Real runner feedback on course feel, crowd support, aid stations, and logistics (parking, hotels, restaurants).
This is a 1 mile loop that starts .2 miles from the finish line. The 5k and half marathoners start at 8:00 and the 10k and marathoners start at 8:03. I didn't mind the 1 mile loop since I knew my location at every point. This is my 4th marathon and shaved 14 minutes off my previous PR.
Water/Gatorade every loop with enthusiastic high school volunteers. The last 8 miles I walked through the water station but made the effort to complete the loop each mile.
Great restaurants in downtown Dublin. Definitely advise staying at host hotel. Not fancy but easy logistically
No pace groups faster than 3:25 - despite what was advertised.
The downhill in the first half of the course is severe. The cardio benefit is surpassed by the negative impact the downhill takes on the body. I slowed significantly from miles 14-20 and actually picked up the pace a bit once I hit the last couple of miles on the flat in Azusa.
Lots of parking, good finish line support.
I realize the organizers had no control of the weather, and all the more reason they should have cancelled. Exactly a mile of course to prepare and over a third of it was covered in ice and snow. No portalets. No promised timing displays. And if this is a race for people desperate to qualify for Boston, how could you possibly use gun time? If you can't get portalets on the course you have no business running a race or being sanctioned. Period.
Avoid this and take a serious look at any future Premier event.