The Logistics Nightmare that was the Hollywood Half Marathon

I have been pretty excited about the Hollywood Half since I first heard of it. Imagine you and 5,999 other runners tackling Hollywood Boulevard and finishing on the red carpet for 13.1 miles of fun?!?

In the 10 months between signing up and race day, I was able to become personal friends with the race directors. Ken and Sabrina Nwadike of Superhero Events are very nice people. Time and time again they allowed runners to vote and make decisions on key components of the race. We voted on the medals, race shirt, and other items pertaining to the event. I was lucky enough to accompany Ken and Sabrina to a Hollywood Birthday party in February.

As race day approached, it became obvious this was going to be a challenging race. When I say that, it has nothing to do with the hill at mile 11. I am referring to the traffic, road closures, and shear amount of time this event was going to require in addition to the 2+ hours I would be running.

The issues began at the expo. It was held at the Universal Hilton on the Friday before race day. What organizers probably didn’t account for was the additional traffic caused by Easter Universal Studios visitors and Friday Los Angeles gridlock. It took us about 25 minutes to get into the parking garage and even more time to exit. People were everywhere. It was a mess, to say the least.

While in the expo we heard them announcing road closures starting at 4:00 am on race day. What that meant for us was that even though we were staying less than 30 minutes away, we would have to arrive over 2 hours early. 3:00 am wake up it is! UGH.

We barely made it to the parking garage before the streets were closed. It was a stressful beginning to a race day morning. I just don’t understand why roads need to be shut off hours before a runner toes the line.

We took our usual Half Fanatic/Marathon Maniac pic and enjoyed chatting up friends. Colby decided he needed to use the Porta-Jon, and this is where we encountered the next traffic jam. Lines were 40 runners deep, so there was no way to make it before the gun. We abandoned the idea and tried to get into our corrals. I put Colby in the 8-minute mile corral and I tried to get into the 10-minute. It was so crowded that I couldn’t move and I couldn’t get in the corral. After the gun went off for the first wave, it took at least 10 minutes to get into the barriers.

We finally got going down the City Walk at Universal. It was a beautiful sight in the early morning darkness. Runners were in good spirits. It was nice to actually run after standing around so long.

The first few miles went well. I did notice issues at the water stations. The volunteers were completely overwhelmed. They didn’t have water pre-poured, so runners were impatiently waiting and grabbing at them to get water. At one stop I was handed a stack of 4 cups with water in the top one. I pulled the 3 clean ones off and handed it back to the volunteer. It was a cluster of volunteers and runners at every table.

At mile 6 I desperately needed to use the restroom. I crossed the street and waited in line with 10 other runners. All hope of a PR was dashed at this point. I noticed a homeless person walking around our line and yelling at the runners. It was very obviously a man, but ‘he’ was dressed in women’s clothing. My Facebook status from the port o potty line: “Homeless tranny behind me. Only in Hollywood!”

My new homeless tranny friend was yelling at us, “hurry up and pee! You have a marathon to run!” and other such nonsense. She/he was thrilled beyond relief when it was his/her turn to use the potty. The response, “Oh goody! There is toilet paper in here!”

After the experience I was finally able to run again. When I got to the next water station, I was shocked to see volunteers pouring water in the runners’ hands rather than cups. They had completely ran out. I was only half way finished and there were probably thousands of people behind me. Not good.

At mile 9 they were giving away Clif Shots. I grabbed one, but realized it was going to be tough without water to chase it down. I ran a little further and saw this:



Runners were ripping open the boxes of water and using a new jug to drink from. Rather than risk drinking after anyone else, I did the same. I thought about carrying it with me, but couldn’t imagine running with a gallon jug for 3.1 more miles.

By mile 10 I was really ready for this race to be over. I just wasn't having fun. It was most likely because I was alone on the course, thirsty, and hot. I couldn’t wait to get it over. Then the tough part really kicked in... the hill(s). From mile 11 - 12 there was a BIG incline. I noticed a cross on the mountain to my right and said a prayer, focused on the fact that the race was almost over, and kept moving forward.

After what seemed like forever, I saw Ed with his “woot, you are almost there” sign at mile 13 (accompanied by Ryan, which was a nice surprise) and the red carpet welcomed us to the finish line.

After walking around to find Colby, we made our way back to Universal Studios. We ditched the idea of riding the limo buses up the hill because the lines were insane. What I didn’t realize was that the sea of humanity we would walk with was just as bad. It took us over 30 minutes to make it just a few hundred yards up to Universal.

Line winding up to Universal

The Hollywood Half is not a bad race, but there are plenty of challenges.

Suggestions I would make:
1. Don’t have the race on Easter weekend.
2. Make the water stations longer so there are not clusters of runners.
3. Train the volunteers to fill the water cups prior to the onslaught of runners.
4. Have 2 times more cups than you think you need.
5. Have the finish line somewhere else so there is not such an issue walking back to the parking structures.

I am not sure if Team Wentlandt will return to the HHM, but we wish SuperHero Events all the best!

Colby's Red Carpet Finish

Mimi enjoyed the Kids' Fun Run