Rock N Roll Pasadena Half Marathon

This was my second RnR race, and based on the second experience, you can tell that these guys do a lot with regards to the organization and overall logistics of the whole race experience.
From the very beginning of the race experience, the expo at the Convention center was super organized. I came on a Friday, and it was super empty. No one to push and shove around and plenty of floor space to do whatever you want. They had lots of vendors that gave out plenty of free stuff. It was very easy to get your bib and t-​shirt, and be out the door in less than 20 minutes or less.
You can pay $ 10 for parking at the convention center, or they have $ 1.25 per hour street parking only a few blocks away.
Getting to the race can be a bottleneck since you just can’t pack 10,000 cars in a matter of an hour, so I opted to not pay for their pre-​paid $ 10 parking at the Rose Bowl, and did some research ahead of time and found some free street parking only a half mile away. And you can tell it is was pretty bad after the race, as everyone had some sort of difficulty in leaving.
And as for the race itself, it’s really cool, you get to run down along the historic Colorado blvd in old town Pasadena. But other than that, there was really no super awesome landmarks to get excited about, since running around the Rose Bowl isn’t a rarity in life. Several hills along the course, but it wasn’t that bad. Though your legs might not appreciate it later on the day.
There were plenty of water stations along the course, with 1 Gu station towards mile 9 so you’ll just get enough energy to complete your 13.1 journey strong. The weather during the February timeframe does support ideal conditions and it wasn’t as hot around 9−10am where most people finished the race.
Post-​race was great. Plenty of food for the racers including water, Gatorade, chocolate milk and the Michelob beer garden was the perfect end to just relax and listen to the band while drinking up a nice cold brew.
Overall, I enjoyed this RnR race. It wasn’t as memorable as I wanted it to be. It was just another race with some bands and some hills running back and forth in Pasadena.
Note to self: 1:41:41
Also, there’s some free parking at Forest Ave and West Mountain Road.

I can’t believe I haven’t written a review for this event. I ran this event 2 years in a row and 2 years in a row a PR was earned.
I signed up for this event as a tune up and fitness check prior to LA Marathon. Going into race day I had no idea where I stood speed and fitness wise. I was shooting for 1:50 but actually ran a 1:48 which was hard but awesome at the end.
The expo is pretty small for a Rock N Roll event but still gets the job done. The volunteers are great at speeding you through the expo to pick up your packet. Efficient and friendly.
This course is hilly and has a lot of turns. You start at the Rose Bowl and basically run around Pasadena. On Colorado, down Lake and other streets I can’t remember.
The crowd support was great. A lot of people on the course cheering. Aid stations were ample.
Thank you volunteers for making this event happen!

Love Pasadena — Great Event (4 stars)
I came back for my second Pasadena Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon, and had a blast, finishing at 1:59.
The expo at the Pasadena Convention Center was nice.
The parking was a rip-​off. Next time I’ll park at the aquatic center for free and walk over.
Yes, I plan to return for the 3^rd year.

There are several half marathons in Pasadena and I think this one is the best. The race starts and ends at the Rose Bowl. The course is fairly scenic with a lot of rollers and will take you through parts of Old Town Pasadena as well as crossing the famed suicide bridge. This is definitely not a pancake flat course.
The expo takes place on Friday and Saturday at the Pasadena Convention Center. You can prepay $ 10 at the expo to park at the Rose Bowl or you can pay $ 5 on race morning to park at the Parsons Federal Credit Union parking lot which is about a 1.5 mile walk to the Rose Bowl. I definitely plan to run this race every year!

Just finished this race. Finished a 1:33:34, so not my best race, but i came in 150 out of almost 5000 so overall not bad. I liked the challenging hills, but i did not like that they did not have a 1:30 pace team so i had to judge my own pace which I still suck at. The scenery of the race was nice. Most races run through some trashy hood and this one did not. Parking for me was A BREEZE cuz unlike most suckers i just found street parking in the hood and walked like 8 minutes to the event. They had a ton of porta pottys at the start, the corrals were clearly marked, as was gear check (I ddint use it though), the PA system was loud and proud, the mile markers were almost on the spot accurate with my Garmin, the rose bowl under the shaddow of the hills was beautiful, the water stops were plenty, there were a decent amount of cheerings and bands (which means nothing since its all Disco house in the iPod), and getting to see Deena Kastor run on the other side of the course i was on was neat (star struck haha). The only complaint is that its freezing at the start. Next year the race organizers need to tell God not to freeze my body moments before a race. But in all seriousness, no real complaints aside from the lack of a 1:30 pacer. Had a great time!

