Howloween Half Marathon & 5k Race Reviews

Great Course, but coordination lacking

I ran this race in 2023 this past weekend. I was really looking forward to it! I made a very clever costume and was super excited! I had been to another Halloween race in the past (haunted half) and thought it would be similar. The morning of, the bib pickup line was actually super long (not that big of a deal). I was given a bib and a shirt as expected. I waited for them to announce a costume contest before the race like other races do, but it never happened. The restrooms were far from the race setup. Make sure to get there early if you need to use the restroom. The course was nice and flat with beautiful fall scenery and animals! I saw cows, sheep, and even a random rooster! The aide stations seemed fine, however, I didn't notice any restrooms on the course (this was not a problem for me though because I didn't need to go). It was my understanding that there would be a timer strip or similar at the halfway point, but there wasn't. There were a lot of out and back points on the course (advertised). There was also a dirt trail section, which we were told of ahead of time. The other runners were super nice and encouraging, which made the race for me!! It was fun seeing the other costumes!! My biggest disappointment was that I came through the finish line as a back-of-the-packer (I'm pregnant and not as fast as I usually am!) And discovered they had done the costume contest while some of us were still running. I honestly can't understand why they would not include everyone in the contest. I think this is completely unfair. If I had known, I wouldn't have gone all out on my costume. Super big disappointment! And it hurts to feel like the slower runners don't count. My husband and daughters also needed to use the restroom while I was running and they wouldn't tell him the code, so they had to go somewhere else. I also placed 3rd in my age division and it was advertised that I would get an award, but I did not. I didn't even find out until 2 days after the fact (I couldn't find the results online) All in all, it was a bit disappointing but the course made up for some of the loose ends.