I ran the Timpanogos Half Marathon on Saturday and it was a great race! The sign up online was seamless, the website is clean and easy to navigate with all of the essential information posted. Email and communication leading up to the race was very good and timely. Race day went very smoothly. Parking was at(or near) American Fork High School and you loaded busses there to take you up to the start line. I arrived shortly after 4:30 and the line for the busses was long, but moved quickly. The volunteers had everything very well organized, counting people in line to know where to break the line for each bus. They had plenty of busses to move people. The starting line was well marked, with a good number of port-a-potties. There weren’t that many trash cans available, which was one of the only negatives of the startling line. The race started right on time. It was one of the most efficient starts to a race I’ve seen! The race course(although a little long) was well marked and the aid stations were well staffed, with water and powerade, restrooms, and some with GU and orange slices. I loved that this race gave BIG cups of liquid, as opposed to the tiny dixie cups that are used in most races. The pace team I ran with was excellent — encouraging, well informed, excited to be out there. I loved this course! The best race course I have ever ran! With a loss of 1,700 feet it is a fast course(I got a PR!), but the course was beautiful, too. We started under the moonlight, just as day was breaking and the mountains were majestic! Add a babbling stream, tall trees, and you have a great morning run. After mile 7, the course went onto paved trails behind a golf course and neighborhoods. Street crossings were manned by local police. The finish line was at American Fork High School, on the track, which was great! My only complaints was that the finish line was a little congested. They had good stuff after you got your medal(wet towelettes, photo ops, etc.), but it was all on the track, with not a lot of space to walk through between the lines and people standing around. It would be better to have everything but the post race refreshments on the grass, where the fun jumps and other booths were. Also, the post-race refreshments were a little weak; no bottles of water or sports drink, or prefilled cups. Just jugs of water you had to pour yourself, creamies, and chick-fil-a, which maybe some people like after a run, but to me, sounded awful. Some bananas or oranges or carbs would have been better. The medals and t-shirts were awesome! I would love to come up to UT every year to run this race!
