I ran the NorCal Marathon this past weekend. Very nice organizers and the race seemed to run smoothly. One suggestion would be not to advertise a fast course when it is not. This course is a rolling downhill for the first half followed by a rolling uphill the second half. Much of the course is run on a dirt trail with the resulting dust. The second half is run directly into the sun with very little shade and this year the temperatures went into the 80's. No crowd support. Additional toilets would have been helpful at the start as dozens of people missed the gun while standing in long port-a-potty lines. I'm sure the race will improve and I would recommend this race to those who enjoy the solitude of quiet trail runs.

If you want to ruin a good pair of shoes, they have got the marathon course for it. You run mostly on gravel, in the heat with not enough water stations in between. There is no expo but a packet pick up with the organizer running late to the event while the runners wait for them in a long line.

The only good thing about this race was the volunteers. Let's hope the ones who will run it next year will have a better experience.