Latest reviews by Sarah

(2015)
"NWHM: Read Instructions/FAQs before you sign up. Check Facebook. "
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management

Note, this is my first review, so please bare with me.

Required Elements:
(1) Entering the lottery/Signing Up Process: Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. Logged into my Nike+ account on the day the lottery opened. Read the instuctions/rules*. Entered Credit Card Information. Waited.
(2) "Won" the lottery. Me and 24,999 of my closest friends were in the race. **
(3) Bib Pick Up: Awesome, did an early pick up at the Nike Union Street location. As part of early pick up, we were able to have our race tank top personalized. Also, there was a bonus earring, and we were able to preview/see the Half Marathon merchandise before it officially "dropped". ***
(4) The Race:
(a) The course was fabulous, in terms of course only, my favorite course (I've run RnRSF 2013, 2014, SF Marathon 1st Half, 2nd Half, and full).
(b) Yes, it was crowded - I didn't think I was that far back in my corral, but it took me nearly 3 minutes from the time my corral started before I crossed the starting line. Plus unlike in other races, the crowd never really thinned out. Maybe I was in the proper corral. Or the others weren't - not sure.
(c) Aid Stations: Didn't use the medical aid stations. As a mid-packer, water was fairly plentiful. You could tell as the race went on where they had started to either run out of water in the tubs, or cups, as those tables were empty. Also one of the stations only had water on one side. Electrolytes, I didn't partake, as it was Nuun. I cannot have Nuun, because of the artificial sweetners. Overall, thought they were well placed. Plus there was a chocolate station at mile 11ish - it was a truffle that I saved for later. The gel provided was Honey Stinger. I don't know all the flavors, I picked up Fruit Smoothie. It was delicious. Also provided, was a Perfect Bar bite. I don't know if they had multiple flavors, but I picked up Peanut Butter.
(d) Medal: It was a Tiffany's necklace. Loved the design. It works really well with some of the optional stuff. However, I do not wear jewelry.
(e) Post Race Chute: Received a hot pink reusable water bottle. Food was in a reusable bag - race logo on one side, Whole Foods logo on the other. I really wanted to empty a few of the bags of the food, so I could just get more bags.
(f) Spectators: The most spectators that I have seen at any San Francisco race. Especially loved NRC/November Project SF throughout mile 9ish-10ish
(5) Race Communication: It sucked. Dependent on emails, or the Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/RunNikeWomenSeries?fref=ts). They also answered tweets you send them (@runnikewomen)*

* Either at the time you signed up for the lottery, or when you got in, you were notified that there would be no Expotique, the bibs and the T-shirt/Tank top, would be mailed to you. [this is important for the optional events]. About three weeks before the event [late September/early October], through questions and detective work on Facebook, we find out that bibs are no longer being mailed, and that Nike will be sending an email with more information the following week. THREE weeks before the event, they tell you that they are no longer mailing the bibs. I'm local, so it didn't effect my travel plans. However, I know that there were many people who, based on the fact that 9-12 weeks prior, they expected bibs to be mailed to them, they made plans to fly in on Saturday night.

** The lottery is not the only option of getting into the race. If you are a student, there is guaranteed entry (you need to present student ID), plus fees are less. Also, this race is a huge fundraiser for TNT LLS, so many of the runners get in through fundraising. I do not know the specifics, but I do know that in the FAQs, they did tell us that in the last 12 years, over $152 Million has been donated to LLS. Another note about the race fees. San Francisco is expensive.

*** There were many grumblings from people, while I was waiting in line for the earrings, about how they had expected to have their tank tops personalized, and were upset when that didn't happen. They were under the impression from others that it would be available at packet pick up. Also, bonus right wing earring (more on that later)

The Optional: This is where the cluster begins.

(1) Early Packet Pick Up. If you've read this far, you know I was able to personalize my tank, and I got a bonus earring. What you don't know if that the volunteers were rude. They did not quite know what was going on. And the guy handing me my bib almost did not give me my shuttle sticker.

(2) NTC Workout on Friday, 5:00 PM. I originally signed up for 8:00 PM, but realized I would not get home until late, so I swapped to the 5:00 PM. Check in was fairly easy. Our trainer was NTC Master Trainer, Marie Purvis. Which was a great surprise. I was expecting our local trainers (I do love them). The work out was fairly easy (there were no burpees), but it was mainly due to the fact that she didn't want us to be injured before the race. Now to the cluster that was the exit. They funneled us out of one door, to go through the refreshments+fuel line. It took over 20 minutes to get through the exit. There was one line to go through and get the juice, the perfect bar, the petit pot (pudding/creme), whole foods vegan wrap (they were promoting their prepared food). It would have been better if there had been two of each station. There was also Nuun.

