This website uses cookies and pixels so we know how people are using the site and to ensure you get the best experience here and elsewhere on the internet. That cool?
View our
Privacy Policy
Latest reviews by James Dunbar
James Dunbar recommends this race
(2020)
"Flat, low key 5k with fun after party, almost all locals"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
Smallish field with tons of walkers...I'd say less than 1k runners. Race goes off right on time every years without a hitch (I've done it 3 years in a row).
Tons of free parking all around, lots and lots of Porta Johns. T-shirt is a soft cotton jobbie that's definitely comfortable. Medal is large and this race is a part of the Coastal Race Productions BAM (Big Ass Medal) series, so you'll probably like it. It's actually metal and not plastic and is quite nice every year.
Course is 100 percent flat and you can definitely pr it if you don't have to battle the wind (which I've not had to do just yet on this course!). I will say, the course is forgettable as it's all street running basically through local neighborhoods, though you do get down close to the beach, you don't really see it much.
Plenty of water and bananas post-race, plus they always have a beer tent and your bib gets you 1 beer (usually a choice of Landshark and Michelob Ultra) or a Truly hard seltzer. One year they had Papa John's pizza (your bib tag gets you one slice), but I think they've switched over to pulled pork and a roll only now (done by a local BBQ establishment).
CRP knows how to organize a race and everything is done efficiently here. Not tons of spectators cheering or anything as it's mostly just some locals that live in the neighborhood. Music and a dj/announcer dude doing his thing at the finish line of course.
Like I said, it's relatively low key, but it's also a fun one to attend, which is why we do it every year. Note, they do have packet pickup the morning of, so there's no need to go the day before.
Login
or
sign up
to leave a comment.
James Dunbar recommends this race
(2019)
"Super flat, good crowd, well organized, HUGE medals."
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
This race features 3 different distances of 1 mile, 5k, and 10 k, all put on by Coastal Race Productions. As usual, CRP does a great job with this one. Super well organized, no issues picking up your bib the morning of the race, plenty of Porta Johns and free parking all over.
This race draws a decent local crowd (maybe 1k total), with a few out of towners thrown in as well since it's on Thanksgiving weekend. Medals are HUGE of course, especially if you do the 10k. You can sign up to do all three races and of course get rewarded with a bonus medal for finishing all 3 and it is the largest medal I've ever seen! The 10k goes off first, followed by the 5k over an hour later, then the 1 mile fun run after that.
They have a staff photographer that attempts to take individual pics of every single runner and then they post them on FB later that day or the following day. Pics are usually pretty good too.
Post race grub/hydration is basically water, coffee, bananas, and pumpkin pie. Most people weren't eating the pie so you could get as many slices to eat for yourself as you wanted (self-serve).
T-shirt giveaway is a smooth poly-cotton blender that's decent enough to wear around town if you like.
Not a ton of crowd support here and you do run through the local neighborhood a bit, so the scenery is nothing special if you're all about doing nothing but races with killer scenery.
CRP throws discount codes out to their email followers several times a year so if you're looking to save some bucks, just hit up their website and follow along. www.coastalraceproductions.com
(2019)
"Skip this one. Totally boring race with weak swag and post race freebies. No vibe."
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
This is a St. Paddy’s Day race the morning of the Five Points St. Paddy’s Day Party. My advice…definitely skip this one!
First off, there is literally no parking whatsoever near the start/finish. Designated parking areas are nearly a 1 mile walk from there! Yes, I’m not kidding!
Second, the race tee-shirt is just a one color screenprinted cotton tee. It is the most basic and uninteresting shirt you’ll ever see. I basically just turned mine into a shop rag as soon as I got home.
Third, the post race party is the lamest thing ever. Seriously. Bananas, water, Kroger cookies, and some granola bars. That’s it. It’s St. Patrick’s Day, your in Five Points, and there’s no beers available? You must be kidding me? Total joke.
Packet pickup is well organized and easy to navigate and your race fee does get you into the Five Points Festival after the race, but that’s it. We drove 2 hours to do this race and it was a major, boring, nothing but let down event. No way I’d do it again.
St. Patrick’s Day is supposed to be lively and super fun. This race has none of that whatsoever. The race itself, though it starts/finishes in Five Points, is entirely in a housing neighborhood, so nothing to see but people’s houses and parked cars.