Coaster Run 5k & 10k

Okay, seems as though the Renegade Race Series probably listened to all my fellow Unilocalers that gave this particular run only three stars. And it looks like they listened! Now personally I didn’t experience anything overly negative that I could only give three stars, but it also didn’t think it was perfect either. So, here’s my four star review breakdown:
Online Registration:
~ I was a last minute entry, two days prior to the day of the event, but I easily found all the information I needed.
~ General rules, cost, parking info, found the 10k course map, loved the 7am start time.
~ Entry fees (not including registration fees):
5k — $ 47
10k — $ 57, kinda pricey but I chose to run the extra miles.
~ Registration complete!
Packet Pickup:
~ Friday March 4^th at Road Runner Sports in Laguna Hills. Really? All the way out there? Pass. What about the LA County folks? I was in Newport Beach that day and was still about 13 miles away from the place. Didn’t even bother picking up from this location.
~ Saturday March 5^th at Buena Park Mall. Perfect! Not too busy two hours after the booths opened up at 11am. Easy to navigate. Looked up my racing bib number. Sign the waiver. Grabbed my t-​shirt. I was on my way!
~ Not very many vendors, but I didn’t really care about it anyways. Only wish they had at least a GU vendor.
~ The volunteers there were helpful. No issues.
~ And knowing it was going to rain, I didn’t like the timing chip being held by a couple of twist-​ties. Tacky in my opinion.
~ Organized? I thought it was.
Race Day Sunday:
~ It was raining heavily at 5:45am, but it calmly slowed and stopped as the time inched closer and closer to 7am. Excellent!
~ Parking at Knott’s went well. Plenty of signs, and parking attendants guiding us from space to space. Only idiot drivers will be idiots drivers when they think they can find a better spot.
~ At the corral, there were volunteers that only allowed you into your assigned corral. Something I don’t normally see, as I’m use to half marathons and the corrals aren’t usually monitored. This would be due to the high volume of cattle, (aHem) I mean attendees.
~ Although it was a 7am start time, it just seemed like forever for corral 7’s to start running. I wanted to leave at exactly 7, not 7:15. Oh well, not a big deal.
Volunteers:
~ Again, helpful. Encouraging and enthusiastic! Plenty of them at the water stations, and I didn’t really see a lot of them messing around.
~ Plenty of security as well from the Buena Park Police. Thank you!
10k Course itself:
~ Loved the first 3 miles through the park obviously! Reminiscing about the days when I once worked here. I really enjoyed seeing the things that have changed, as well as the things that remained the same.
~ It’s pretty much a flat run throughout. The elevation had a few dips, but that’s about it. No major level change.
~ The last 3.2 miles, booooring! I mean, it’s Buena Park. I was once a local here and also kicked it at Buena Park Mall when I was younger, so bleh! And to run halfway around it was simply a breeze.
~ Hustled to the finish. Grabbed my cool medal. Was given a Desani to rehydrate. Ate half a banana. Didn’t care about the pie. Mission complete!
~ Organized? Yes, I felt it was.
~ Would I run it again? Eh, maybe. It IS a good run for beginners. Or if you’re coming back from an injury like was.

