City of Laguna Hills Memorial Day Half Marathon Recap

I seem to enjoy the pain and reward of hilly runs so I signed up for a half in Laguna Hills. I didn't have any plans for Memorial Day so I wanted to do something active.

I drove down to pickup my race packet a few days beforehand at Road Runner Sports in Laguna Hills and it was speedy and well organized. Fast forward to race morning and there was plenty of (free) parking at the Laguna Hills mall right next to the start line. I had lots of time to walk around and chat with other runners. The start area was very casual, there weren't any pace markers so we all got to start on time.

The course immediately goes through Leisure World (now known as Laguna Woods) and it was so cute to see all the elderly people sitting in front of their homes cheering for the runners.

The course had lots of rolling hills at the beginning and more once we reached the Aliso Creek Trail. I LOVED the course and how scenic it was.

Orange County is such a nice place to run and there were lots of trees, flowers and shade. There was a steep, cruel uphill portion at mile 13 which totally sucked but I pushed it hard because my Garmin said I was going to PR and I saw someone taking pictures.

I finished in 2:03:44 and couldn't have been happier! New PR!