Rose Bowl Half Marathon

I have run the Rose Bowl half three times now, and while there is a sense of accomplishment completing any organized run, this one has been hit or miss.
Although I’m primarily a hill and trail runner, I still feel that the route is a little convoluted. You start off on pavement south of the Rose Bowl, but soon you’re heading down the Arroyo along a dirt path, over unnecessary obstacles like concrete blocks and river stones, turning across an arbitrary bridge, and heading back up the other side of the wash. Not exactly inspiring… Worse yet is that the route passes right past the hallowed ground –twice – where my brother Matt, and scores of other poor tortured souls over the years, jumped to their deaths from the Colorado St. Bridge.
So after that emotional roller coaster run, the route heads north around the around the Bowl, up a narrow and downright hazardous trail on the face of Devil’s Gate Dam, through Oak Grove Park, across several of JPL’s auxiliary parking lots, and then back down towards the Rose Bowl.
Two years ago, rain turned this mostly into a mud run; last year construction at the Rose Bowl made the finish line this arbitrary spot on the outside of the Rose Bowl instead of on the 50 yard line as promised, and this year, there were only 400 entrants for the half. C’mon Pasadena, can’t you do better?
Lots of kid volunteers, water stops, goo packs, and red vines made this fun, but really, not as fun as it could be for my home town half.
The goodie bags are weak for the price of this run, and the packet pick up policy is ridiculous. $ 10 dollars to park is insult to injury… Like, just add the ten bucks to the registration price, and don’t make me find a Hamilton the morning if the race in the pockets that don’t exist in my running shorts.
Seriously, you can run anywhere, and usually for free. Make this worth our dollars and our while, guys, or there won’t be a 2015 race.

This is my 3^rd half marathon but first time doing this one.
Pros: friendly volunteers, scenic course, cute t-​shirt, ample parking. I appreciate the grapes available after the race.
Cons: let’s be honest, this is NOT a good race for beginners. The majority of the course is unpaved trail, which really tires your ankles out. about mile 6.5, you hit a steep steep hill that is loose dirt and rocks. Narrow and dangerous, especially when fast runners are hurtling downhill. Insufficient water stations on the tough back end. No medics if someone ate it. Race starts at 8 am so by the time you are hitting the toughest part of the course, there’s no shade which wears you down further. Beer garden shut down super early, while runners were still coming in. No Pacers and no corrals so just a giant mass of runners all taking off. It’s nice to have pacers because it keeps you on track and/​or can serve as a nice motivator. But there weren’t any.
Other bummers: T-​shirt sized super small and no way to change it because they ordered Exactly the specific quantities. I realize shirts usually run a little small, especially because I tend to prefer my tees a little loose so I ordered women’s XL… and got a shirt that will fit my 14 year old niece snugly. No real expo to speak of.
This would be ideal for advanced runners who are looking to get into some trail running. For me, the course was really too much, especially given the heat. I missed the expo and the fun of wandering around post race because they took everything down so early.

This review is for the half marathon, 10k, 5k, kids race put on in Feb by Pacific Sports.
Competitor Group no longer has a Rock N Roll half in Pasadena, grass roots Pasadena Marathon was plagued with issues and is now dead. Pacific Sports has done a nice job with this event — offer 3 distances and the half marathon course is all right around the Rose Bowl neighborhood, which makes logistics a bit easier.
Overall the race was very well organized and went off without a hitch. It is nice to be able to finish in the stadium itself. Nice t-​shirts and medals for all (including the kids).
Recommendations for improvement:
1) Stagger the 10k and 5k starts — my wife got stuck behind some walkers for the 5k and she was running the 10k.
2) Better surface on the running path into the Rose Bowl. There is a slope where they put carpet down and unfortunately some spots were slippery. This could be dangerous /​folks could fall.

Positives:
1. Lots of water stops and even Cliff Shots
2. Tech shirt was nice
Negatives:
1. Very expensive. Even had a VIP option — for $ 50!
2. This is actually a rough trail run. I didn’t get that from the description on the website. Some of the trail is hard-​packed gravel horse trails spent avoiding horse dung. Some is soft sand or loose gravel. And part is a very steep ROUGH uphill/​downhill narrow large rock path. Quite dangerous. And did I say rough?
3. No bib pickup day-​of-​race (unless spending $ 50 for VIP). There were only 1,500 participants. Bib distribution could have been handled for those few runners before the race rather than making us drive up there twice.
4. Didn’t end in the Rose Bowl as advertised.
Doubt I’ll run this again.

I’ve done this race two years in a row. In 2013 it was the best race, super well run, well organized, great attention to detail.
In 2014 the best part was the best announcer ever returned! Oh, and yes the timing company runs like clock work (pun intended)
In 2014: they advertised the finish line would be on the field like last year. Fail! The field is under major construction.
The route was confusing starting some races in one direction and others in the opposite direction.
Running through the refreshment area of the rose bowl was boring and left the finish flat. Last year the shoots were lined with people cheering.
Communication was poor at best. There were multiple (more than 5) typos in the directions. Really this is something that someone should have looked over.
Volunteers thank you. Although many were kids and to busy being kids at least they were pleasant and helpful. P

I can’t say enough how well-​organized it was. There were plenty of volunteers, ample water and snacks, nice medals and t-​shirts, a closed course (minimizing chances of getting run over), and a generally upbeat atmosphere by the staff. The half-​marathon course is 70% trail, so I wore the right shoes (and so should you). As it happened, a rain storm soaked the hills the night before, ensuring a muddy run, but it wasn’t a deliberate mud run. The trail part of the course is also used by horses, which we learned on race day. There was a lot of careful navigating as a result. Overall, a very positive experience and I would recommend it.

Fun & Organized half marathon event (5 stars)
This morning was my second run (a nice return from 2012), and it was as much fun.
Registering for the event was simple, and there were frequent email reminders and information sent out as the race day got closer.
— easy registration
— quick bib pick up
— nice shirt
— easy parking
— great support along the 13.1 miles
— nice trail run along the Arroyo Seco
— nice views from the Hahamonga State Park
— rain, rain, and more rain … I love running in the rain
— Awesome finish on the 50 yard line of the Rose Bowl
— Fabulous finisher’s medal
— nice expo
I definitely plan to return next year for my third consecutive run.