Lake Sammamish Half Marathon

This is a flat and fast race! A lot of my friends have their PR on this course and I do as well.
I have done this half twice now and would be happy to come back in the future. This was very organized and the shirts and metals were great quality (although be warned that the shirts sizes always run small for this one). The shuttles at the end that take you back to the start were very easy to use and left often. The density of runners was great, not too crowded but enough that you could pace with people. They also had some pacers running which is always much appreciated!
My only negative on this run is that darn back and forth they do in the parking lot before the finish. I admit this year was much better that the 2013 course which had a painful number of repeats but when you are at mile 12 it is torturous to be looping around. I always wonder why they don’t add that mileage on at the front at Marymoor instead?
Still a great race and definitely worth it!

Lake Sammamish Half Marathon is probably the easiest run from Evergreen Trail Runs. I thought this would be a good experience before I try more of their runs. I thought the race event itself was well organized and all the volunteers who involved were very nice and friendly.
This race started in Marymoor Park in Redmond and ended in Lake Sammamish State Park in Issaquah. And, there’s shuttle (school buses) dropping participants back to Marymoor after the race. That’s very nice. In addition, Gear check in from Marymoor and Gear check out from Lake Sammamish. I was able to change to dry t-​shirt after the race. I really appreciated that!
If you are looking forward to having your PR, this is a race for you. I would say this trail is all the way flat. My last 4 half-​marathons I had time around 2 hours 10 – 15 mins but this time, I was able to make it under 2 hours. I was very happy with it. In fact, a lot of first time half-​marathoners were very happy with their first one! Highly recommended if you are looking for your first half-​marathon to run!