Overall the run was great, and I would give the event two thumbs up. However, I really was robbed of a PR. My Garmin time said 2:14:22 in 13.25 miles. Chip time was 2:16:20. But here's the thing...the water stations did not have enough volunteers. Since a lot of the course was on trails, runners stayed fairly bunched up rather than spreading out. Huge hoardes would hit the water stations all at once. Instead of cups of Powerade or water being set up and ready to go, the volunteers were furiously trying to pour to keep up. You literally had to wait at most of the stations. At the Gu station, I think it was mile 6, they were so far behind that I actually had to stop, climb behind the table to pull a cup from the cardboard box sitting on the ground, and POUR MY OWN WATER! All told, I'm thinking the slow downs and stoppages at the water stations easily added five minutes to my overall time. I was running well for most of the race--if it wasn't for those screwups, I probably would have come in about 2:10ish.

Because of the drive up to the Bay Area on the day before the race, I probably didn't hydrate as well as I could have in advance. I would definitely plan on drinking more (and worry about making bathroom stops less!) up front.

Just kept moving. Some very light stretching. Drank a bottle of water followed by about half a bottle of Muscle Milk (nasty stuff!). Walked back to the hotel at a good clip...we were up against the check out clock.


The craziness at the water stations. I should probably call them water stops, because that's what they were in many cases.


I would do the event again...it was fun overall. The course was fast and flat, and the scenery was good. Overall organization of the race was good but the water station situation was abysmal. Still, I'm not going to hold that against what was otherwise a good time.