This race remains a 5 star 5k «fun run» for me. The past three years I have registered a corporate team to align with our companies healthy initiatives and have yet to be disappointed with this experience from start to finish and I’m not referring to only the course itself, but the entire experience from registration to the minute we pull out of the parking lot.
This is a fun one! I’m not a big Knott’s Berry Farm fan but running through their park and Soak city is just a bunch of fun. This is most definitely a family friendly event (my son always enjoys himself) and the crowd is always great.
It’s a quick run and the pay off is hands down, my all time favorite. Boysenberry Pie!!! Yes, please!
What stood out this year were the volunteers and their energy. Most of them were so well spirited that it really gave us runners that extra boost of confidence that anyone needs after Springing Forward and waking up what feels to be an hour early to drive nearly 40 miles to run a 5k on a Sunday morning :)
Parking is always a bit congested, some traffic control in the early hours could prove beneficial.
How I managed to place in my age division for a 2^nd time is a mystery to me because I felt my run had tons of room for improvement especially after just rehabbing from an injury but it’s always fun to place. It also means you’re stuck waiting around another hour plus for the awards presentation so I see highs and lows to placing and not, Not — I get to leave immediately — placing you get to wait around. Maybe a VIP area for those who placed to sip on some coffee and have a little light brekke wouldn’t be a terrible idea ;) and those in attendance with them :) Another person on our team also placed, so that always makes it more exciting!
The bibs and medals are both really cute and the t-​shirts make excellent sleep shirts once washed a dried a couple times to make them a bit softer.
All in all this is a fun run! It’s one I’ll support again in the future and the Kids of Speech and Language Development Center

I’ve run multiple races now (including the OC Half, Surf City Half, Santa to the sea, Hollywood 10k, Tinkerbell Half, Dole 10k. etc) and this has been my favorite race (yes, even more than the Tinkerbell).
I don’t know if it’s because it was affordable, or because I had a blast running in the rain and PR’ed my 10k time but this race was so much fun! If you like big races with large marching bands and confetti at the start line… then you’re not going to get that here, however what you will get is a group of excited runners/​walkers at all different levels.
Half of the race is running through the amusement park which was a lot of fun and the last 3 miles through the residential area.
I found the course to be flat, although a lot of narrow turns within the park, and I did develop blisters because it was raining and a teenage boy kept jumping into puddles and soaking my already wet socks! LOL Regardless of the blisters I developed I think this was an amazing race. It started on time, it was easy to park and to find the start line. The start line was next to the finish line which was GREAT for my fiancé who was a spectator. It wasn’t crowded at the finish line, it was very clear where to go if you were running a 5k vs a 10k.
The medals are super cute, although yes, quite small and not the best material… but hey… you get a free slice of delicious boysenberry pie with it! They even gave my fiancé who didnt’ even run the race a piece of pie.
I may be a little biased though, I won the photo contest and got two free tickets to Knotts! :) Thank you renegade races!
Ditch the other 10k’s if you’re only doing one this year… this is the one! :)

I did my first 10k here since it seemed like a nice flat and light fun run that I could use to benchmark my training progress. The energy here was good. There were way more people than I had expected. I didn’t think this was the most well-​organized event, but it was decent.
My biggest gripe is that they have people start in waves, and pacing is not a consideration in how people are split up in the waves. I was in wave 6, so I didn’t start until about 10 minutes in. This forced me to weave through about 5 groups of walkers which can be frustrating. It was raining, and there were a lot of people stopping at the puddles so it was a little hard to get around everyone. I didn’t really get into it until about 2 miles in.
In the email it said there were only 2 water stops for 10k and 1 water stop for 5k, but there were plenty more than 2 along the way. The course isn’t that exciting… in and around Knott’s and then around a residential neighborhood. Obviously, the highlight of this run was free pie at the end!

