Race Reports for Berkeley Half Marathon

[1]

Race rating (4)

Comments: I loved this race. This year's course was awesome. It was super hilly and not fast -- compared to last year's course, which was a net downhill -- but it hit almost all of the best spots of Berkeley. I heard some reports that residents "inside the circle" of the course didn't get enough warning about the race and were stuck all Sunday morning, so it does sound like they can do some better outreach. But I was really impressed with the course support -- both from race volunteers and random Berkeleyites just out cheering -- and the finish in front of City Hall was fun and relaxed (much better than last year's finish in the parking lot of the race track). Given that these race organizers had some troubles with the SF Marathon this year, I'm glad that this race seemed well run.

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[2]

Race rating (4)

Comments: Loved this race! Given it was their first year, there was some chaos at the start and finish, and the start was delayed a few minutes (I listed it as "on time" because I don't think a few minutes is a big deal), but overall I was really impressed with how many volunteers they had and how smoothly things went. It would have been nice to have some more spectators, but after the insanity of NYC I was perfectly happy with a low-key event. I actually really liked all the twists and turns in this race, since it kept the course from ever getting boring, and I always like seeing all of the other runners out there (especially since there were also 10-mile and 10K races that shared much of the course). This is definitely a race I plan to do every year if I can.

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