This is a beautiful course and one definitely worth running. The aid stations were plentiful but new runners definitely made accessing them while running difficult. The spectators are amazing at this race and they are placed almost throughout the whole course.

The race management recommended Double Tree/Hilton to stay at for out of town runners. This hotel catered to runners all weekend. They had a pasta dinner on Saturday night, early hot breakfast and buses to and from the race. When arriving back at the hotel the staff greeted us with cheers, water and snacks. This was definitely a very nice touch. The shuttles were excellent dropping and picking us up close to the start and finish line. Definitely recommend this hotel for your race experience.

The race expo was fun with the beer garden available. There was a variety of vendors. The live music was a nice touch.

My husband and I really enjoyed the after race activities. The live music was a fun way to relax and recoup after I finished my race. I am usually in a hurry to get back to the hotel and go home. We spent almost 2 hours just sitting on the beach listening to the music and enjoying our beer.

The medal is wooden surfboard and the tech t-shirt looks like a rash guard.

I don’t like large races as I feel that I am always trying to run around runners that start in the wrong corral. In this race this was not the case. It is a large race except for running around the bluffs there is plenty of room to run without weaving in and out of people.