This is one of the most fun races you could ever run. Everything was so thoughtfully organized and executed flawlessly. The location was easy to find and parking was plentiful. Now, if you don't know what the Blerch is - look up The Oatmeal. Read two of his short comics: The terrible and wonderful reasons I run long distances" and "the do's and don'ts of running your first marathon." Now, you are in the right mindset to Beat the Blerch! We were greeted by the Start line. Disney songs and pop music flooded the area. Blerchs were wondering around offering mallow puffs (bacon and chocolate covered marshmallows) to all. We quickly registered and received: a headband, sticker, tattoo, bib, and long sleeve technical t-shirt with the specific length we were running on it. We snapped a quick picture on the sofa with the Sasquatch, while the Blerch snoozed along side of us. We stretched and took off in one of the 2 minute waves that spread people out and made the course comfortable. Blerchs chased us and people showed up in droves, dressed as food, dinosaurs and hornets. The first water station had cake on a stick, purple juice, water, pb&Js, and..a couch. We ran along side the river and over the beautiful gold Tower bridge. All the water stations had couches, Blerchs, and cake. The mood was light and cheery. We ran along the front of the Capitol, back over the bridge, and ended with a high five from Sasquatch and our names over the loud speaker inside Raley Field. This was my daughter's first race. She is not a runner. She had a blast. All because of a guy that draws funny pictures. Amazing. read more

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I've been trying to contact Matt for weeks now. My race kit was sent back to sender due to wrong address. Since then I've been trying to get in touch with Beat the Blerch team to help me resolve this problem. I emailed him on Beat the Blerch, I emailed him on The Oatmeal account, I just can't seem to get response from him. I'm a huge fan of his work and I've been supporting this race since 2020. last year (2021) I didn't receive my race shirt, I let it go because I love the race. I contacted him and no response. This year I never even got my race kit. I am deeply disappointed in such poor customer service. I really want to support this race. I respect Matt as a runner but being disappointed two years in a row might be the reason I stop supporting him completely. Please check your email and social media Matt and help send me my race kit again. read more

If you've never heard of The Oatmeal, then please read this comic which will explain what the Blerch even is: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/running. This whole race was inspired by that...and Sacramento was one of the lucky cities to host a 2015 Blerch Race (other than Carnation, Washington and Morristown, New Jersey). Four race distances offered: Full Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K, and 5K. Packet Pickup at REI (Arden) took at least 45 minutes, in order to pickup you needed the QR code from your Eventbrite registration. Got a long sleeved technical shirt, women's cut V-neck was pretty nice! Also in the goodie bag were a headband, temporary tattoos, stickers, magnets, etc. featuring the Blerch. Volunteers dressed as the Blerch were also giving out candy to runners in line. People also got autographs and photos with The Oatmeal himself. Seems like anyone who needed to transfer their registration had an easy time, I heard someone who injured herself last month during one of her two October half marathons got instead a volunteer shirt and a medal and said she could run it virtually when she was all healed up. How considerate! Free parking at Raley Field, staggered race wave start times (Full at 8am, Half at 9am, 10K at 10am, 5K at 10:30am). Prior to race start we could avail of the actual real stadium restrooms (much nicer than portables if you know what I mean), and plop on the strategically placed couches/recliners and pose for a photo with the Bigfoot (Sasquatch?) and a Blerch, with huge jars of Nutella as props. Volunteers dressed in Blerch costumes also were distributing chocolate+bacon covered marshmallows at the start. I was in the first wave of the 10K (bibs were chip-timed), waves were about 3 minutes apart to allow for the spread and so that the aid stations didn't get too jammed up. The bike trails along the river were a little narrow when non-racers who were just doing their normal morning bike ride or dog walk would create opposing traffic, but once down by Front Street and city streets it widened up. Clogged up a bit where the 5K and 10K converged near Crocker Park, and where the Half or Full Marathoners also joined after Capitol Mall crossing the Tower Bridge back toward Raley Field. Aid stations did all have couches, water, electrolytes, green-frosted cake squares on popsicle sticks, Nutella or PB&J sandwiches, etc. No magical purple grape drinks that I saw, but that's fine by me. The course was well marked and blocked off by Sac PD, and thankfully my later start time meant the weather warmed up compared to the chilly morning. Finish line was in the stadium on the dirt track portion, not on the field itself. Was a bit narrow but was able to still sprint to the finish among all the 5K walkers and full marathoners. Even beat my personal record (PR) for the 10K distance! Medal is a commendable coaster size/weight, different colors depending on race distance (Black for Full Marathon, Yellow for Half Marathon, Green for 10K, and Orange for 5K). The Beat the Blerch Sacramento website said 5Kers didn't get finisher medals, but I guess they did! After the finish line it was really crowded to get snacks (banana halves, Nutella sandwiches, Clif bars, water cups). I would've liked full bottles of water but oh well. You then had to walk back up the steps to the top of the stadium, where A Change of Pace (the race timing group out of Davis) had laptops available where you could immediately look up your race results, which was great. Race photos are free, and I did see some photographers near the start line and finish line, and up on the concourse at the staged couches, but didn't notice many along the course (bright yellow vests). Still waiting to see how those turned out. Overall a very fun-spirited race, too bad I was going for my record otherwise I would totally have had some cake and taken some couch pit-stops. The Blerches on course did try to chase you which was funny. The Sasquatch greeted you upon your final approach into the stadium. Crossing the Tower Bridge was fun, nice views of the Capitol, and the river of course. Surprised that they pulled it off so well for a first-time race of this kind in Sacramento -- where we typically don't have many Full Marathons other than CIM or the 2016 Pony Express. No major complaints about this race at all! read more

