Holiday Half Marathon & 5K

(25^th Half, 2015)
Beginning this year, the Holiday Half will be a yearly pilgrimage of mine… for many reasons.
First, I love the snowflake medals! The Christmas season is up and running, people are embracing the spirit of giving, day after day Christmas carols are playing on the radio… I love it! So receiving snowflake medals – one for the 5k and another for the Half – fits right in. Plus, if you run both the 5K and the Half, you’ll be awarded the Golden Snowflake Challenge medal! Three medals, two races, one weekend.
Second, the Holiday Half is part of the CA Half Series. If you’ve been chasing one of those medals – whether for four, seven, ten, fifteen, or twenty races – the Holiday Half is included, so you’ll be one step closer.
Third, upon running the Holiday Half Marathon three years in a row, you become a member of the Penguin March Club! (I want that medal!) And continuing to run the Holiday Half Marathon consecutively, you’ll receive a different Penguin March Club award each year:
3^rd Year Lil’ Blue Penguin Medal
4^th Year Rockhopper Penguin Pin
5^th Year Humboldt Penguin Pin
6^th Year Macaroni Penguin Pin
7^th Year Royal Penguin Pin
8^th Year Gentoo Penguin Pin
9^th Year King Penguin Pin
10^th Year Emperor Penguin Pin
Those running the Holiday Half Marathon six years in a row will also receive a quality hooded sweatshirt with the Penguin March Club logo. Participants reaching their 10^th consecutive year will be named «Emperor Penguin» and will receive the ultimate Penguin March Club memorabilia! Penguin March Club members, by the way, receive discounts on future events and first notice about registration openings. I’m in!
And last, even though the 5K isn’t that thrilling (for the most part, it’s a trip around Fairplex’s parking lots), the Half is much more scenic: in and around Bonelli Park, along Brackett Airfield, and even a full throttle drag down the Auto Club Raceway. Really, it’s a fun run! There’s even snow at the start line. Yep, this Holiday Half is one I’ll keep running, another reason to look forward to the Christmas season. =]

Three and a half…
The Holiday Half Marathon had a few good things going for it…
Logistics were easy, easy, easy. The might not sound like a huge plus, but it really is when you’re already stressing over a race. This is a very «approachable» race for a beginner. Not an easy course for a PR if you’re a pro (like me, duh), but a good introduction to the world of half marathons if this is one of your first. Race-​day weekend planning couldn’t have been easier. No need to arrive hours before the race.
Gear check was allowed all day, and you were allowed to use whatever bag you wanted. In contrast, many other races require you to use only the provided generic clear bags, and they stop allowing gear checks a set amount of time before a race (usually due to the finish and starting lines being at separate locations).
Parking was a cinch. No need to plan ahead, find a tiny overpriced lot among many, or any of that. There was one giant lot where 99% of people parked their cars (and room to spare for many, many more racers).
Packet pick-​up was also an incredibly smooth experience. No mandatory off-​site expo or anything like that. The «expo» was held right next to the starting line, and you weren’t forced to snake your way past a million vendors just to get your bib. You could literally have picked up your bib and walked to the starting line before you had time to pin it to your clothing. Makes me regret going a full day early for it.
That said, I wouldn’t call it a full four stars, for a few reasons…
The course was fairly boring. Yeah, there’s a decent view of the lake in Bonelli Park. But otherwise, it just wasn’t a very scenic route.
The provided swag was WEAK. Hideous, gigantic-​sized t-​shirt. The «medium» fits like an extra large. This is the only race-​specific shirt that I will never wear ever. There was also no bag provided. Not even like a market bag. They literally hand you your bib and a shirt, and that’s it. No little sample products. Not even random coupons. That’s the only time I’ve been annoyed at not getting random annoying coupons with my «race packet».
Pacers weren’t working in pairs, as they do at many races. Possibly because of this, I believe a few were a bit behind their marks, according to conversations with others.
All in all, this was an interesting race experience. But I think The Holiday Half Marathon is like an awkward middle child when it comes to races. The sheer number of runners means this isn’t a small-​town event by any means. But they managed to make it feel relaxing like it WAS a friendly, local event. That said, it’s at the point where, given the larger number of runners, perhaps a little more attention is needed to get things like bigger name sponsors, some better swag, more information on the website, etc. Cost-​wise, it’s too close to the «big name» events for it to feel so loosely coordinated.

Ran the 2015 Holiday 5K and Half Marathon and had an awesome time! The race was well organized and everything went smoothly. The parking was easy (as long as you parked early), the route for the half marathon was scenic, and the medals were gorgeous as usual! I did the early registration for the Golden Snowflake Challenge where you run both the 5K on Saturday and the half marathon on Sunday. There were other perks as well including a free massage and beer for the half marathon. They also have a costume contest and everyone has cool Christmas-​themed costumes. This year’s costume contest winner dressed as Olaf. Will definitely participate again next year!

I like how you can pick up your bib and shirt the day of the race. For most people who ran this race, they probably drove from LA, and it may take up to more than an hour one way just to get here. So basically you just have to drive here, do the expo, do the race, and drive back and you’re done.
The expo wasn’t really newsworthy, maybe a few freebies like clif bars, and some random booths that sold clothes and nutrition, but nothing big like the LA Marathon expo. And parking was $ 10 at the Fairplex, but that’s ok since it is fairly secure, and I didnt have to worry about finding random street parking. Pretty easy coming in and out of the parking lot.
The course didn’t have any real memorable spots. Sure we ran around a lake and part of a race track, but I didn’t get any «wow» factor. The only good thing I remembered were the hills, not really challenging, but they did mix up the monotony of the lack of scenery along the course. Not a bad a course… but not the best either. I mean… I’m only in Pomona once in a blue moon, so it would have been nice to experience something «Pomona-​like» along the course. Well, whatever, I’m here for the run, and that’s about it. I didn’t pay for scenery, but if you’re reading this and you were expecting something really cool along the course, well… now you know.
But everything else was satisfactory. Volunteers were super cool, aid stations were appropriately placed along the course. I like the Holiday theme, so there were hundreds of runners in their favorite Christmas costumes. And post-​race nutrition giveaway was satisfactory. The snowflake medal is unique and fits well with this December half marathon.
The online price for this event was very reasonable since you get a fair amount of amenities, so if I’m home for the holidays next year and so forth… I wouldn’t mind doing this again. Good job Pomona!
Note to self: 1:45:21 in 2014