I run 2019 Bellingham Bay Marathon from South Korea. Really nice ocean view and cheer for me many people. So amazing experience for me. I think really hard to participate in BBM again...because of long distance and time...but someday I want to run Bellingham. Hope you enjoy Bellingham ocean!!

I thoroughly enjoyed the race. I am generally not that crazy for point to point courses due to logistics, but this is an exception The facility at the startline on the Lummi Nation was a perfect place to hang out, stay comfortable and warmup pre-race. They even had coffee. The pre-race ceremony was a nice touch too. (Thank you Lummi Nation). Buses to the start were well organized. Bag check went smoothly at both ends. The course is rolling, but no really difficult climbs. I like that in a course. The scenery was varied from ocean to trees to farmland. I saw earlier posts complaining about runner bottlenecks. The organizers must have fixed that, as I had no difficulties managing runner traffic. I did see a train that some spoke of, but fortunately it didn't affect my race. (Luck of the draw). It was good to see tons of the kids manning aid stations, marshalling the course and just generally cheering. The weather was perfect for racing. Locals say that can vary a bit. This was our first time to Bellingham, but we plan on returning at some point to explore the many running routes in the area.

Loved the start at the Lummi Nation School. The chant done by the tribal members had to be the coolest pre-race thing I had ever seen/heard. Course is spectacular, but definitely not a flat course. Some uphill rolling in the first 7 - 8 miles, then flat, then a couple of significant hills. However, I wish I had known about the two TRAIN CROSSINGS. We were told about this the night before. I was stuck at nearly 24 miles standing around waiting for a train, and it killed my momentum. Even with the adjustment, it added a good 1 - 2 minutes to my time due to legs stiffening up while waiting. I won my age group after the adjustment, but it was not done in time for awards there. Course is beautiful, just wonderful scenery. If I did it again, it would just be for an enjoyable jog instead of having trained for a goal race. Also, course was very crowded with slow walkers/ joggers in the last couple of miles due to the half marathon being put on. It starts at 9 and is on the last half of the marathon course. There has to be a better way to do this.