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This was the first year the Beat the Blerch race came to Sacramento, CA and 4 running distances were available (5k, 10k, half, and full). Race: This was my 3rd half marathon ever and thought everything was very well done, especially for its inaugural year. The course was very scenic and took you by the river, across bridges (3x), through downtown, through parks, and a bike trail, with the finish in Raley Field. No loops in the course and relatively flat overall, just some minor slopes. Meeting "The Oatmeal": I picked up my bib packet Friday at REI and got him to sign both my bib and the "Terrible Reasons why I run long distances" book. He would alternate between taking pictures or refusing pictures. If you didn't get a picture, he seemed to try to compensate by drawing an extra doodle for you :). He happened to be refusing photos by the time i reached him but got a cool horse drawing! After the half on race day, I waited in-line to meet him again to get him to sign my medal ribbon and got a picture this time! Organization: Thought everything was very well organized starting with bib pick up. Plenty of signs to direct people and there were staff/volunteers in blerch costumes ready to field questions/concerns. Race day parking was easy as well (LOVE the FREE parking btw!) at Raley Field. The parking was literally right by the start line too! Plenty of signs, cones, sticker markers on ground, and appropriate mile markers throughout the course. Aid stations were fantastic with electrolytes, water, cake, nutella, couches, and other goodies. The Bling: Fantastic Blerch medal. Especially like how the medal ribbons (along with the bib and race shirts) were personalized according to which distance you ran. Thought it was also a nice touch that each medal had plastic wrap around the metal portion to protect (I've had other medals get dinged when they clank against each other in the boxes). Areas for Improvement: (1) Free photos were advertised as part of registration, but I did not see many photographers at all. Saw some start line photograhers and at the finish line, but didn't really see any throughout the course or in the finish area after we got our medals. (2) The snacks and drinks right at the finish line was crazy. At the time I finished, it looked like the water table (the very first table runners get to after crossing the finish line) was the bottleneck - cups kept running out and it took time to fill cups/water bottles with the water dispensers. Every other race I have done gave out bottled water or bottled powerade at the finish line, which really speeds up the process. (3) Not really an issue for me as I typically run the whole race without needing a bathroom, but I noticed there were almost no bathroom opportunities throughout the course. Overall though, this was a very fun and unique race. I would still highly recommend to others! read more

