Bibrave Race Review: Alamo 13.1

Disclaimer: I received a free entry to Alamo 13.1 as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

Weekend getaways to warm places are always too short. This weekend, I was in San Antonio, TX for the Alamo 13.1 Half Marathon. I was last in San Antonio 4-5 years ago for a race (that ended up being short for whatever reason).

After getting stuff done throughout the week, I headed out to Texas Friday morning after waking up ridiculously early for a spin class. Needless to say, going from 40 degrees to 80 degrees was much needed! I took an Uber to the Menger Hotel downtown and checked in without any issues. I walked around downtown and the River Walk to find dinner. The amount of St. Patrick’s Day shinnanegans going on was insane!

Saturday was expo day. In the past, it had been held in downtown San Antonio, but this year it was moved to the Granberry Events Center about 15 min from downtown. I had the chance to talk to the RD, David, and in the past the expo had been downtown. With Spring Break and the Texas Rangers taking over downtown, the past year or two, people had been driving around for 40 minutes and paying $50 to park and walked in ready to beat someone. I ended up taking an Uber to the expo (about $15-$17 one way), which wasn’t all that bad. Packet pick up was easy. There were areas for the Half Marathon, 10K and 5K. I wish before hand, you had the ability to look up your number instead of having to just give your name at the pick up. The Expo was small with some local places et up there and some photo op chances. If you were from out of town, you had the option of picking your bib up at The Menger Hotel that evening, but no expo vendors were there.

Saturday afternoon, I found some lunch, went to church and found a wine bar with college basketball on for March Madness. There was the added amusement of sitting next to someone at the bar who asked for Coors Light and chips and salsa. What the what?

Race Options: Half Marathon (individual or 2 person relay), 10K and 5K.

Sunday morning, I was up early and got changed and ready to go. The race was right in front of the hotel, so getting there was the easiest it’s been for me in a while. No parking, no shuttles, no issues what so ever. The half marathon was set to start at 7:15, but we headed off about 10 minutes late. The 5K and 10K were scheduled to start at 7:45 to give us a good amount of leg time. The first part of the race took you around downtown and back to the front of the Alamo. We then took some roads through some neighborhoods of San Antonio. Some parts weren’t the best and there were some parts that had someone not been there, I might have been a touch confused. We also went through Breckenridge Park and around some athletic complexes before turning back and ultimately ending up on the River Walk. Though I appreciate the amount of stuff we saw, here were my issues. We ran on no fewer than 5 surfaces: gravel, pavement, sidewalk, brick and brick with holes in it and pothole filled roads. I hardly ever get sore after halves anymore, but I was feeling this one. The mile markers seemed a little off to me as well. I wish the course had less of the iffy areas and less of the river walk with amount of narrowness that there was (it was only 2-3 people across along the river!).

Aid Stations: every 1-2 miles it felt like with some impromptu ones set up along the way.

The Finish: literally, right in front of the Alamo with announcers calling out people as they came across. Post race there was plenty of food, but the line to get it was long. It would have been helpful to have people be able to go either side of the food tent in order to move things along a little bit quicker. They also had music, massages, medical tents and the ability to check your time. The Krispy Kreme Donut truck was an added perk if you could stomach it!

Overall I think this was a good race. Definitely one to look into if you need Texas! A few things to work on though: getting the course a little bit fine tuned (not so many surfaces, less of the iffy areas), faster food lines, etc.  I also think social media could be improved. I don’t think their twitter account has been used in a few years!!! The Race Director, David, was a good guy and I think is one who takes all suggestions to heart in order to improve the race! Keep this race on your radar, because it’s one to do every March!

Race this weekend? Don’t forget to go to Bibrave and review!