Great race! So glad I signed up!

Sponsored by Johnson & Johnson so the race bag came with several product samples inside.

Great course support at the aid stations and turns and lots of post-race activities. What a fun event!

From what I understand, the event was scheduled in conjunction with a soccer tournament. Not sure if this race will be offered again in 2017 but, if it is, I would definitely sign up again!

I signed up for this race for the sole purpose of completing the Golden State Half Series (see final medal here: https://instagram.com/p/6alV8qnsrA/?taken-by=desigurrl). Throughout this review, I'll make a couple of comparisons to the Oakland Running Festival (ORF) half marathon, which I ran in 2014. (While ORF is really well organized, I just wasn't a fan.) So, going into The Town's Half Marathon, I just wanted to get it done, earn my medals, and move on. But this race and the race organizers changed my mind about racing in Oakland with their awesome event. I think I'll run this one next year!

For your reference, I paid a discounted reg fee (super sale 1 day) of approx $42, and another $37 for race day packet pickup.

THE COMMUNICATION 

Great communication from race organizers. There was actually a snafu with Eventbrite the day I registered, and I ended up with TWO registrations. Eventbrite and race organizers were able to correct it (and refund me back 1 of the registrations).

I received at least 3 emails during the week of the race - 2 about "important info to know," 1 with my bib number (for pickup), and another 1 confirming the race day bib pick up for which I had paid extra.

I also contacted race organizers several times through their Facebook fan page and always received a response.

Probably my only criticism for race organizers is that I haven't ever been to find an email address where you can contact them. (Which is why I contacted them through their Facebook fan page.) Maybe one exists and it just isn't publicized on their website? I'm not sure, but the organizers could make the "contact" option a little more obvious. All other information presented on the website was straightforward and clear.

THE EXPO / RACE DAY PACKET PICKUP
I didn't attend the expo (paid extra for race day packet pickup) so cannot speak to how the expo was.

However, I did find the race day packet pick up -- which I (mistakenly) thought more people would have done -- was super smooth and easy! Short line to pick up and the gal remembered my name (from looking at all her info earlier). When I asked about completing the series and picking up my extra medal at the end, she said just come back to the same tent, and she could help me out!

If you're doing race day packet pickup, be sure to plan for bag check because you will have the race shirt.

THE RACE
As I said before, I had done the Oakland Running Festival in 2014 (5K and half marathon). That is a really well organized race too, but I felt like the course of The Town's HM was a little different and slightly better.

As much as I hate getting up early before a race, I liked that the race started at 7am (though I did wish BART started running slightly earlier). Even with the early start, the weather was hot and only got more hot as the day went on. I was glad the race started on time and that all the water stations were properly stocked. I should also note that I only saw 1 medical station, and that was around mile 8 or 9. (Maybe there was another one, and I missed it? I'm not sure.)

The on-course support was awesome. Water tables every 2 miles! Volunteers / cops / CHP blocking off traffic at nearly every cross street. I passed several streets where residents were getting frustrated with the situation (long line of cars waiting to get through), and the law enforcement or volunteers were explaining to them how to get around the race ("go down 3 lights and then right turn" or telling the person to back up and go around to another street). I thanked many, many volunteers (including those people blocking the streets). Several of the volunteers and law enforcement people were encouraging to race participants.

The post-race food was awesome. Immediately after the finish line, they handed all finishers Brita water bottles, and there were water storage containers where people could fill up the bottles. There were bananas at one table. I have never been to a race before where, afterwards, they serve blueberry + almond butter OR blueberry + peanut butter sandwiches. A huge thank you to Whole Foods! I was impressed.

THE COURSE / SCENERY
The first 1/2 hour of the race was spent running through areas where they were unloading produce and restaurant workers were starting their days. Then we ran through a bunch of neighborhoods with closed businesses with interesting names and restaurants I felt like coming back to eat at. Then we went through Piedmont and finished up around Lake Merritt (note that Oakland Running Festival also finishes around Lake Merritt).

