The Great Race of Agoura is made up of a bunch of different races: there’s the trail Chesebro half that I ran, the Pacific Half that’s on roads, a 10k, 5k, Kid’s Mile and a family fun run. So pretty much a race for everyone. Unless you’re Dean Karnazes and need to run 90 miles in a day.
It was held on March 27th and this year was the 25th annual race, and it has been consistently rated LA’s best running event and best post-race party. I forget how much it cost to enter, about $70 maybe.
THE EXPO
I didn’t go to the expo; I had a friend pick my race packet up so I can’t really say much about it. But we did get a sweet nylon bag full of goodies from it: a frisbee, mini Clif bar, a portable water cup (at least that’s what I think it is) and some other things. The race tee was also nice, a long sleeve technical tee.
THE COURSE
Most of the Chesebro half is on trails. The race starts at the top of the hill so you get a nice descent right off the bat. For about 3 miles you run on roads and then get to the trails. These are legit trails: you have to really watch where you step and jump, etc. There were a couple big hills and one long switchback. But, it is so beautiful out there. The weather was gorgeous, the trails were clean, it was just naturally beautiful.
This is NOT an easy course, but it is fun and very pretty. After about 8 miles of trails, you finish the race back on the roads. There are 2 small hills at the finish but nothing bad at all.
THE COURSE SUPPORT
There wasn’t much course support in terms of water because everything had to be biked in. I think there were maybe 4 water stations? At mile 10 they were handing out Clif shot bloks, but I think they should have been earlier on the course. just my opinion…
There were quite a few spectators on the road parts which was nice too. Obviously, there wasn’t anyone out on the trails.
THE AFTER-PARTY
This is what really makes this race: the after-party. Hands down, the best I’ve ever been to. There were 3 or 4 huge blow up bouncers for kids. or me.
There were tons of vendors there as well as food booths giving out free food! Whole Foods had a tent with crepes, although the line was really long so we didn’t bother. Rubio’s was handing out samples of their Mexican food; there was pizza as well as fresh bread from Great Harvest Bread Company. Don Francisco’s was giving out coffee.
Dole was the main sponsor of the race so there were tons of bananas, oranges, fruit cups and juice cans being handed out. All of the booths were really generous with their freebies. As well as the food and drink samples, we got bandaids, gum, a coffee mug, letter openers, chip clips, all sorts of crazy stuff!
Summary
Do this race! It’s fun and challenging. If you haven’t ran a trail race before, you have to try one. Be prepared to run a little slower; trail running is kinda difficult. I’d rate this race a 9.87 out of 10, the highest SR has ever rated a race!
My Tips
~Train on hills; this is a hilly course with a few killer hills.
~Bring your own water. If I ran this again, I would bring my own hydration because there really isn’t enough on some parts of the course.
~Stay for the after-party and be ready to receive lots of samples and freebies!
~Bring your kids and run the Kids Mile or the family fun run; this is definitely an event geared towards families.
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
You look so happy and gorg in that race photo! BTW look at all that swagggggg. BTW I request your hubby to write a guest post!!!!
he first has to learn how to write…
pleeeeeeeeeeease tell me you really did go in the blow up bouncer!! what an awesome race too, if i lived closer (or traveled more ha) i’d do it in a heartbeat
What a cool race!! I love when you recap!
Sounds fun! So jealous of that swag!
That is such a great pic of you running! You’re smiling =]
That is an awesome trail picture of you! Hope you have a great Easter weekend!
It looks like such a great race. My boyfriend grew up in Agoura so we are thinking about running in the 10k or the Pacific half next year…we are both way too chicken to do the Chesboro Half (but who knows…maybe we’ll be braver in a year).
It is sort of an unstated “rule” that on any trail race you bring your own water and/or food. It is just a whole different ball game compared to road races. The aid stations are generally for “extra” support in addition to what you bring.
I have heard nice things about this race before too and had friends run it this year. I might have to add this to my list of races to try!! Sweet schwag!
Looks like a great race!! And awesome giveaways
Hahaha, you managed to get a pic of my sister me and my bf (in the photo right below the one of you running), too funny
MUST know where you found those cute dresses from a few posts back. I’m going to Reno at the end of this month and want to get a few cute dresses!
I LOVE your blog, but am a little dissapointed at the amount of freebies you grabbed from the race. Save some for us SLOW people! I cannot tell you how many times I have made it across the finish to see empty tables caused by strictly by greedy speedsters or people running a shorter distance. The workers probably don’t care how much you take because they get to go home as soon as it all gone so I believe it is the responsibility of all runners to be considerate of people coming in after them!
even though that picture was three people’s worth of stuff and not just mine, i get what your saying and next time i will keep that in mind and not be a little greedy runner!