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This is for the 2015 Sacramento 10k course only. Pros: - delicious cake at every aid station (~every two miles) - couches, yeti, Blerchs along the course - long sleeve, gender specific (yay!) tech (moisture wicking) shirt (with city, distance and year printed) with cupcake on sleeve, designs on: front, back and where the tag is normally - Early bib pick up option available - Meeting Matthew Inman, taking pictures with him, getting his autograph along with lots of on-the-spot drawings. AWESOME!!! - free parking, free for spectators - nice path (got wonderful picture of the State Capitol, greenery, river view, etc.), lots of cops blocking streets and keeping us safe, some shade from trees along the way, etc. - clear mile markers at every mile Cons (these were specifically promised, but not delivered): - no magical purple drink that everyone raved about, missing sasquatch - no photographers on the course. The so-called free photos were of just a few people at the start line, everyone (?) at the finish line and some couch pictures that was NOT at the actual course. Had I known there weren't going to be photographers throughout the course, I would have prepared differently (taken more pictures throughout the run and asked the spouse to take pictures along the way, etc.) - congested finish line. I wished the staff would have told the finishers to get out of the way once they crossed the line. I almost tripped over 2 that just stopped directly in front of the finish line/cameramen. read more

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Review is specifically for the 10k, with feedback from friends who did the 5k. Overall, a professionally done race, and I'm glad I did it. But...that's about it. Crowds were light and the facilities were fairly well-planned. It was a similar layout and same facility as Shamrock'n, but with about a third of the people, which is awesome. Bathrooms were mellow and clean. Course was well marked. People were in great spirits. The shirts are great quality and totally something I'll wear outside the race. And yet: Little else about this race would attract me to do it again. Packet pickup was at REI near Cal Expo, which, while centrally located for the region, is also hideously inconvenient to access on a weekday. Basically, if you work business hours, you're going to be sitting in a lot of traffic. Lines were long at 1pm. You could skip that and pick up the packet at the race, but that's a $5 fee. If they do this next year, definitely try to recruit a friend to get everyone's packet in your group. The race was pretty expensive. Aside from it being pretty well-organized and the decent shwag, the cost wasn't really justified. They advertised FREE PHOTOS but there weren't any photographers aside from the finish line. There is exactly one picture of me and it's well after I crossed the finish line, trying to slow down and maintain consciousness. Mile markers on the 10k disappeared after about 3 miles. There wasn't a single Blerch in sight except one guy at the start and one sitting on a folding chair near the finish. There was one couch. No music (live or otherwise) or anything to make the actual course lively. In short, very little that made this race "special", particularly when it's not benefiting a charity. (They do say a portion of the proceeds go to charity, but don't specify how much or what charity.) I also think that when you put on a race that includes half and full marathons, you need to take into account that many of them are fairly serious runners. It takes a lot of training for most people just to complete those distances. Those people need specifics. Post the maps sooner. (As an aside, it was pretty clear that some of the organizers didn't bother having a Sacramentan copy edit their website. Their directions referred to taking "305" or "Kiline Street", which are names that no one outside some Google Maps database has ever used. Good luck asking for direction to "the 305". Pretty easy to get to Raley Field, so no harm done, but it definitely didn't fill me with confidence. Fortunately the rest of the organization was better than this little mishap.) Tell us what's actually going to be at your aid stations. Vaguely saying "Magical grape drink", and then not even providing grape drink (and providing some low carb electrolyte drink instead) doesn't cut it. Sorry to be picky, but it's an easy step to attract more serious runners. And I know it's not really about being competitive, but some low key signs that encouraged people to line up according to pace would be good too. All that said, if you enjoy running and you love yourself some Oatmeal, it's probably worth a try. I do hope they stick around. I think with a few minor improvements and maybe some additional investment, they can make this a bigger, better race. read more