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Worst Race planning ever

This race was conducted in a disorganized, disappointing, and even at times dangerous way.

Disorganized: check-in was 1 person with a computer. The race was supposed to start at 10AM; my 10:10 wave started at 11:03, to give you perspective on how far behind they were. The lack of markers to even find the parking lot should have been an indication of the course to come. Other than very scattered signs, there were no other course markers. No ribbons, no arrows, NOTHING to indicate you were on the right trail (even between cross roads and various turn offs). It would have been extremely easy to take a wrong turn. Volunteers (or employees?) at a couple of the obstacles didn't even know what you were supposed to do. The distance of the race was NOT posted online. On race day, I got varied information from organizers that the race was 5 miles, 8 miles, and 13 (!) miles long - turns out it was 8 miles. No course maps, no idea of elevation net gain, NO INFORMATION available to runners.

Disappointing: the obstacles. First of all, I'm not a huge obstacle course fan. But these were downright disappointing. I could have constructed everything myself for $500. They were tiny and un-challenging (example: crawling up an A-frame made of chain link fence - wow, I could do that in my back yard). There were repeats (tractor tire flips). There was ONLY water at the aid stations. NO food, no gels, NOTHING. In my experience, when a race advertises aid stations (not explicitly "water stations") I take that to include water, snacks/gels, and medical help. To border both the disappointing and dangerous topics, there were exactly two aid stations on a course longer than 8 miles. The first was halfway through. Terrible. You could get some severely dehydrated people, and people whose energy crashes with no re-fueling (more people would have carried refueling supplies IF they had been made aware there would be none on course!). I'm a pretty prepared runner, but next time, I'd bring a backpack and my own fuel. Last disappointing thing: NO food at the finish. I would have been happy with a Clif bar being handed to me (good thing I had one in the car). NOTHING. They had food for sale: overpriced hot dogs and hamburgers from Costco with bags of chips, each item was $5. FIVE DOLLARS?! PER ITEM?!

Dangerous: lack of trail markers (or alternatively, volunteers to indicate direction). Lack of re-fueling supplies both on course and at finish. Aid stations spaced poorly and too infrequently. Potentially dangerous (not quite so much for experienced runners, but the field wasn't really comprised of those): downhill first, uphill second. Terrible idea. Even experienced runners want the mentality of coasting to the finish. And less experienced runners could easily lose steam (and do so on inaccessible, and unmarked trails!).

Overall a disaster. The only star they receive on my review is for the scenery of Mt. Madonna Park, which was absolutely gorgeous, through no fault of the organizers.