It is hard to find a flat race in the Seattle area, and this one is very flat! You are at a slight incline on the way out, and then slight downhill on the way back.

Packet pickup was day before race or race morning, and it was very easy as usual. The start line was self seeded, so you could line up with pacers if you wished. It is 95% trail race. You start on a paved path in a park, then it quickly turns to a gravel path. There is a section where the rocks are bigger so that was a little challenging, but I enjoyed the trail race versus a road race.

The course is beautiful. It is a wooded trail with lots of shade and many pretty views of the trees and the forest. I did not find it too boring, but for some it could have been. I did not run a very fast time, but you definitely could on this course.

There were 5 aid stations on the course, all had gels, water and electrolytes. Thankfully it was not a super hot day, otherwise they would have definitely needed more aid stations. That is one thing they could improve on.

The finishers area had tons of fruit, potato salad and hot dogs! There was also a beer garden if you wanted to purchase a beer.

If you are looking for a flat trail race, this is for you!!

The Color Run claims to be the happiest 5K, and it is! Packet pick up prior to the race was very well organized and easy to get to. Race day, access was easy with lots of parking options and little traffic. The way they planned the course was nice because it really reduced the amount of roads that had to be closed for the run.

The race was well organized and all the volunteers were awesome. This is not a timed race, and it is not one that you should run for time. This race is ALL about the fun!

The only reason I gave the race 4 out of 5 stars was because of the foam stations on the course. I know that they wanted it to be awesome, with colored foam that smelled like pineapple. That part was awesome, but the machines didn't work very well, so the foam didn't go very far. You had to be almost in front of the foam machine, and since most people doing this race really wanted to get colorful, it caused a back up on the course with people stopped and no room to even walk thru. It would be cool if next year they go back to color powder at all the stations to reduce the amount of back up and make it more fun for everyone to get colorful!

There were two powder color stations, one ate beginning of course and one at the end. You can run thru and get some color, which is what I did. Others ran up to the volunteers and got extra color. You can make this race what you want which I loved.

The best part was the finish line! It was full of color, music and FUN! There were plenty of photo opps and lots of fun to be had.

This race was fun and the theme, 'Tropicolor' was awesome! If you are nervous about the color, it comes out really easily! It helps to wear a bandana or a 'Buff' so you can pull it over your mouth and a hat helps to keep the powder out of your hair. This is a fun race that is perfect for the whole family.

Blooms 2 Brews was a great race and so much fun! I came down from Seattle for the weekend, and this was a race worth coming down for. It was the ideal race, they came thru on everything that they promised. I'm still riding the runner's high from the race.

The expo is small but worth going to. They had lots of great vendors and merchandise. The swag bags were awesome, there were lots of yummy snacks, a 50% off coupon to the ADIDAS employee store along with some other discounts and a really nice tank top. I loved that the shirt was a tank top instead of a t-shirt. There were also a lot of fun photo opps at the expo.

There was lots of pre-race communication, so you knew what to expect on race day, which was nice. It was easy to arrive to the race location in the morning and there was plenty of parking right next to the start. The course was flat and beautiful as promised. A few times cars drove by on the road, but they were race support cars, they came slowly, and there was plenty of room for them to pass without disturbing the runners. There were ample aid stations with gatorade and water. A few of the stations had gummy bears, but I somehow didn't get any. As promised, you ran by a lilac farm and the tulip fields, which were both beautiful and smelled wonderful.

Once you crossed the finish line, you got the medal that corresponded to your race distance. There were different medals for each race, the 10K, half, full and relay. They had more water and gatorade at the finish line. Then you got to enter the post race party area. It was awesome! There were BBQ sandwiches that each participant got just by showing your bib, then you could also get a beer. They had an IPA that is brewed especially for the race a long with about 6 other options. There were also free massages!!

I was upgraded to VIP for the race, and it is totally worth it. There was a dedicated masseuse giving 15 min massages, an open bar with beer, wine and mimosas and seemingly endless snacks. They also had several outdoor heaters you could stand by to warm up, which were much appreciated. While the weather was perfect, you get cold once you cool off and are covered in sweat. The VIP upgrade is great and I recommend.

