Completely impressed and so glad we had the opportunity to run the Napa Valley Marathon in 2019. The expo gets 5 stars for offering free beer and wine tastings. The swag gets 5 stars due to the amazing gear bag they were handing out. This baby is very high quality and I will be throwing away all of those puny nylon bags with drawstrings that other events all use. Seriously, this has pockets, zippers and is super high-quality. The race management gets 5 stars as well for having every aspect perfectly nailed down. No drama and no chaos anywhere, it was just very smooth and relaxing to be part of this event. The morning of the race we met at the local high school (which was also the finish line) and school busses drove us to the starting line and dropped us off. No fuss, no muss. The starting line is in Calistoga and was a beautiful location next to a vineyard. Naturally.
The entire course consists of rolling hills, but overall has a net downhill drop. We enjoyed a beautiful view of never-ending vineyards and wineries from Calistoga all the way to Napa.
At the end of the race we enjoyed the soup kitchen and picked up our gear bags in the gymnasium. What can you say about Napa and the famous wine region for a completely enjoyable weekend? It was a blast and we're definitely planning on returning again.