Of all the days to rain…
I wish I had gone to early packet pick up since parking and packet pick up were kind of disorganized. By the time we got all of our stuff, we didn’t have enough time to go back to our car to put everything away. Because packet pick up was crowded and families were separated (it looked like the mom in the group in front of me had to go wait in a different line since she still had her maiden name?) there was a lot of complaining people all around.
Things were definitely crowded (most of the corrals had spillover) with a mix of kids, adults, walkers, and runners. There was also a contingent of well organized «army soldiers» (well, the Sheriff’s Department) singing songs the entire way. During the race it sounded like boot camp was bearing down on us from behind (they eventually passed us. We’re wimps.) Fun, though!
Rain definitely complicated this 5k but things weren’t too slippery. Since it was rainy, visibility sucked and people stopped and started and crashed into each other. Prepare to be crashed into and watch out for kids! Near the end of the course, there was one poor guy lying on the ground getting medical attention.
I wish there was a photo op for Snoopy! There was one for Charlie Brown and Lucy but I didn’t slow down.
Race finish seemed to come up abruptly so you can’t see it from a distance; it kind of gets bogged down with everyone having to return their chip. Maybe let us keep the chip next year!
There were some really enthusiastic volunteer cheerleaders despite the rain. Particularly memorable– a screechy Asian lady who snuck up on us near the end of the race and started screaming PASS THE WEAK! HURDLE THE DEAD! PASS THE WEAK! HURDLE THE DEAD! to try and get us to pick up pace! Thank you for giving me a heart attack and shaving 20 seconds off my final time, overly enthusiastic cheer volunteer!
The pie at the end was really tasty and there were plenty of delicious post race refreshments to try.
The medal is small, but really cute. Glitter!
TIPS:
Park at the mall (near Sears?) but plan to get there early since the traffic starts as soon as you get off the freeway otherwise.
Remember your bib number! Otherwise you have to peer over the bulletin board that lists everyone’s name and number just to figure out what line you need to stand in.
Since only the 5k portion is in the parks, I don’t really get the point of running the 10k for this one but YMMV.
After you finish the race, you can sneak off to take a photo in front of Independence Hall or another landmark.

So my goal for this year to get healthy/​lose weight etc is to do one 5k run/​walk per month. This was my first of two actually for the month of March. Was very well organized. Enjoyed being able to go through the park on the course. Of course it rained this day so it would have been nice to have each corral be released a tad bit sooner. I am always at the back so it seemed like a long wait in the rain and cold. Volunteers along the course were great and it was very fun to stop and see the characters and take photos along the way. Like that we got tshirt, medal, and pie at the end. Very fun experience with friends and family for the day. Nice to get coupon book also but would be better if ticket to the park was included in registration fee. Will be back next year!

Get outta the waaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!
Oh man I didn’t expect the weather to be like SF. It was cool, wet and drizzly on race morning. Luckily, it wasn’t pouring but I was dreading the 10k in this weather.
What I liked about this race is that you actually get to run in both parks the first few miles. The remaining few miles, you get to run the streets of BP and through parking lots. What sucked even more is that some of the areas you run through are not very pretty and have a weird smell!
The corrals were weird. I got stuck with the walkers (surprise, surprise) in Corral 7. It was definitely hard to maneuver through the crowds especially on the wet roads.
Medal is tiny and you get (sour) boysenberry pie at the end. I like the crust…
I had to yell at a few people since they were not paying attention where the heck they were going. OK people, RUN STRAIGHT. I’m running perfectly in a straight line with no one around and this dude comes out of nowhere and «accidentally» bumps me with his flailing hands. Why you gotta run like a girl and wave your arms?! And why you got to be all in my personal space?!
Also, if you’re going to do a looky-​loo when there’s a runner down, pull over to the freakin’ side and not slow down and stop in the middle of a run. REALLY?!
Yes if I’m in the zone, you better get the f*ck outta the way because I’m serious about my running! #seriouspost
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STATS:
Chip 57:24
Pace 9:15

I ran the 10K and the course traveled roughly 3 miles (the entire 5K) through Knott’s Berry Farm and Soak City. The final 3 miles were on the streets of Buena Park and I couldn’t wait to get out of the bottleneck in the park. Somehow I made the mistake of not entering my anticipated finishing time when I registered for the race and I was placed in Coral 7 out of 10. It took approximately 15 minutes for my coral to cross the start line after Coral 1 had already took off. This wave start really didn’t help much because the 5K and 10K ran together and many race walkers were walking from the start. The park was too congested and I felt more like it was a normal operating day in the park and I was given the task to run around zip zagging between walkers. I really don’t understand why walkers don’t walk on the right side and runners can run on the left side of the paths. Not rocket science and not a problem under the race planner’s control but I thought I would mention it to help others avoid getting stuck in a later coral.