There was a great atmosphere post race, lots of energy, and lots of fun. The race directors genuinely wanted people to enjoy themselves and that was really obvious. I didn't want to leave to go home! It was such a great weekend thanks to Blooms 2 Brews. I highly recommend running this race!!

for lots of pics & more about the race, check out the recap on my blog http://sweetblondesfitlife.com/blooms-to-brews-recap/

This race is a BLAST! Well organized, lots of chocolate and tons of fun! This was my second year running it, and it was just as good as last year if not better. I had so much fun last year, this year a lot of friends ran with me which made for a great time with lots of chocolate! This is a great race to run alone or with a group of friends.

You must pick up your packet prior to race day, so plan on going to the expo. They do have an option where they can mail your race packet to you if you are coming from out of town or there is no way you can make it to the expo. The expo had different vendors and there was chocolate! Packet pick up was easy and organized.

Race day the parking and access not difficult. The race location (the Seattle Center) is very central and easy to get to. There are road closures which can make it hard to get to the parking garages that the Hot Chocolate race suggested, but if you are flexible with where you park, it is really easy. There is a ton of free parking as well as Seattle does not charge for parking on Sundays!

The 15K course is pretty hilly. It has flat parts and downhill parts that make up for the hills. The hardest part of the race is mile 4.5 to 6.2 miles. Those miles are steady incline hills. Once you hit the turn around, you get a nice downhill break. There is an incline at the finish line, but that makes the finish that much sweeter (no pun intended). There were 4 aid stations and 4 'sweet' stations on the 15K course. All were well stocked and had amazing volunteers.

Upon finishing the race you get your medal as soon as you cross the finish line. There was plenty of water too. The gear check was easy to use, and I was thankful they kept our bags dry. The weather on race day was sun, then rain, then sun, then a downpour. This is nothing you can control, but I was thankful my change of clothes was kept dry while I was out running. I grabbed my bag and went to get my finisher mug, the best part of the WHOLE race! The finisher hoodie is awesome, but the chocolate is the best part!!! This year the hot chocolate was DELICIOUS and so was the fondue. We enjoyed our chocolate with friends.

Fun, well organized and definitely worth running. Looking forward to running this race again next year with even more friends!!!! Highly recommend!

Read more in the race recap on my blog --> http://sweetblondesfitlife.com/the-sweetest-race-hot-chocolate-recap/

There are 2 options for the Carlsbad 5000, the 5K or the all day 20K. I chose to run the all day 20K. It sounds confusing, but all it is is running 5K four different times. The 5K race is done in 4 heats, males over 40, women over 40, males & females 30-39 and males & females 29 and under. So you run each of the heats for a total of 20K (about 12.5 miles)

This was my first time ever doing a race like this. It is such a unique and fun experience, you get to cross the finish line 4 times in one day! You feel the adrenaline with each race and you can rack up the miles. The experience and swag is great too! I highly recommend!!! If you don't want to run 20K, then run the 5K. It's a beautiful course, well organized and a wonderful experience.

Parking wasn't too challenging on race day. A TON of people participate in the 5K, so arrive early as you may have to park far away. The all day 20K participants have a tent/area specifically for them. It had port-a-potties, snacks, water bottles, tables and chairs and our own gear check. You were only allowed in if you had the all day 20K bib. It was so great having our own gear check & port-a-potties! We were able to grab our bags in between the races which was great as I kept taking off layers.

Once you crossed the finish line for a race, you could head back to the 20K tent, hang around, or go directly back to the start line. The time between races varied, but I always had some chill time between races. The quickest turn around for me was between races 2 & 3. It all depended on how quickly you ran the 5K.

The race course is beautiful, you run right thru downtown Carlsbad and get a whole mile next to the beach. The views are amazing!! There was one water station on the course. At the finish line they had water, gatorade and lots of snacks. For the all day 20K, we got a 5K medal when we ran with our age group, and a 20K medal once we completed all 4 races.

My only complaint, which isn't even that big of a deal, was people running in the wrong heat. At the start line they would always announce the heat age group, yet many people ran in heats that were not theirs. It is hard to tell peoples ages obviously, but in the males over 40, technically the only females should have been the all day 20K participants. There were lots of people who ran in the wrong heats. It doesn't matter much, other than that they were handing out medals to the top 250 finishers in each age group. I felt that it made things more confusing at the start line. I don't know how to avoid this other than giving each heat their own bib color? This was the only thing that could have been done better. Everything else was amazing!

Each participant got 2 free beers post race if you wished, and the band that was performing, Betamaxx, was awesome! It was a fun post race environment, the expo was amazing, great race swag, lots of snacks post race and everything was well organized. I loved it and I would run the 20K or the 5K again! It's a great excuse to visit SoCal & get some sunshine!