San Fran Diva 5k (which is really in Burlingame)

We had a...a...well, Sophie and I had a good time.  Emma thought she had a good time while the race was going on, but realized afterwards that she had gone off course.  I guess I have mixed feelings about this one.

There were way too few potties.  Considering this was mostly a woman's race, this should be a no brainer.  You need extra, or at least the normal amount of potties.  The race also started late. Also, apparently they thought the first finishers would be coming in between 25 - 30 minutes (Brian said they announced this over the sound system after the race started).  Well...this should also be a no brainer.  Flat road 5k...your looking between 16 - 20 minutes for your first 5ker in a mostly ladies race, possibly 15 minutes if you have speedy men in there. Turned out that the finishing shoot was still blocked with a barricade when the first finisher came to it.  Brian watched her stop, look at it, and then continue running straight down the trail past it.  He took off after her and got her back to the shoot and Brian and some other dudes moved the barricade that was blocking the course.  I find this to be inexcusable.

While Sophie and I were running with the majority of the crowd and knowing where to go was just a matter of following the herd in front of you, Emma was much closer to the front of the pack, where the runners were more spread out.  She and quiet a few others missed a key turn that took you to the one and only aid station, and directed you off the road and onto a trail right along the bay.  So Sophie and I were running a really beautiful, bay side trail past hotels and over a wooden bridge, while Emma was a few blocks over running back down the road that we had ran out on. Eventually the road meets back up with the trail, and when she saw runners on the trail, she cut over and got on the trail.  She didn't realize what had happened as she thought the 5k's were on the road and the 13.1's must have been on the trail (they weren't).  She managed to lengthen her course to 3.2, but at least the cut back over in time to not miss the boas and tiara station.  She finished around the 29 minute mark, official results are not posted yet.

So...those are a few areas they really need to improve as these are not miner things as far as races go.  Those are actually pretty significant problems that should not be reoccurring!

There were a lot of things I really liked about the race, though.  The expo was pretty decent for a 13.1/5k.  For the price of this run ($35 for the 5k) you really get a lot!!  We got nice  re-usable bags, nice v-neck tech shirts, tiaras, pink feather boas, roses at the finish, nice, heavy, glittery medals handed to you by half naked firemen, plastic flutes of champagne or ginger ale w/the race logo on them, the normal post race food, and a large finisher area.

While the race was happening, Sophie and I had a really good time!  She set the pace and we ran the first half with our friend Diane (Mrs. NotTHATLucas), and her granddaughter, Darci, who is Sophie's age.   It was pretty much a sea of pink and tutus, lots of sun, and running. The second half was just Sophie and I and it was also a much prettier half than the first.  We were on a trail right along the water for most of it and it was really pretty. The aid station was large and there was plenty of liquids and volunteers.  Near the finish we hit the tiara and boa station and got our goods, then we were at the finish shoot.  Sophie kicked in like nobodies business, passing nearly every person in the shoot, it was pretty awesome! : ) Right after the finish we were handed roses, and then our medals....why can't every race end like this??  After that was food, and then the drinks.  We hung around for a bit and then had to get going as Brian had a talk in Pleasanton to give at noon.  So, yeah.  I really enjoyed running with Sophie and we had a good time....but there are some pretty major things that need fixed that were going on while I was having fun w/Sophie...so that leaves me feeling sort of "meh" about this race.
(I'm going to go ahead and post this now while I put together a picture post, which I will post date so that it will be under this post....gimme about 20 minutes and it'll be up)