I did 3 races Race weekend (2K, 5K and the full marathon) and considered doing the lumber jack challenge which included the 10k, but didn’t think me legs would tolerate the miles over the weekend (I was right...). 2K is Saturday afternoon and the first race to go off. Some sprinkling rain, nothing to cry home about. Quick race, took me about 10 minutes start to finish, mainly in the neighborhoods and flat. WHat needs worked on is there’s zero organization to who goes where. Walkers are in the front, runners are trying to weave around kids. I was just glad I didn’t trip and fall on my face while plowing over a kid. Great idea for a family fun race, but some sort of organization needs to happen for people legitimately trying to run this or doing one of the challenges.

First Ottawa Marathon for me and I came in from Washington State for it. If you’re bold, take advantage of the Lumberjack Challenge and do the 2K/5K/10K on Saturday and the Full on Sunday.

The Expo: At the Shaw Center, I walked there from my hotel. Held Thursday/Friday/Saturday. Picked up my bibs (kits in Canada) on Friday with no wait. Only swag per say in the bag was the shirts that you get for signing up. Good amount of vendors throughout the expo, even found my running shoes on sale, which was a perk.

Race morning: stay within walking distance to the race, parking seemed limited (also coming from someone who’s not local). I stayed what felt like a good 3/4 mile from the race. Gear check available, but not close to the finish if you thought about it and out of the way (off Lisgar and Cartier, which felt like a good 5-10 min walk in the opposite direction of where I needed to go to get back to the hotel).

Time: Full started at 7AM, Half at 9AM

Weather: cool, but warmed up quickly. I was the stupid one who forgot a throw away shirt and ended up dumping a good long sleeved shirt 14 miles in 😢.

The Course: some mild hills, but nothing to cry home about. It’d be nice to have some sort of course elevation map available, though I couldn’t find one on the website. You pass Parliament, the War Museum, War Memorial, Rideau and 24 Sussex. They did have ‘xtra mile’ crew at 35k and 40k to help get you through the last few miles. The last few kilometers were with the half marathon.

Aid stations: quite honestly, need some work. I feel like there was no real rhyme between the distances between them. I wish they would have been every 2K and based on prior reviews, this seems to be a recurring theme. I’d also argue that not everyone drinks Nuun (myself included). An idea would be to alternate Nuun and Gatorade/Powerade, I essentially went without electrolytes because Nuun doesn’t agree with my stomach what so ever.

The Finish/Post Race: needs some definite work. You were filtered into Confederation after getting your medal and cup of water/electrolytes. I finished in 4:49 and there was absolutely zero bottled water/chocolate milk etc in the food area for runners. Food was limited by the time i got there and was nearly out. Essentially half a banana that didn’t look good, half a bagel and bag of chips. There really needed some more options and if you’re going to hand out bags to put food in, it’d be easier to have it pre setup for runners to take and go

Part of the RnR series, though I think run by EDP. Registered for the half during one of the RnR flash sales so I paid 19 euro for the half and ended up making a vacation of it. Originally, race was suppose to be on Sunday April 28, but about 2 months before race day it got changed to Saturday, April 27 due to Spanish General elections. I didn’t realize this until Thursday before race day. I feel like there needed to be better communication with this. There was an email at one point, but with RnR, it’s difficult to decipher important emails from promo emails, so it it was it is

Overall, a male>female race (I’d say at least 60% male, probably more). First race where I’ve had an F on my bib indicating female runner.

The Expo: Held at IFEMA, easily accessibly by the transit system. Getting there was easy, figuring out where to go if you’re not local was difficult and put me in circles for a little bit. Some sort of markings on which way to go would have been helpful. Decent size expo, easy to get your bib, bags and shirts. Tech shirts, though I’ll probably never wear it. Local/European races at the expo, plus your typical runner gear stuff.

Distances: 10k, half marathon and full marathon

The Start: needs some work in terms of corrals going off. Corrals 1-3 went off at 850 after the elites, followed by 4-5 at 9:05 and then corrals 6-8 at 920. There groups were let out all at once. I wish they would have done a wave start (wave 1 with a few min break, then wave 2, etc). It was overly congested.

The course: takes you throughout most of Madrid and plenty to see. A little bit of hills the first half, downhill the second half. The first 16-17k, the half and full marathon are together, and then you split off, which helped with the congestion. The Europeans were fast so I feel like it made it harder to actually stay on my own pace. I nearly got plowed over a few times

Water Stops: you get actual water bottles, rather than cups. Double edge sword in my opinion. I wasn’t complaining because the water stops were at least every 5K, so they were fairly far between. Downside is I was trying to not step on them. Additionally, I nearly got pushed over with people trying to grab waters, to the point where I actually didn’t feel safe at a few of them. Gatorade at 1-2 of them, gels as well. Need to look at more water stops and water cups over bottles.

Medical: volunteers on rollerblades the entire race.

