We weren't quite sure what to expect out of this half marathon outside of a recommendation from someone who ran the Run The Reservoir 15k, and a couple of mass emails from the race organizers to registrants leading up to the race. Honestly, we signed up without looking too much at the website, and decided to run it on a whim because we felt so good after the Willow Tree Half Marathon.
There were 4,039 finishers in the half marathon, plus a field of runners in a 5 mile race.
The course went from the Seaport in South Boston up to about Harvard and back. MUCH of the course was an out and back on Memorial Drive, and given a bit cooler temperatures and less humidity, this might have been really nice, because the view of the Charles River was phenomenal. Unfortunately, we both came away from the race just remembering how HOT we were on this (long) section of the course. The entire field of about 4,000 runners also had to turn around at a cone in the road at about mile 6 or 7, which was the "out" of the out and back. This was slightly annoying because with that many people it was definitely a pace interrupter.
There were several water stops along the route about every 3 miles which we felt were totally adequate as far as where they were located. They could have been organized a bit better --- often we had to go to the table and search for a cup of water or Gatorade. Additionally, there didn't seem to be any garbage cans at the water stop. I understand that many people don't use them, but some do- and it really would have helped because there was a lot of debris to run through.
Here's a personal pet peeve that we had --- runners, if you're going to use Gu and you're NOT at a water stop, please, PLEASE hold on to it, stick it in your pocket (or wherever you just took it out of), but please DON'T throw it on the ground. The race volunteers will pick up the debris that's left on the ground at the water stop, but they're not out on all 13.1 miles of the course to pick up your Gu wrappers. We were just feet from the Charles River and there was, what we felt to be a LOT of litter on the course. As runners, we enjoy nature, the environment, a clean earth, whatever you want to call it - so we really should not be the ones to ruin it. Please.
Back to the rest of the race --- Great views of Boston Gardens on the way back, nice section of Comm Ave, and a quick trip through Downtown Crossing and the Financial District back to the finish.
Mixed reviews on the finish. For the last half mile (at least) you could see and hear the finish line. The last half mile (again, at least) also included a pretty arched bridge, zero shade, and a bunch of silent spectators (seriously, no clapping. at least at the post 2 hour mark). I didn't mind the finish at all. Loved watching the finish line get closer and closer, which got me up the hill on the bridge and helped me power through the heat. Ryan and our friend from
Jog New London really disliked the finish.
Post race there was plenty of food and water, although it was a bit crowded and chaotic. I'm not sure how you avoid that when you're in a city as opposed to a more open park atmosphere and you have over 4,000 people looking for a cool drink.
Other notes - plenty of parking. Lots of porto-potties at the start/finish and EXCELLENT use of pace markers at the start. Really helped avoid a slow first mile filled with people darting in and out.
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