This was my second year running this event.
Last year was the 10k and this year was the 5k due to having newborns and a wife slowly getting back into training.
I will start with the positives. The volunteers were cheerful, happy and always wanted to help. The weather was pouring rain and they were always smiling. The medal this year was very nice.
So honestly that caps the noteworthy comments.
The course is nice but the course really peeks by the 2 mile mark. It would be hard to recommend the 10k as the scenery is not much to brag about. Maybe if some entertainers were brought in to liven the course. The entire course could use this treatment but the 5k is on knotts property so you have a little bit to look at. I saw two characters on the course which was nice but because there were only two the line was crazy long.
Bib pickup was slow and caused the race to start 20 minutes late. There were still people fighting the lines when the race started. Some people ran the race with their goodie bags because the process was so slow.
The goodie bag/​shirt line was broken into two processes and made thins more confusing.
This isn’t a bad race but understand it is not on the same level as rundisney courses or other theme park events in the area. Registration is long/​confusing and the course will be a quiet stroll through the park and Buena Park area. Would love to see this race improve but it has been consistent two years in a row.

If I were writing this after my first experience with the Coaster Run in 2011, it would be 4 stars because a) it was a nice small-​ish event, b) the organization was amazing, c) it was my first 5K so it was sentimental. One star would have been deducted for the lackluster down-​and-​back road route (no in-​park course at this point).
But, this is not 2011…
Three years later this race has grown SIGNIFICANTLY in participation! I cannot believe how many more people there were. Quite frankly, there were too many people there. I didn’t have a problem with the parking (yeah, there was a bit of a line, but it really didn’t move all that slowly). My problem started with bib pick-​up. It was all the way to the back of the expo area and was a clusterfuck. Thankfully I already knew my bib number and my line was short, but really it was not efficient. Whoever had the brilliant idea to separate bib pickup from goodie bag/​shirt pickup should be taken off of that task for next year. The line for the goodie bags was looooong and snaking around. Thankfully my husband was willing to hold my bag and shirt as there wasn’t enough time after gettng my bib to do a second run to the car with the swag.
Corral system… funky. I was placed in 7 with my two race buddies (one should have been in an earlier corral f’sure), but was one of those jerks who snuck up to corral 6 because I was tired of standing around in the rain and wanted to get off and running. Corral 6 was released almost 9 minutes after the gun. The course was a lot better than my 2011 run… I just wish I could have seen more of it. I’m a four-​eyes, so I’ve got glasses, and I wasn’t smart enough to wear a hat so I was looking through fogged-​up and rain-​speckled glasses the whole time. The volunteers were adorable and enthusiastic. I was surprised at how many there were!
I did like the placement of the final .1 spurt on the road for the 5K, as it was a fun sprint. I didn’t like dodging around walkers to try and shave that extra second or two off my time, but, whatevs. Another fun memory that I’ll savor from this race was the Sherrif academy group that was running to cadence the whole route. They were inspiring to hear, as their chants grew closer and louder (obviously they were moving at a faster pace than my race buddy and I, as they were nowhere near us at the beginning and then finished just on our heels after our 35 minutes on the course).
The finishing chute was a bit of a cluster as well, with everyone suddenly grouped up to finagle the chips off of their shoes. After I got my medal and my pie, I was outta there. We did put the 50% off Knott’s admission coupon from the goodie bag to use and we enjoyed a seriously empy park… did the whole damn thing in two hours thanks to every single ride being a walk-​on!
Overall — neat course, friendly to walkers/​beginning joggers, unique post-​race treat (Knott’s boysenberry pie). If you’re serious and going for a PR, this might not be your favorite race.

