Overall I had a pretty good experience with the race. It was nice and downhill and the scenery was beautiful. However, I did not enjoy having to board the bus at 4:20 am for the half. We got to the starting point before 5 am and most of us sat on the bus for 30-40 minutes before leaving the bus to warm up. It was freezing at the start even though it got a bit warm by the finish. We could have easily slept in that extra half hour.

The start was also a bit crazy with lots of wasted energy weaving around runners. I feel like the race organizers could have done a better job of implementing wave starts or setting up pace groups so the faster people start in the back.

The worst part of the race was the food afterward. They offered a small fruit tart and buffalo jerky. Who eats buffalo jerky after a marathon? They should have had fruit, chocolate milk, pretzels, bagels, and maybe some soup. It simply was not sufficient considering I paid $90 for a half marathon. For that kind of $ I expect real food.

Also, their motto "Beauty Knows No Pain" was ridiculous. I kept thinking "I guess I"m really ugly then" when I saw their silly pink signs, especially near the end of the race.

Overall I would probably do the race again because the course is spectacular, but there are definitely some areas for improvement that I hope the RDs work on for the future.