The finish: bag of food handed to you at some point, but you had to walk awhile for it, had water, food and Powerade. Medal also given pretty quickly. Fairly congested, even after you got out of the runners only area. Podiatry, stretching area and massages available

Overall: 3.5 stars. Need to work on getting the waves out better to reduce congestion, better communication, especially with date changes, and more water stops on course

I ran the half marathon this year for the NVM, and it was the first year that a half marathon has been associated with this race (this year was the 41st running of the full marathon). I got in the Thursday night before the race to explore Napa before the race and enjoy some wine beforehand.

Travel: options include flying into San Francisco or Sacramento. I’d do Sacramento in order to avoid the hassle of SFO. I rented a car and drove in and it was about the same amount of time from Sacramento airport as it was from SFO.

Expo/Packet Pick Up: Happens the Saturday before the race. This year, pick up was at the Marriott Spa and Suites in Napa. Pre race shake out run before the expo for anyone interested and then the expo is open from 9 am to 6 pm, with bib pick up extended from 6-8 pm with no expo. I think there was also an option for having your bib mailed to you. If you got the VIP upgrade, after you picked up your bib, there was a hospitality room on the first room with some extra goodies (Nuun water bottle, a bottle of wine, treats, etc). I’m bummed that I had literally no room in my suitcase to take my wine home with me. The expo had presentations/demos and speakers through out the day, which was pretty nice to have. Small expo, but I think it was pretty local, which is always good to see.

Pasta Dinner: $45, essentially all you can eat with pasta, salad and desserts. I heard some people with issues that there was only 1 gluten free pasta. My biggest thing was there was really no protein involved. I would have loved to see some chicken or meatballs or fish, something to balance out the carbs. Speakers as well, but they didn’t start until 6 (dinner started at 5:30). I had to find the pasta ticket station. Maybe a better idea, especially if you pre purchased tickets up until a certain point, would be to staple them or include them with your bib so it’s one less stop to make.

Pre Race Transportation: the half and the full started at different places along the Silverado trail. The Half started at 7 AM and the full at 730 AM, which I think threw some people for a loop, as the half marathon buses left at 510 (ish) AM and the full at 5:40 (ish) AM. I heard of at least a few people missing the half marathon busses. I stayed next to the Marriott and took the shuttles out first thing in the morning.

The course itself: essentially all downhill, which for California is a win/win situation. A little bit of a hill close to the start of the half marathon, but nothing to get too bent out of shape over. The half started about 1/4 a mile from the Conn Creek Winery and the first 10 miles or so went along the Silverado trail. We passed at least 7-10 wineries that I could see, all different set ups and in different stages of getting prepped for their season it seemed. Mile 10-11 takes you past Oak Knoll before having you turn once more and head towards Vintage HS, where the finish was at. Very scenic course with intermittent people cheering, but it was kind of nice to not have spectators from start to finish.

Post Race: seemed like a lot of HS students were volunteering and having fun with it, which was cool. Water at the finish with some bananas and nutrigrain type bars. Soup was being served in the cafeteria, PT was also available. There was an area to check your results as well.

Post Race Shuttles: probably the one thing that needs looked at for next year. There were shuttles going to one of the other area high schools and a second set going back to the hotels (Marriott, Embassy Suites, the Hilton Garden Inn, etc). I’m not exactly sure what happened, but the buses to the other HS came and went twice and we saw no hotel shuttle. More than a few of us ended up Ubering/Lyfting back to our hotels because even though weather was perfect in the 50s, I was sweaty and getting cold. By the time my Uber got to the HS, the first hotel shuttle arrived, but that was after a good 30-40 min. One of the race officials was looking into it and it seemed like a communication issue, but something to fix for next year for sure

Overall, however, a great race. One of the few in California that’s all downhill and doesn’t throw hills at you at every turn. If you’re in need of a good long weekend and fun race, take a look at this, especially with the addition of the half marathon!

First time doing the Shamrock Portland Race and I had a blast! I ended up registering for 2 races due to how spread out they were and the 5K was the first of the morning.

The expo: at the Oregon Convention Center with pick up Friday and Saturday. Easy to get to (I walked from my hotel), but can't speak from a parking stand point. Bit of a walk around some interior construction this year, but plenty of space once you were in the expo. Bib pick up was painless, just remember to have your QR code pulled up, as they scan it and assign your bib based off your distance there at the expo. Shirt pick up just as easy. I would bring your own bag though, there weren't bags passed out. Plenty of vendors and races to visit and if you're looking to buy stuff, keep in mind no sales tax in Oregon!

Race Start Time 8 AM

Location: downtown Portland along the river

The course: the 5k is out and back for the most part, though you due a bit of an outpouch by turning onto Taylor, then SW 2nd, followed by W Salmon before getting back on SW Naito Parkway Drive. A little bit of a hill, but nothing compared to what the 15K and half marathon deal with. 1 water stop that I saw on course, miles were marked and it's a fairly quick race!

Post Race: be ready to join in a morning long party. Plenty of food trucks, music, post race refreshments, beer garden, soup, etc. Medals for the 5K this year as well, that was new this year.

Overall, a fun race and an easy way to get the entire family involved if you didn't want to get in on the longer distances.