I had this 10K in the bag!
Ever since first running the «Tinker Bell 10K» at Disneyland, I’ve been on the move, literally. In fact, as of today’s review, I have already registered for three upcoming 5K’s, four 10K’s, and two Half Marathons… so far. Endorphin floods run high!
The Coaster Run, although not as visually engaging as running throughout the Disneyland Resort, was no less exciting when it came to mixing with other devoted and determined running enthusiasts of this sold-​out event. Yes, we wound in and around Knott’s Berry Farm and Soak City, but we also pushed forward through the surrounding residential areas of Buena Park as well. It was fun, as expected! And I will definitely be looking forward to next year’s race.
Charlie Brown and Lucy encouraged and applauded runners as they passed by, making themselves available for photo ops for those who were camera-​ready. And there were many, many volunteers along the 5K and 10K routes who were also prompting everyone to continue doing their best. For their time and their smiles, I thank them. Having so many supporters along the way made the run that much more enjoyable. =]
The finishing medals and the blackberry pie were highly welcomed, I’m certain, by all. Even the rain couldn’t stop this crowd from enjoying this very cool, charitable event – one which directly benefitted the Speech and Language Development Center of Buena Park. The SLDC’s mission: «To assist children and adults with special needs maximize their potential through education and therapy provided in an environment nurturing growth and inspiring achievement.» Without a doubt, I was proud to support their efforts.
I didn’t come in first, not even close. In fact, I was 733 out of 1368, overall. But I’m ok with that. My 10K finishing time: 1:06:12.5! All said, I was proud of my results. I didn’t maintain my 10 min/​mile goal, but I was close: my pace – 10:41 min/​mile. Not bad! However, my bucket list, as heavy as it is, is now focused on something else: a Full. So Snoopy… bump it up. I’m ready!

Dang it, I hate to drop my review back down to 3 stars, but I can’t lie. Once again, bib and T-​shirt pick-​up took a while and didn’t seem very efficient. They made ppl wait in two separate lines for the shirts and bags. Oh and a third area was where you pick up your bibs. For some reason, certain number ranges had zero people waiting while others had 2 dozen people. I even overheard the volunteers working at the the empty table say they felt bad for having nobody to check in.
A major grip of mine is how the corrals were assigned. I already wrote to Renegade Racing, who puts on the Coaster Run. Anyhow, it seems like corrals were randomly assigned bc really some fast runners (top finishers in age groups) were put in Corral 7 (out of 10) while slow walkers (16+ min miles) got placed in Corral 2. Ummm what? I’m not a fast runner by any means, but I was definitely in the wrong corral today. I ended up dodging walkers and slower runners for pretty much 3 miles. When the 5k and 10k people split up, that was when I was able to go slightly faster. It just seemed like no thought was put into the assignment and seeing how it was rainy and crowded today, people could have gotten hurt from running into one another. In fact, I did see a man getting medical assistance along the course today.

This was one of my first run I did back in 2008. Loved every single moment of it. Ran the 10K with two other friends around the park and inside some parts of the park. The time that I went they didn’t give out any medals. At least, I got neat looking snoopy shirt! lol

Horrible. Wont run again. 5k runner here. First of all the PARKING was horrible! 30 – 40 mins wait for them to redirect you to street parking!!! Backed up lines soo bad. They must of water down the park before, because 4 people fell and hit the pavement hard!!! I had to walk so I wouldn’t fall. REALLY ! Do it the night before!!! Where was snoop and the peanut gang? Really!!! The booths sucked! Never again. oh and they ran out of medals !!!

I was really excited for the Coaster Run 10K. The Disney Half was so fun that I expected the same from this run. It turned out to be kinda boring. The first two miles are great– running through the park & having a lot of fun. Then comes the middle miles which are on the streets of Buena Park. There’s not really much to keep the mind engaged as you trek along (and the first few miles are hardest for me). They could add in some rockin’ music or maybe move the course so the 2^nd and 3^rd miles are within the park…
Registration line sucks! I don’t mind waiting but it was really disorganized and at least 20 people in the line next to me «merged» into my line in front of me. You get pie at the end of the run, a cute shirt, some freebies– all good things. Also the people who cheer you on are amazing.