This was my first time running a Rock N Roll series event and I can see why their events are pricey: they’re well organized with lots of entertainment!
The expo at the Pasadena Convention Center was pretty small but getting in and out was easy. They had lots of RNR Pasadena themed clothing, pint glasses and jewelry. The tech shirt was made by Brooks and the quality is great.
I prepaid $ 10 for Rosebowl parking and getting in and out was easy. They did a great job funneling cars into and out of the lots around the bowl.
There were plenty of porta potties at the start and a couple tables handing out bananas and bagels before the race. The race got underway right on time at 7:30am. It was pretty congested at the start and heading down Arroyo Blvd. The congestion continued as we headed up the hill on California where nearly everyone around me started walking. I had alot of weaving to do and the course finally opened up a bit at mile 2. At around mile 4, I saw Deena Kastor coming back on Green St and I gave her a shout out. That woman is amazing! The bands playing along the course gave the crowd lots of energy. I enjoyed the taiko drummers on Lake Ave and the reggae band across from the convention center. The DJ on Colorado Blvd next to Jake Billiard’s was fantastic as was the band playing at the turnaround on Lake Ave.
There were a few significant hills along the course on California, Colorado and at the end of Colorado Street Bridge (which is always great to run across) but the challenge is what made the course exciting. The Lululemon cheer squad was out on Colorado with their signs and handing out cups of Skittles. I saw 3 groups of cheerleaders along the course and felt like every mile had some sort of entertainment. There were plenty of water and Gatorade stations stocked with friendly volunteers. The day was heating up fast and the sun came out early and there was no shortage of fluids. There was alot of crowd support for this race, more so than at the Pasadena Half Marathon last year. This is due in part, to the fact that the RNR race was run through a better part of town. My biggest peeve of the race though was the abundance of runners who flat out stopped to walk in the middle of the course when grabbing their water/​Gatorade. FYI-​some of us runners don’t stop so please don’t park it in the middle of the path!
There was a big crowd to welcome finishers at the end and the refreshments were well stocked. They had nonfat chocolate milk (my preferred long run refueling protein/​carb source), water bottles, a large bottle of lemon lime Gatorade, bananas, pretzels, mini Jamba Juice strawberry banana smoothies and Nature Valley granola bars.
I had a great time and set a new PR. I finally got my sub-​2 hour half! I’m already signed up to run this event next year.
Official finish time: 1:58:21

— Great experience
— Parking is ridic, purchase in advance or park at the Parsons lot (still a long walk)
— Course was sick. There’s a portion where your running on Colorado which was cool. Bailing across the bridge was one of the best parts. Overall the area chosen for the run was a success. Moderate amount hills on this course.
— Great distribution of fluids along the way (Gatorade, h2O). Also handing out gummy bears, pretzels, and GU. * (There was a woman handing out oranges, fail)
— The convention the day before entailed a whole bunch of free goodies branding from biofreeze gel to sunglasses, stickers, and tons of discounts .
— I highly recommend this run, even if its just the 5k.

Another great, super organized, Rock and Roll Series race! 5 stars!
Expo: The expo was held at the Pasadena Convention Center. I got there around 5PM on Friday and there weren’t very many people there. You walk inside the convention center hall and immediately pick up your bib, your tshirt, and your backpack. The goodie bags weren’t empty this time! There were some flyers for upcoming races, some samples, and nice coupons for Jamba Juice and things like that.
Race day parking: Was a lot better than last year. I arrived around 5:45AM and there was a line of cars waiting to get in. However, I think that I got parked within 10 minutes. The parking was very organized and there were numerous parking lot attendants directing traffic. I still did not like having to pay $ 10 for parking at the Rose Bowl when there are numerous other races that feature free parking at the Rose Bowl.
Start line: The start line was very close to the parking areas, which was very nice. It was pretty cold at the start, so I’m glad that I didn’t have to stand around in my corral for too long. The announcers were very enthusiastic and the girl who sang the national anthem was awesome! The music at the starting line added to the energy.
Course: There were several medium hills along the course. There were numerous bands, DJs, cheerleaders, and spectators along the course. The course was great! The mile markers were placed every mile and were easy to see.
Water/​Gatorade/​Gu: Water was handed out about every mile and a half. Gatorade was handed out at every other water station. Gu was handed out just before mile 9.
Finish Line: The finish line was great! It was never too crowded. The medals were nice. The post race eats were great! Water bottles, large Gatorade bottles, pretzels, Jamba Juice, granola bars, bananas, and chocolate milk were handed out. I wish grocery sacks would be provided for runners to carry all of the food at the end.
Would I run this race again: Yes! I’ll be back again in 2014!

