Since it is a point to point course, I was instructed to park at the finish and take a shuttle to the starting line. I was told to take the 5:30 am shuttle. I only live 10 minutes from the finish but I ended up sitting in traffic for about 45 minutes. Parking was plentiful but the shuttle scene was a little crazy. There were lots of lines and little in the way of volunteers to help you find your way. I hopped in a line and waited about 10 minutes for a bus. There was still more traffic heading to the start because of some people elected to be dropped off there. I hustled to the start right just as my wave was going.
It was kind of nice to be rushed to start because I didn't have time to think, I just went with the crowd. The course has a lot of gentle rolling hills so you could see the thousands of people running ahead of you. It was nice to experience being part of a surge and you could feel the momentum of all those individuals collectively running. A lot of runners had messages for Boston on themselves which was emotional and uplifting at the same time. Even some of the sports photographers were wearing Red Sox hats. There were also a lot of people running as part of charity teams and that was inspiring too, it really does restore your faith in humanity to watch a marathon.
The course itself is really breathtaking, lots of ocean views and million dollar properties. People were outside cheering and that added to the excitement. Gretchen, from Real Houswives of Orange County, was out cheering at mile 3. She was very casual and out by herself without a single camera guy in sight. Maybe Slade was running?
The only major bummer of the race was at the Mile 4 water stop, no water. It was chaotic and I didn't want to waste time waiting for water to show up so I moved on. The rest of the water stops seemed reasonably stocked, but I do recall one only having Gatorade left. I made the executive decision to drink whatever was available and avoid hitting another stop without any beverages.
I had a lot of fun running this race, it was nice to have a lot of downhills to coast on and I managed to PR by almost 7 minutes. The finish line was a little blah, they were really rushing you through and the food and water weren't easily available. Once you got past the finish line and into the after party area things were better, for starters free beer, tacos and massages.
There was a live band and lots of people were enjoying the music and free Dos Equis. Wahoo's Tacos are a sponsor so they provided the tacos. Massage Envy was also there providing massages to the runners and they were really efficient at getting you through the line and onto the massage table. Thankfully, the party was really fun because trying to get in your car and leave was not.
I did not intend to stay at the party, but my car was blocked in and lines of traffic were snaked around the parking lot. I changed into my sweats and headed back into the party but would've preferred to go home and have breakfast with my family. Even after an hour and half I still had to wait to get my car out and sit in another 20 minutes of traffic before I could leave the parking lot.
I plan on doing this race again because the course was gorgeous and fun. The after party was also pretty choice. The organizers said that they are looking into ways to fix the problems that occurred yesterday and overall for a race that large the problems weren't too major.
What are your determining factors in whether to run a race again?
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| Happy Cinco De Mayo |
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