It was our 2^nd year of baby jogging this 5K and the third time overall (first time we ran the 10K in 2009), and I have to say this year was the most fun, course-​wise.
It was great that it was re-​routed through Knott’s Berry Farm. The course (both 5K and 10K) in previous years were flat and boring, especially the 10K.
The ground was a bit slippery through Snoopy Land though, I saw one elderly lady being attended to by medics because she had slipped and fallen there.
Pros — Boysenberry pie at the finish! New, fun course. A Snoopy medal for our toddler son! Teenage volunteers, all cheerful and helpful (rooting runners on, helping to cut timing chips off shoes at the end)
Cons — People traffic jam at the finish line this year — it was chaos. Comin’ through people! (even though I almost came in last this year haha). Parking — the stop light at the corner of Knott’s and the lot is terrible and takes forever. Go early!
I just got the email to see our pictures but it’s hard to find your own picture — I’m still searching for ours actually haha…
Anyway, this is a fun run and we’ll be back for sure!

How cute was that fun run?! Everyone had a great time at the Knott’s Berry Farm Coaster Run. The kids got to run through camp snoopy this year, which began at the entrance and finished at the exit. Snoppy himself was at the starting line to wish them all well, as was Knott’s Berry Farm staff. They let the kids go in waves so that no one got trampled, which many parents appreciated. There was staff throughout the race to encourage the children and help them stay on the path. Upon finishing, each child received a medal and a slice of pie. The registration included a cute T shirt, bib and various samples and coupons, including a coupon for ½ off entrance to Knott’s for up to 4 adults.

This was my first time running the 10K event. The packet pickup race morning went pretty smooth. I got there at 6am and had no problem with parking or waiting to get into the lot. There was plenty of time to bring your packet goodies back to car, warm up and walk around. The packet contents were better than some marathons: 2 mini Clif Bars, Dove deodorant sample and Starbucks Via iced coffee packets. The t-​shirt was dark blue. Race directors must have gotten a deal on navy shirts because that’s the third navy shirt I’ve received since January.
They marked start waves on the tear off portion of the bib which was great since we all know alot of walkers and strollers like to be up front. The volunteers weren’t really checking the bibs though. I was in wave 2 and should’ve moved up to wave 1. The race started about 10 minutes late and there were a few bottlenecks immediately. Once we got into the theme park, it opened up a bit. Approx 2 miles weaved inside of Knott’s and Soak City before reaching the streets of Stanton. I saw two or three water stations. The volunteers were really friendly and there very few spectators along the course.
The 5K and 10K finish lines were in the same place and there wasn’t enough run off area. Too many family members and kids were converging in the finish area blocking the volunteers giving out medals and blocking the volunteers trying to cut off the timing tags. I saw my friend at the start but couldn’t find him at the finish because everywhere was so crowded.
The pie was good, I had mine later in the day with milk. They had bottled water and bananas in the postrace area as well.
Leaving the parking lot was a mess. It took 45 minutes to get out of there. It’s probably better to arrive later to get a parking spot closer to the exit.
Overall, the race was flat and fast and it was fun running through the theme parks. None of the rides were working and everything was still closed up but it was still something different than the usual run.
New 10K PR: 51:03
6^th female in age division
159 out of 1173 overall
41^st female out of 707

