having 8 million signs on the course, there were not signs on where to go and what to do after you finished running. My friends and I just happened on the brunch line.

Brunch was amazing. There was a mini quiche, a waffle with blueberry compote (YUM!), fruit, and a healthy, delicious muffin. There was not anything else to drink. We got one bottle of water and a coconut water in the finishing chute, but by the time I waited in line and got my plate I drank both. There should have been second bottles of water at the brunch line.

My take.

I would definitely run this race again. For the second year, it is amazingly well organized, a beautiful course, and great premiums. While there are areas of improvement (e.g., post race organization), I imagine Lululemon will pay attention and make changes.

Link to this review