As I said in my race recap, the volunteers really made the Paso Robles Marathon a great event.
It was held on October 16th at the Le Vigne Winery in Paso Robles; there was also 2 person relay (so essentially a half marathon) that started at 7:30am with the full and a 5k an hour later.
If you register before July 1, the full is only $80, the 2 man relay is $110 and the 5k is $35.
Y’all know that I love big races; NYC is a favorite of mine. The crowds and the energy make it so exciting, but there’s something that feels just plain good about a small, all volunteer, not-for-profit race.
And that’s exactly what this race is: everyone’s out there volunteering and all proceeds go to the local rotary club which then in turn sponsors charities like Julius Achon’s.
PRE RACE
I picked up my packet race morning right before 7am with no hassle, but you could also pick it up Saturday afternoon. Since I was there about 40 minutes before the start, there was plenty of free parking along the road at the winery.
For only a 2 year old race, the swag bag wasn’t bad… I’ve seen much barer!
7:30am was a good start time because it was light out but not warm; it ended up being great running weather for the whole race and never really got warm.
TIP: Since it’s a small race, you could definitely pick up your race packet the morning of and not worry about parking or even being there super early.
As might be expected with a smaller, low budget race, the timing tags were ankle bracelets instead of D or B chips, but these ones were wrapped in a neoprene-like fabric. I’ve worn them before and they’ve bugged me with the rubbing, but this one didn’t rub at all. I felt like Lindsey Lohan with the sweet house arrest/alcohol monitoring anklet on and if I ran too far, police would come chase me down.
COURSE
The elevation chart makes it look worse than it really was:
The first half was hillier than the second, but it was pretty much all rolling hills, nothing steep but nothing completely flat either…
But the course was really pretty: we ran through a lot of vineyards and farmland. I even saw a couple goats, donkeys and horses:
Because it’s a rural, small race, this would be a great race to run with a friend if you need the noise and distraction to keep you from getting bored. I run nearly all my runs alone so it didn’t bother me to run the whole thing solo; sometimes I couldn’t even see another runner.
But if you would get bored with that, definitely bring music.
The course is pretty much a large loop which is nice because you don’t have to worry about getting transportation back to your car at the finish. And you’re already at a winery!
COURSE SUPPORT
There were aid stations about every 2 miles, most with water and Gatorade. Later in the course around mile 15 and 18ish gels were handed out.
There definitely weren’t a lot of spectators, but they were all really friendly. From an old man just walking down the road to a guy offering water in his driveway, everyone was super nice… I think it’s that whole small town thing where people can smile at each other and not wonder if they’re gonna get robbed or stabbed in the back.
TIP: The weather was really mild so I thought the aid stations were plentiful enough, but if you’re used to taking in more fluids than every 2 miles, bring a handheld bottle or hydration belt.
POST RACE
I didn’t stick around for very long since I had to rush to shower and check out of our hotel, but I saw a few tents with drinks and such.
Going along with the theme of the whole race, there wasn’t a lot of “stuff” but there was friendly people.
The light blue and purple tech tee was cute and in women’s sizes. score.
SUMMARY
This is really a no-frills, small town, simple race – It’s a nonprofit race that’s only in its’ 2nd year. But what it has going for it is a great, scenic location in wine country and a lot of smiling, friendly faces.
If you like the smaller races like this girl and this girl do, I’d definitely recommend running this race. I’d rank it 8.23 out of 10 so go try it out next year!
This is one of my favorite pictures from the race: the vineyards on both sides of the road with the old white fence lining it. Just makes me want to start singing Jason Aldean’s Dirt Road Anthem. except I can’t sing. or dance. or do anything artistic.
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I think you should run RnR New Orleans. If you register by midnight tonight you can get $55 off if you use coupon code SAINTSWIN.
http://complicatedday.blogspot.com/2011/10/huge-discount-for-rnr-new-orleans-today.html
And now a comment that pertains to your post, lol. I am going to seriously think about that race next year because we want to do wineries sometime, too! I think that would be a fab vacation: marathon followed by a few lazy days of wine tasting.
I really want to visit the wineries in the Okannogan of BC. I’ve heard that the best way is to rent a few bikes and cruise around sampling vino. However, bikes could go badly depending on how much wine is consumed.
By the way, since you did your post on the Madonna Inn I’ve been really inspired to check it out! I showed my mom the hotel and we both agreed that it would be really fun to visit, however, the Vous room gave us the creeps.
Do it! I’m orginally from BC but live in Alberta now. This summer we toured a bunch of wineries outside of Kelowna and Vernon and it was amazing, they have tours that are very reasonably priced that take you from one to the next, so you can drink all you like lol! I’m not much of a wine person but I had an amazing time and could still really appreciate all the lovely flavors. The people are SOO nice too and the weather is amazing in the summer.
Great review!!
Maybe Paso next year…sounds beautiful, cute shirt…okay I’m sold!!
That race looked wonderful. Just my kind – small – not too many runners and people are friendly but none of the buckets of sponsors and ‘we want to shove our stuff in your face’ kind of thing.
And quiet is a good thing – the only thing I want to hear when I run is the sputtering gasps of me trying to breath and the sound of my shoes hitting the pavement.
That ankle tag is nuts. I’ve never seen anything like that before.
Your swag bag was better than mine at the Hartford Marathon and that’s a pretty big race.
I think I do better at the big races because I need the crowd support. Those last six miles are killer!
That ankle tag would have drove me nuts! Seems like the race was well-managed and stress-free to run. Even if it was a bit boring, at least there was beautiful scenery to look at. Thanks for the review
The scenery looks beautiful
I love reading your race reviews, really gives me an idea of what I’m in for in the future.
Great review! Love your shirt and medal. I’m doing a smaller marathon in Galveston in Feb. (after Marine Corps – 5 days!) and looking fwd to it.
Sooo, do you have a special SR equation to get to that 8.23?
I do like the small ones, though I couldn’t resist $44 for Rock n Roll New Orleans yesterday, so, I will be running with the RnR unwashed masses.
And that is a weird timing chip – I wonder if it is also used for tri’s. They have some kind of ankle-chip business.
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