Before race day even started, ram racing had already impressed me twice- first, the process of submitting a proof of time for corral placement was easy and quick. Second, when I needed two accounts merged so that my legacy status would be recognized, they quickly updated my accounts so they were combined.

When I arrived at the hotel that was hosting the expo, the signs were to spot, directing runners to the expo area. There were plenty of chocolatey snacks out, and the pickup process was super quick, I only had to show my ID.

The expo was lively, with vendors everywhere. There were inflatable hot chocolate props, and photo ops throughout the space. After picking up my race jacket (the give away for this event) I went by the legacy table and picked up my mug, legacy medal, and chocolate bar.

There were plenty of porter potties out on race morning, just a short walk from the start line.

The corrals were seeded based off of runner pace, which made for a smooth start with no major course crowding. The race started before the sun came up, and there were some beautiful views of the city as the sun rose.

The course had a lot of rolling hills, which kept the terrain dynamic. The aid stations all had water, nuun, and an extra treat (marshmallows, gummy bears, and of course, chocolate!).

As the finish line approached there were clear signs indicating the 15k and 5k finish lines. After the finish line runners were given their medal and a bottle of water, and then had a bit of a hike to get to the park where the after party was hosted.

The mugs full of treats are now recyclable, but are still filled with some great chocolate treats, including hit chocolate, fondue, and some dippers.

This turkey trot is put on by RaceAwesome.

Race awesome has a volunteer program that gives runners free race entries in exchange for volunteering at their events, which is how I got my entry to this event.

This year instead of giving out shirts, the sway for this race was a blanket, which came in a portable roll and had the race logo on it. I was able to pick up my blanket and race number the morning of the race, with very little wait. They had the bib pickup sorted into 4 lines by last names, and the station was well manned.

The start/finish area was all set up to welcome runners after the 5k - they had fires roaring to roast marshmallows, hot soup, fruit, hot chocolate, and of course, pie!

I ran the race with my friend, and it took us through the paths within Eisenhower park. While it was a little congested at first the path eventually got a little wider, and we were able to hit our stride.

When we came through the finish line, the announcer called out our names, and Mike found us a seat while I retrieved our pie.

The age group awards were cute wooden turkey medals, and there were raffles, which all of the runners received an entry to with their race bib.

I signed up for this race with two of my friends, to run as a fun event to celebrate halloween.
We were able to pick up our race materials in advance, or on the morning of the race. It was nice to have both options.
Race morning pickup was indoors, which was nice since it was a little cold. There was plenty of parking in the area, as there are several shopping centers in the area of the race start.
The course was through a residential area, and lots of families were out on their front lawns in halloween costumes to cheer on runners.
There were two water stops and one candy station for runners on course. I really liked that they had a candy station, it was a fun touch.
After the race there were tons of different food choices, including everything from muffins to soup, and even some candy.
As a part of the entry, all of the racers got raffle entries. The prizes included events like concerts and sports games, and devices like ipads and heaphones.
The age group awards went 5 deep, and my friends and I all placed in our age groups and were awarded medals, which was fun.

All in all, it is a great race for a great cause.

I started the race in corral I, and it took some time to get over the start line after the 8 am start. Once we got moving there was a bit of course crowding for the first mile, but then the course opened up.

The course was out and back, with slight uphills and downhills as the race progressed. As we entered our third mile, we even spotted the front runners, headed for the finish line.

The crowd support was great for this race, with so many spectators lining the streets throughout the course. The aid stations were well stocked, although with the humidity that day it would have been nice to have a gel later in the course.

We crossed the finish line with smiles on our faces, and were given a cool cloth and a snack bag that had pretzels, an apple, a honey stinger cracker, Gatorade, and a water bottle.

Had a great time running the seawheeze half.

The packet pickup was super simple, they scanned my runner wrist band when I entered, and directed me to a station, where they had all of my info thanks to the scan. In my runner bag (which was a nice drawstring backpack with a zipper compartment) there was a water bottle, a tube of nuun, and coins to collect swag from other vendors at the expo (shoe insoles, a peppermint essential oil roll on, and a trial size of lululemon dry shampoo.

We were at the expo on day two, so little was left at the lululemon shop. I had hoped to get a seawheeze shirt, but had no such luck.

There were stations to get your hair braided or your nails done though, as well as pre-race yoga.

On race morning it was easy to find the start area, but the lack of corrals made the start area a little messy, and caused runners of all different paces to be mixed together, which caused some course crowding.

I enjoyed running though the city, and there were so many awesome cheer stations on the course. I also enjoyed that they had misters decorated with rain clouds on the one out and back section of the course.

When we got to stanley Park, there was some crowding along the sea wall, and with the narrow area it made it difficult to pass runners. But there were still some cheer stations in the park, including first responders which I loved.

Approaching the finish line I could feel the energy of the runners and the crowd. After the finish line they had water and medals waiting, as as I made my way though the finishers chute I also got a hat, a towel, and some nuun! Just before leaving they had runners brunch, but unfortunately I didn’t realize that there would be so much dairy in the standard box, so I only ate the fruit that was included.

Overall, the views and spectators were great, and I had a fun and fast race.

I didn’t get to attend the sunset festival, but if I do this race again I will try to go with people who enjoy yoga.