(2) The Shakeout Run. 7:30 AM run. 2 Miles. 7:30 run was originally chosen because a friend from the Florida wanted to run it, but she ended up not going. I wanted to switch to the 9, but decided against it. They started late. Coach Bennett could not be heard. I'm not sure if he couldn't be mic'd up because of the early morning/location/some other reason, but he was only using a bullhorn. Could not hear him. Corrals: Apparently not by color according to our pace, but when we checked in/ who we checked in with. Good thing they had corrals, because it would have been a bigger cluster than it was. The shakeout run was 2 miles "through" the city. It was not an ideal route. Truly, two miles anywhere in that part of the city, not ideal - if it had been 3 miles, we could have gone along the Embarcadero and back. But two miles, only city streets. Since we were on sidewalks, this is where proper pacing would have been great. Each corral left about a few minutes apart to minimize crowding. However, with red lights, groups ran into each other. For example, I started in the last corral, but I was able to catch up with the mid-to-back persons of the corral in front of me. (Where I ran into Jess and Julia). It was when we got back to Union Square that was the cluster. Again, lines. All the disorganized lines. There apparently was a line for all the beverages - coffee, juice, chocolate milk; chocolate; Perfect Bar; Nuun. I liked that there was a line for each item. What I didn't like was that all the beverages were in one line. I really wanted a juice, but I didn't want to wait in that line, so I left. (I did get a perfect bar sample).

(3) The Earrings/Stations. As previously mentioned, there was no Expotique (note, Expotique and not Exposition, NWHM doesn't have a real expo, instead in previous years, there was an expo/boutique that was focused on Nike and the other sponsors). Instead there was a hunt and gather for earrings. Most people called it a scavenger hunt, but Nike told you where to go, and you didn't need to search for the earrings. Instead, you waited in line for the earrings. They gave you three days to collect up to 7 earrings. Each of the 7 stations had a different earring, and a different activity. (A) Nike Town - Swoosh, with the run trial. Complete the run trial, get a $20 coupon off your next Nike purchase. (B) Union Square, SF, just take pictures (C) Finish Line at Macy's, Left Wing, learn about the Pegasus 22 (maybe is the 32?) (D) 4th Floor Macy's, Cable Car, get fitted for bras (E) Lady Foot Locker @ SF Shopping Center, Golden Gate Bridge, learn about tights. Bonus hair braiding station. (F) Nordstrom @ SF Shopping Center, Arrow, learn about the Flash Aeroloft Vest (G) Nike Union Street, Sneaker, learn about the SNKR app. Bonus: shoe jewelry, shoe cleaning. - since you didn't do earring gathering, let me day that part could have been better handled. They ran out of earrings on Thursday and Friday, except at Nike Union Street. Saturday, lines, lines, and more lines. People were in line complaining about how they were wasting time in line for the earrings, and they weren't guaranteed one. Note this was optional. It was part of the experience, but it was an optional part of the experience. You were not required to pick up the earrings, you could have been prancing around San Francisco, instead of spending up to 5 hours in line (distribution officially began at 10, but Nike Town began handing them out early at a little past of 9, and most of the locations ran out of earrings around 1). The lines were well organized, but again, so many lines. So many women in line complaining.

(4) Merchandise: General Race Merchandise: Not an awesome design, however, it was plentiful, easy to buy. Finisher's Merchandise: Also easy to purchase, at least at the Nike on Union Street, however, only 3 items - short sleeve, long sleeve, pull over.

(5) Finisher's Village: LINES. Unorganized Lines. Skipped the "fireman", as I did not want to wait in those lines, I really wanted to get to the Finisher's stuff. Merchandise tent: I waited in that line for over an hour - I started at about 9:15, and I still wasn't inside by 10:25. At 10:25, it was confirmed that the Nike on Union Street also had the styles (I knew they were online, and would also be at Nike Town, I just was not sure about Union Street). Since the line was longer when I left than when I started, I can't imagine how long those people stood in line to enter the tent. Also so many people in the area, I had no data reception. All I wanted to do was sync my watch to my phone using bluetooth, so I could look at my data. Yeah, not possible.

I think that's all I have to say. If you have any questions about the race, please feel free to contact me on twitter at @essayareayaitch

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