Super hilly, but a lot of fun. The support along the course included some of the funnest, inspirational signs I’ve seen (would be great if my mind could have actual retained the chants, but in the they kept my legs moving).

Highly rated because it was my very first official race ever. Remember you always know your first, right?
This is my home course or race even more so then LA since I was raised less than 10 minutes from the Rose Bowl. Which I may add is where I train. So this course has special meaning to me.
Expo is small compared to other expos I’ve been too. It’s more akin to local races that no one outside the city or state has heard of unless they randomly found it on
or in Rock n Roll races on
.
Pasadena especially old town can be describe as being made of rolling hills. Surprisingly people don’t notice that till you ride your bike, take a walk, or go for a run and you start to feel yourself going up and down.
FYI I love hills! I’ll run in pain for several minutes but the reward of making it to the top of one is always worth it to me :)
Would I be back?
It looks like it since I won a raffle for free registration into the 2^nd annual RnR Pasadena. I can wait to see the medal, I’m what you define as a medal whore in the racing community. I’ll take the time but I’m doing it for the medal. Don’t misjudge that I’m not a serious runner though.

1 star for PRing the race…
1 star for Joey Joe from NKOTB running the race… My childhood crush… HEARTS…
1 star for Sugar Ray performing post race — HUBBA HUBBA Mark!!!
I was really excited to do another inaug race that was close enough to drive to. What sucked was traffic from SD to Pasadena — took 3.5 hours! As soon as we reached the expo, we parked about 3 blocks away — free street parking.
The convention center is nice — love the architecture!!! I was bummed to see how small the expo was. I was done in about an hour. Met up with some friends and signed up for the Long Beach halfie while I was there.
Race morning, traffic was horrendous. It took about a good 30 – 40 mins to exit and get into the Rose Bowl for parking. Where was traffic control?! Once you get into the Rose Bowl parking area, you have about 5 people directing parking in the same area. HELLOOO, does it take that many people to direct people to a dang spot?! Annoying…
Once parked, the corrals were easily identifiable and were small enough with lots of arm room and personal space.
I liked how we roamed thru the nice neighborhoods of Pasadena and thru Old Town Pasadena. The course included a couple of hills, which sucked, but do-​able. I never felt crowded on the course — always a definite plus. Lots of pics were taken along the way since it was inaugural.
Disappointed with the after-​food goodies. I did stay for an hour after to watch Sugar Ray and they were AMAZING!!! I still love them after all these years!!! There were only a couple of food booth available post-​race and they were cash only. BOOO!!! I had half of a carne asada burrito — NOT GOOD, but needed food badly!!!
I won’t do this course again as I feel there are other RnRs to explore.
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STATS:
Overall: 1933 out of 5857
Division: 134 out of 605
Gender: 727 out of 3382
5 Km 30:13
10 Km 59:51
10 Mi 1:36:04
Pace 9:39
Chip Time 2:06:29

Running the inaugural Pasadena half marathon was fun.
The expo was a little lame compared to other ones i’ve been to because there weren’t very many vendors there. I was in and out of this place in less than an hour and there was nothing interesting for me to buy. It was easy getting to Pasadena and the Pasadena Convention Center, and we were able to find metered parking nearby. You could also park at the convention center for $ 9.
I liked that there wasn’t a wait to get your race packets and the place was almost empty. The shirts we got were decent. It’s not as ugly as last year’s Long Beach Half Marathon tech shirts.
On race day, we got to the starting line pretty easily. However, we didn’t really know where to go at first because we were in the middle of a grassy field. We walked around looking for where to check your gear… then headed to the start line. I don’t think they were playing any music at the start line either but I could be remembering wrong.
Once we started, it was not bad. The route wasn’t too packed with runners, and there were plenty of water /​Gatorade stations. I hang out in Pasadena often, so it was fun running past the Norton Simon Museum or that area on Colorado Blvd with all the stores as well as running on the Colorado bridge. There were a few hills on this course, but they weren’t too bad. And I liked that the last mile was all downhill.
After the run, they gave out half a banana (all of them were cut in half, and bruised), bread, pineapple cups, Gatorade, water, and a snickers energy bar. Not really much going on there. Also, the finish medals were… very plain… it doesn’t really seem like it’d be a Rock n Roll medal.
Anyway, I liked that Sugar Ray was the headliner for the post-​race concert. It was fun hanging out in the grassy area watching them perform!
I’d probably do the Pasadena Half again. Hopefully next year, there will be more runners dressed in costume.