Reviewing the Santa Barbara Newspress Half Marathon….
I’m going to try and be as partial and biased as I possibly can with this race review because I love Santa Barbara and think this is a fantastic race. This was the 33rd year for the city’s largest foot race. It’s a small town-bigger race, about 2400 runners.
THE COURSE
The course is really what rockets this race into the upper echelon of awesomeness. You run by ”Santa Barbara’s central beach community and the exclusive Montecito area. This scenic course passes by a bird refuge, Santa Barbara’s Pacific oceanfront, Stearns Wharf and Shoreline Park.”
The website says that the course is challenging… maybe for someone without legs. The first couple miles are rolling hills, the kind where you aren’t see the hill incline but your legs feel it. Then it flattens out with the exception of a couple small hills around mile 8. The majority of the course is as flat as my unwashed hair and right along the ocean.
THE AMENITIES
There was the standard water and gatorade every couple miles. After the race they gave out water bottles, bananas, bagels, the normal stuff. Nothing crazy going on here.
THE SWAG
People who are mega rad everyone got long sleeve cotton t-shirts. If they’re not breaking the bank for technical tees, I prefer long sleeve because then you can use it as a throwaway shirt for another race. Race officials obviously onsulted me before making their final decision.
A decent shirt if you’re into big bunned blue guys who aren’t wearing pants….
THE POSITIVES
* This race is pretty cheap, only $45 if you sign up by the end of September, and it’s always held the first weekend of November.
*I don’t know where you will run a more beautiful course… unless you run laps in my house.
*Unlike some race destinations, Detroit Motor City Marathon comes to mind (I just made that up, don’t go try to sign up for it), Santa Barbara is a fantabulous weekend getaway. Run the race, then spend the rest of your weekend stalking Oprah and her $85 million house.
*Plenty of free parking, easy to get to the start, walking distance to hotels and downtown.
THE NEGATIVES
*The race didn’t start on time. This is a mega pet peeve of mine. I’ll never get those 5-10 minutes of my life back!!!
*After mile 5, you ran 4 miles out, ran around a cone and then 4 miles back. Simple, no? Well then you have runners running both directions and the “lanes” got confused so people were weaving in and out of each other.
Speaking of weaving…
Real Housewives of Ghettolanta castmember Kim Zolciak’s weave cost $12000 per month. My little pony’s horse hair looks more realistic than her weave.
Um yeah, back to racing… I think the SB Newspress Half is a great race for anyone and everyone, except Kim. It’s laid back and small enough that you don’t have to stress about logistics race morning, but it’s big enough to still feel like a race and not a Saturday morning running group. And $45 for a half where you might get to see Andrew Firestone? so worth it.
Him and his model wife Ivana just had their first child, a boy. This will certainly not stop me from rubbing it in that I destroyed him in the race. No shame in my game…
The race gets a 8.98 out of 10. Historic!
November 11, 2009 at 11:12 AM
Didn’t Kim say on one episode she buys a new wig every week? (Not that I watch the show or anything.) She doesn’t like to wear them more than once, even though they’re over $300 a pop. Oooookay.
Back on topic: sounds like it was a pretty nice race overall! So pretty, too.