Packet pickup was at Roadrunner Sports and the line moved really fast. We got our awesome long sleeve race shirt. We were also given some gloves for the race, since it was going to be cold. Any extra clothing, including the gloves, that were left on the course was donated to charity. After a good wash I hope.
A group of us were dropped off at the start line, so we didn't have any problems parking. It seemed to be very confusing as to where folks should park though. But things seemed to move really smoothly as everyone funneled in. Aside from the cold temp for SoCal (30-40s) everyone was in high spirits, and looking forward to running. The gear check area was not very well put together. Looked like people just dropped their bags and the bags were put into a U-haul. Someone could have easily walked away with bags. Hope to see some improvement for the gear check next year!
Once the race began I was super excited. Figured since I'd done the Craft Classic (if you did both races, you gained another medal), that most of the race would be a repeat. And that was the case. Although the scenery was really pretty, there was just very little excitement. Luckily I was running with a group of friends, so that broke up a lot of the monotony. Had I been running alone I would have felt very underwhelmed.
For newer half marathoners like myself (this was my second half), the thought of a steady decline in elevation is exciting! But unfortunately, there's still a good bit of hills. They were small hills, but you felt them for sure. The water stations were great, the volunteers were outstanding and super enthusiastic.
Around mile 13 there was a hair pin out and back to get to the final stretch... Wish it hadn't been there. By mile 13 I was really hoping to see some ocean, but it never really showed up. Running through the shoot was great, but there wasn't much going on Post-race. A lot of the runners had left in buses and a lot of the fruit and such was gone (which really means I have to start running faster, lol).
Overall I think the Holiday Half Marathon is a nice race. If you plan to run it this year; have music ready, friends around you and don't get caught up in the elevation drop. I plan to do the Turkey trot and the Holiday Half next year (this is another opportunity for a double medal) , change it up a bit!

The last time I did a review of this race, I was disappointed in the overall event. There were a lot of organizational flaws, but they sure did clear things up for todays race!

There were two options for packet pickup. The evening before the race, and the day of the race. I took advantage of the day of pickup, there was a 2 hour window (1pm-3pm) to pick up your bib and race shirt. And the pickup window ended an hour before start time. Which was nice because there was enough time to stretch, warm up with the fun zumba instructors and mingle a bit before the race began.

The race started out right on time, and we ran on an out and back course. The course wasn't paved the whole time, there were a few spots where we ran on grass and gravel. But that wasn't a big bother really... The view or running along the harbor was absolute perfection. There was one water station, at about mile 1, and then on the flip side on the way back. Looking at my watch, the course was a bit longer than a traditional 5k, off by .2. Wouldn't say that it bothered me much, gatta love extra miles.

At the finish line, you were given a medal, and one cup of wine with your bib ticket. There was a good variety of wines between red and white wine. It's always nice to be able to pick your favorite! As the party went on, the music was blasting, and everyone was having a good time.

Unfortunately, the weather was a bit unpredictable today. It sprinkled a bit, and rained hard about 45 min after the race started. I think the weather affected the turn out, there weren't as many folks this year as there was last year.

Overall, this race was awesome. Great course with amazing views, good music pre and post race, and cute race t-shirts and cups to take home. Looking forward to running this race again next year!!

There were two options for packet pickup: pre-race and race day. I took advantage of the pre-race pick up. Everything seemed to go smoothly, quick and easy.

Race day started off well. Some friends and I walked over to NTC to avoid having to pay for parking. Parking was included in the VIP package along with some additional swag. Upon arrival there was great music playing, lots of bathroom options and a bunch of people prepared to enjoy a fun run. The downfalls were: the packet pickup line was incredibly long, some folks had already begun to take advantage of the wine garden, and it appeared as though the race was going to start late. We didn't mind about the late start time because we weren't in a rush, and the music was great. The MC did call the crowd to line up at the start line, but there was no defined place to start. And the disorganized course followed for the entire race. It was very frustrating.

Post race was just as disorganized as the race unfortunately. The wine garden filled up extremely fast, making it very cramped. Each finisher was supposed to get one glass of wine, but the wine ran out very quickly. And a lot of people were upset.

There had been so many complaints that all of the runners were given a free entry to the 2017 Ultimate Wine Run in 2017. There are a lot of areas that can be improved on, and I look forward to reviewing the upcoming race!

Why would I recommend this race, even with all of it's flaws? This is a fun run, and it was overall a lot of fun. If you're looking to get together with friends, run a 5k and then having some wine... this is the race for you!