Across the Bay 12k

I have done all of the other races in the Run the Bay series (408k santana row, 510 in berkeley, and last year’s 415 in Marin) and really enjoyed this one! I am REALLY happy that the Across the Bay run is replacing Marin for the 415 spot.
Background:
This race was previously run by another company (RhodyCo) and Represent Running took it over. So, 2015 was the first time this race was organized under Represent Running and included as part of the Run the Bay challenge!
The Rundown:
–They offered a bib pick up location in South Bay! (Friday) and in San Francisco (Saturday). This was SO helpful. I think all SF races should have a bib pick up in south bay :). However, the Pruneyard of Campbell is just chaotic on any normal day with all of the restaurants and such. Getting to the Pruneyard and parking took a lot longer than it should’ve due to the traffic and congested parking lot. I think they should have bib pick up at the Sports Authority in either San Jose/​Santa Clara or Sunnyvale — easy to get to locations in complexes with less foot traffic.
–I was in Wave 1 and my friend in Wave 3. I decided to join her in Wave 3, so arrived at the shuttle spot on Beach St. at 7:10am sharp, which was early (instructions stated that Wave 3 people should arrive by 7:30am at the latest in order to make it to the wave 3 start of 8:30am). It looked like they only had a handful of buses operating (school buses) so the lines were getting backed up. By the time I got to the start line, the national anthem was being sung and it was announced that the start time was being delayed 2 minutes to 8:32am as more buses were still bringing people over. They did have port a potties and the fedex trucks for gear check on the way to the start line. They should have had more buses to take people, as not allowing people to drive straight to the start line really creates a bottleneck.
–Awesome course — The course itself was great! I did do quite a bit of weaving in and out in the first couple miles because I started in Wave 3. The course around miles 1.5 to 2.5 was painfully hilly, pretty flat from 2.5 to 6.5 or so, with another slight hill at mile 7 just before the finish at Aquatic park. Running across the bridge, and then along the waterfront, was really nice! Loved the views and the slight multi terrain course!
–Accurate distance: I always run with Nike Plus and my nike registered 7.65 miles when i crossed the finish line. Taking into account the weaving I did early on in the course, I would say that this 12k — or 7.5 mile — course was measured pretty darn good :)
–Plenty of water stations! I liked how the volunteers were spread out at the stations handing out water so that runners didn’t have to all crowd in one area. Also loved the Nuun electrolyte drinks offered at the aid stations.
–Post-​race snacks included fruit snacks, bananas, acai samples, fig bars, kind bars, water. Because the post race area was not closed to the public, I did notice that a lot of non-​runners were taking some of the snacks :(. By the time my friend finished her run, they had run out of bananas. I think they either need to plan for more snacks in the future, or have volunteers prevent those without bibs from stealing our snacks!
–The Bling: Really nice, big, weighty medal! The fact that it also doubles as a magnet makes it that much cooler and unique! I think they should have made the medal ribbon closure velcro rather than sewn up so that people could easily remove the medal if they wanted to use it as a refrigerator magnet — that is what the 408k did with their bottle opener medal. Also, LOVED the customized medal ribbons depending on distance ran — 5k finishers ribbon was black and 12k finishers ribbon was white. More races need to customize based on distance run!
–Swag/​gift bag — I think they could have offered more restaurant discounts for runners at some of the restaurants near the finish area (I’m looking at you, Ghirardelli and your sundaes!)
–HOORAY FOR FREE RACE PHOTOS!
–I liked the tech shirt design. Also, the banner that everyone always takes a picture of with their medal after a race was really nice — really enjoyed the design :)
I would’ve given this event 5 stars if the bus to start-​line system was more seamless.

Beautiful course! Awesome medal! Ran this race in memory of my niece. I will make this an annual tradition!

Sign up:
Really easy. I got the intro price of $ 39 on the day registration first opened. I was intent on Running the series this year to get the extra medal so there’s no point waiting for the price increases.
Picket pick up:
A real pain in the a$$ actually. You could have your bib mailed to you for a fee of $ 10! For a stamp and an envelope. no thanx!
The pick up location were in Campbell 4−8pm on the Friday before and Saturday afternoon in SF. Having it in Campbell worked best for me but the time was just silly — right during rush hour! Meaning that a journey that would normally be 70 minutes was over 2hrs. The 408k bib pick up was from 2pm so why couldn’t they do that again?
The pick up ran smoothly but no verification was made with checking emails. I gave them my bib number and they asked the name on iit but didn’t ask to see the email confirmation. Then I gave them my friends bib number who I was picking up for and didn’t even check the name. I could have reeled off a load of numbers and walked away with other peoples paid entry. They need more checks in future so that this doesn’t happen.
Day of:
My Girlfriend and I got to SF by 6:25am and shuttles started at 6:30 we were the first ones at the bus pick up (school buses) so we were at the start line in Sausalido by 7:05.
The driver was great and got us there safely but I would advise that the event organizers give the drivers maps or at least give them clear instructions as I don’t think that was the case and the driver had to ask a volunteer exactly where the start line was.
The starting area had a few restrooms and the Fed Ex trucks where you could check in your bag and they transport it to the finish line in San Francisco.
The starting line a little further down from the ”staging area” so keep this in mind. My Girlfriend and I were where we saw the ”wave 1″ signs thinking that was the tail end of the start and everybody else there was just really laid back about the run ahead but turned out it was just check point. Cue us to hurry the 200+ meters further down to the actual line.
This event, unlike the 408k DID enforce the wave system and volunteers were checking as you went though.
The course:
My second time running the Golden Gate Bridge (first one in the SF Half as a Pacer) and I loved it! We were blessed with a clear day and had some beautiful views of the bay and plenty of options for pictures. There are some hills but (imo) nothing at all taxing, if you haven’t done any hill running then they can prove to be problematic.
Aid stations were plentiful with both Water and Sports drinks.
Post Run:
Every finisher get a medal that doubles up as a fridge magnet which is cool, it cannot be removed from the lanyard like the 408k badge though and everybody also gets a tech tee. Post runs snacks were available and simple — a Banana, Fig bar and some fruit snacks with bottles of Water.
If you’re thinking about doing this event I say go for it as the views are worth it!
Bring on the 510k and the extra medal!!!