Berkeley Half Marathon Review

There was only one reason why I decided to run this Half Marathon. Since I ran the Wipro San Francisco Marathon, I was eligible to get a challenge medal. In other words, if you ran any of the races from the SF Marathon, you will get an extra medal for running the Berkeley Half.

Unfortunatly, I was sick 🙁  for about a week prior to this race and I didn’t get to train and taper properly. I was close to cancelling and receiving a DNF but I felt better 2 days before.

Packet Pick up

You had the option to pick it up at Sports Basement or the Pyramid Brewery. I wanted check out the brewery, to see what this place was all about. Parking wasn’t too bad but I had to park on a the street instead of in their lot.

I was surprised how well packet pick up was handled, I was in and out in about 10 minutes. The brewery was full so I didn’t end up eating.

Race Day

Coming from anywhere in the Bay Area, there was only one way to get into Berkley. University st was open but was limited because that’s part of the course. There was paid parking for runners which ranged from $5-$15. Since this course was a one-way ticket, you’d have to take the shuttle back.

I had a surprise for everyone. I wore a Superman Onesie.

I never worn anything like this for a race. I was happy to see people stopping me to take a picture. It gave the runners a happier time. HA!

See my cheering squad’s banner below.

The Course:

It starts out at between Martin Luther King Jr Way and Milvia St on Center.

Photo: Courtesy of BerkeleyHalf

Mile 1-4 Downtown

We went through the residential areas parallel to University Avenue. It had a slight downhill that you could actually use this race as a PR. The scenery did get a bit old and doesn’t show much of Berkeley’s real landmarks.

 

Mile 4-8 The Loop

Personally, I wasn’t a huge fan of this route but it’s great in the beginning if you never ran this area. Since it was cold earlier during the race, at this point, everyone was sweaty! I had to unzip my onesie! At mile 5.5, when you loop around to get GU, it was a beautiful scenery of the Bay.

Mile 8 – 12 Berkeley Marina

Finally! Something away from the urban scenery. This was not all paved roads so you had gravel going into your shoes and this area is where the 10k and 10Miler route comes in. It’s possible that you can get lost and take the wrong one if you’re not reading the signs.

Ouch! This is also where I got the cramp around Mile 10 🙁

Finishing it off

Oh look it’s my cheer squad!..well there was suppose to be more than one person!

The next thing that happens, surprises everyone and people started to walk. There was a hill! Hey Berkeley, we didn’t hear about no hill!

Finishline

As soon as you finished, you get your medal and your SF Challenge medal if you qualified. This area was packed with runners and hard to walk around. The beer line was also pretty long so I didn’t have a celebration at the end. I’m very fortunate that I didn’t have to take the shuttle back because that line was so long!!

And…here’s the end result.