I traveled to San Francisco from Dallas with 12 of my run friends to run the Rock n Roll San Francisco half on April 7. I was intrigued by the opportunity to run across the Golden Gate Bridge and the experience was everything I hoped it would be! The course was difficult with some very tough hills and inclines but the views were worth the climb. I loved the course. The views were spectacular. The Run to Remember mile up one of the more steep hills was very moving with the photos of fallen soldiers and people holding American flags to change the focus from how tough the hill was to how fortunate I was to have the freedom and ability to run.

The expo was decent and I liked the location of both the expo as well as the start/finish lines of the course. The only thing that I wasn't satisfied with was the shirt design this year. I have run several Rock n Roll races and the shirts are usually great but this particular design was very ugly and low-budget in appearance. Also, the new system of using LED lights at the start instead of traditional corrals was very confusing. I couldn't hear what the announcers were saying and I couldn't figure out where I was supposed to be and when. I ended up missing my Corral 2 wave start (although I was there over an hour early) and had to start with Corral 3 just because of the confusion in the start area and not hearing or seeing when my color was supposed to go.

However, the post-race area was great! A lot of great post-race snacks and rehydration options were offered, more than I've gotten in many marathons I've run and this was just a half.

Overall, this was a great experience. I enjoyed the race and the course and it was one of the most memorable races I've run!

This was my first time running the Irving Marathon and I must say I was not impressed. I registered several months ago for the half. The race had done a good job with promoting the event and social media and I thought it looked like they were really working on making it a premier race in the area. The race made a big deal about registering early in order to get a personalized bib. However, upon packet pickup, there were no names on the bib as promised. The packet pick-up on Friday was a mess with long lines and my bib had been misplaced and I had to be reassigned a new bib at the last minute. However, the biggest error was for a good friend of mine who also ran the half. He had registered for the half-marathon the week before which means he paid the highest price for the race. He came in from Houston and had a friend pick up his packet on Friday. He was given a Fun Run bib with the same number as his half-marathon bib was supposed to be but neither he nor the friend picking up the packet realized it did not have a chip. He ended up running his best half-marathon with a PR according to his watch and was probably in the top of his age group; however, after the race when we couldn't pull his results, we realized his bib did not have a chip. He tried to resolve this with Run Far USA , the chip timing company, but it really wasn't their fault. It was really the Irving Marathon staff who gave him the wrong bib. He still has not be able to get in touch with anyone to get this huge error rectified.

I liked the shirt design and material but once again, the size small was huge and swallowed me. Another race shirt I can't wear because the sizing was off.

I liked the location of the race at the Toyota Music Factory and parking was easy if you arrived early. However, there were only about 10-12 portapotties in the start line area which was NOT sufficient for 1000-3000 runners. All of the businesses were closed or not allowing public use of restrooms. I did not get to use the restroom before the race although I arrived an hour early.

The race course itself was okay, not very interesting. They had to change the course last minute due to flooding from recent so perhaps the original course was better. They had adequate number of aid stations but they used very small cups (size of mouthwash cups) that were not filled and there was no consistency on whether the station would provide Gatorade or water or both or in what order. It was a very warm and humid day and I had to grab 2-3 cups at every aid station to get enough fluids since they were not filled or didn't have much in each cup. I heard that for runner later in the race the aid stations had run out of cups. This is NOT good especially since it was so warm and fluids were crucial, especially for runners running the full marathon. I'm not sure how this was rectified but I talked to several runners after the race that really struggled due to not having adequate hydration toward the end of the race.

Then at the end of the race, we were only provided with mini-size water bottles (6 oz), chips, and green bananas. My banana was so green it was not edible. The small water bottles were not adequate for replenishing fluids on such a warm day after running 13.1 miles.

Positives were that free race photos were provided and the location for finish line festivities worked well. The medals were nice as well.

I feel that for the price of the race it was really lacking in many areas. Irving has a lot of room for improvement on race production and management with the biggest areas of concern being packet pickup process, more porta-potties for the number of runners, aid station management and providing enough hydration, and finish line hydration/refueling.....ESPECIALLY for those running a full marathon it was not adequate.

Irving has potential to be a better race experience but there is a lot of work to be done by the race directors to take care of some of the basic things that runners need and expect when they pay their hard-earned money to participate.

The Hot Chocolate 15K in Dallas has become an annual tradition for me and I enjoy the race every year, although the past 3 years have all been very cold. The swag that includes the super nice jacket, the organization of the race, the free race photos, and of course the post-race treats (hot chocolate, melted chocolate with lots of dipping goodies) are always well-worth battling the cold temps. I think this race is a great value for all that runners receive for participating. Also, the medal for the 15K is always a big, heavy, blingy medal that makes a nice addition to any medal collection. The Hot Chocolate 15K is a race that will continue to be a staple of my running calendar each year.

The Cowtown is an organized and well-produced race. I would not be interested in running the full marathon here but it was a great half-marathon course. It has some tough hills especially the last 4-5 miles of the race but that adds to the feeling of accomplishment at the end. Arriving early and parking at the Dickies Parking Arena is key. Easy in and out there and it’s free and a short walk to the course start. Great medals and great finish line where lots of spectators can access the final mile. The only things I think need improvement was that I never saw the Gu offered along the race course at any aid stations as promised and the race shirts were very odd-fitting. I ordered a women’s small as I usually do for all race shirts and it was too big and just hung off of me and the V-neck made it a very awkward fit. The race shirt and the finisher shirt were the exact same shirts, just different colors so I can wear neither of them due to the strange fit. It’s always nice when the finisher shirt is a different style (i.e. long sleeve instead of short sleeve, etc.) than the race shirt but in the case you just got two of the same shirt with a different color. I think winter races should always offer a long sleeve finisher shirt. Other than being disappointed with the swag, I enjoyed the race. There was plenty of room along the course and I did very minimal weaving around crowds even from the very beginning. I ended up with a half-marathon PR on this course.