There were a few slight uphills but not many, and they were manageable.

THE SWAG
The medal is awesome! Love the design, love the colors, love that it has the bottle opener (though I'm not sure I'll use that).

The Brita water bottle at the finish (mentioned above) was great. I liked it better than all those plastic bottles usually given out at the finish.

The mason jar was cool and different.

Before signing up for this race, I had heard great things. Actually, no, that's not true. I had just witnessed it selling out incredibly fast. (Reg opened at 9am and by noon, it was sold out.) I assumed that meant the race was "awesome."

For your reference, the reg fee in 2015 was approx $130.

THE COMMUNICATION
Email communication leading up to the race was sparse. Organizers only sent a couple of emails about 3 days before the event. (And 1 of them mentioned we would see a lot of animals, but all I saw on the course were 2 Shetland ponies.)

THE EXPO
I had a hard time finding the expo location and arrived at the expo location about 5 minutes after they were already starting to clean up the vendor booths. Even so, there appeared to be very little to see.

I was given the correct shirt size but didn't like it. My friend (who had gone to the expo earlier) was given a men's shirt (no v-neck) in the wrong size, so I offered to exchange my shirt and give it to her (since I didn't like it anyway). When I went back into the registration tables, I was told that I wouldn't be able to exchange it until tomorrow after the race. Except that I didn't understand why not when I had already arrived AFTER the expo was officially closed (it was the extra 1 hour after the expo closed but the reg tables were still open) so I think they shouldn't have expected too many people to still come to pick up AND there were piles and piles of shirts. Thankfully, another registration volunteer allowed the exchange. (And I just gave up my own shirt for my friend.)

THE RACE
I had a great time running with friends, and the post race festival was decent. (The best part of the post race festival was the Tri-Trip Trolley...OMG, so good!!)

The weather was incredibly hot the day of the race, and the start time was delayed by about 10-15 minutes (so that didn't help the heat situation). I wish they had started a group of people right at 7am and then done a delayed start for the remaining people who were still in the port o potties (that would have broken up the crowd).

THE SCENERY
Views were pretty (rows and rows of vineyards).
With that said, the views at Clo Cow (in nearby Petaluma) are also pretty but Clo Cow is much cheaper in comparison (also super hilly, but that's a different issue).

THE COURSE
It started on a slight uphill and then had rolling hills for most of the race. The hills weren't too big / difficult but still rolling. (N2S definitely has less hills and less difficult hills than Clo Cow in Petaluma, as mentioned above.)

There were 2 bands on course (at miles 7 or 8 and 10).

Really small race (capped at 3,500) but still pretty crowded because of everyone starting at one time. I'd say it didn't thin out until around mile 4 or 6. For what it's worth, at the start, there were lots of port-o-potties (so not a very long wait); at the finish, not as many of them (but also not as many people using them).

THE SWAG
The shirt is just OKAY...navy blue and "bamboo" material. Super soft but the design was unimpressive. (It actually matches the theme of their "destination races").

The medal is hideous. I can only attach 1 picture here, so I encourage you to search on instagram. It has a corkscrew and a bottle stopper and an eagle with a map. A friend said the eagle/map design may be recognizing a specific winery. If that's not true, then I have no idea what the design is related to and why they couldn't budget more money toward medal design (especially considering the high registration fee).

The wine glass just says "Destination Races" and not "Napa to Sonoma" (so it's like they were trying to save money and whatever is left, they'll use on the other races in their series).

A sponsor of the race had a game associated with the race bib - find another participant with your "solemate" and get a free pair of the socks. The problem? You AND that person had to show up at a booth at the finish line together. The game didn't account for people finding their solemate sometime during the race and then losing that person again (because of mismatched speed or injury, etc). It would have been better if you just needed to show a photo of you and your solemate on your phone.