Aside from taking place on the night of daylight savings, this was overall a good event. This was the first years doing this 10K and they seemed to have it together for the most part.
I picked up my stuff at the Buena Park Downtown the day before without any issues and the crowd there wasn’t too bad. (Later saw that the event sold out) The goody bag was one of the best I’ve received in a while which included an energy bar, Starbucks instant coffee, deodorant, and discounts for Knott’s Berry Farm.
Got into the parking lot without any wait. TIP: Do not enter the parking lot through the main entrance. You will wait in a long line. There was a separate entrance on La Palma near Stanton St which had no wait. I pulled in and parked in less than two minutes. Another option is to park in the Buena Park Mall and walk across the street.
They had wave starting and you were placed based on your pace. They were adamant that people stayed within their waves and that strollers stay to the rear. Unfortunately the latter was ignored by some.
The course starts you through the park which can get narrow at times. If you can break away from your wave, it isn’t too bad, but I heard it was tight at times. The second half, at least for the 10K, took you out into the streets of Buena Park, which was pretty dull, but OK.
The finish also went smoothly. No bottlenecks and you get your treats along with a cool metal and pie. For being as busy as it was, it was pretty organized.
The only complaints would be the lack of communication. No e-​mail communication and as of 7:00pm the results have not been posted online.

I was torn between giving the Coaster Run at Knott’s Berry Farm 2 or 3 stars. I signed up for this race because I figured I needed something to keep me somewhat active around the daylight savings switch because I’m always messed up when we spring forward. It was $ 40 and I saw that you get a medal with Snoopy on it, which is always the carrot for me. The medal, not Snoopy, although Snoopy was the bonus.
This packet pickup was at Buena Park Downtown mall on La Palma. It was inside and it was well-​organized and painless. The volunteers were really nice and helpful, too. They give you a goody bag with hardly anything inside except flyers, and the cotton shirts were cute with the Coaster Run logo with Snoopy on it. Mine was white with the logo. They had red ones, but I think those were for the Speech Learning and Development Center, for which this race was the charity. It was from about 11 am — 4 pm, I believe.
The race on Sunday started at 7:30 am. Although in the directions they emailed out the day before, they said to enter the parking lot off La Palma, I missed that turn since there was a HUGE line off Beach, so I just went in straight to Knott’s and they pointed me to the left where you go under the street and come up into their parking lot. It was a little chaotic there with two lanes merging and a woman directing traffic by screaming at the sleepy drivers. Oh well, not her fault people don’t know how to drive.
This was not a huge race and they organized the waves by telling people that people who were planning to run 6-​minute miles should be at the front of the pack and then so on and so forth. They had a sign for 9 minute mile and 10 – 12 min miles. I didn’t see anything beyond that. So I moseyed up to the 9 minute mile section as I didn’t want to get run over by the people who were running fast, and I didn’t want to be blocked by people who were planning on just cruising through it.
The 5k and 10k runners all started together in one huge pack. I was hoping Snoopy would be there to send us off or at least be there for photo ops, but no such luck. The route itself is a little painful in that you double-​back a couple of times for the 10k’ers. That is torture because you’re running on the boring streets of Buena Park in front of Knott’s then back down to the mall area. Then when I thought there was a long way to go, the finish was right around the last turn.
The volunteers were great, and the kids who volunteered along the route cheered a lot for the runners. Thank you for keeping us going! There were plenty of water stations, I thought, for a 10k. They need to open up the area right after the finish line though because it was a little jammed there with runners coming in. The water was off to the left along with bananas and sliced oranges, then you went to get your pie. Took me a minute to see where the water was, so it could’ve been more visible. They had plenty of pie slices and forks there, and you just grab and go. They had some tables under tents a little further away and some booths for you to look at. Nothing interested me, so I just sat, stared at my pie, took pictures of it and my cute Snoopy medal and left.
Unfortunately, it took me about 30 minutes to get out of the parking lot. For like 15 minutes, I just sat there not even moving. I think they finally got someone to direct traffic though, because then it got going, but 30 minutes to get out? Ridiculous. You don’t want that to be the last impression of a race. Hopefully they improve for next year, but since this was their 7^th year, I don’t know why they didn’t think of it this year. I took the pie home and heated it up for an afternoon snack and it was delicious.