About the race
Romance. Kitsch. Sweat.
Like peanut butter and jelly, cookies and milk, wine and cheese, Netflix and your couch, we are better together! The race features three distances (5K, 10K and half marathon) and a half marathon relay so everyone can find a distance that suits them.
As our first race of the year, we like to make this one a little more fun, with an extensive and delicious post-race food selection, a large heated tent, and nice race shirts. Walkers are welcome.
The Course
Two laps along the shores of Lake Washington. The first lap is 6.9 miles with a steep but quick hill early on; the second is 6.2 miles and nice and flat.
Aid stations every 2–3 miles, stocked with Clif and GU gels and Tailwind Endurance Fuel.
Two laps. The first has some hills at the beginning and is 3.7 miles; the second is flat and 2.5 miles.
3.1 miles. A steep but quick hill at the start makes a good warm-up, and once you are back down it is a breeze.
Two people split the two half marathon laps however they like — lap one is 6.9 miles with the early hill, lap two is 6.2 flat miles. It does not matter who runs which. The hand-off is in the park gazebo, just before the finish line.
All Orca races are cupless — bring a handheld or grab a small reusable folding cup at the start.
Entry
Bib mailed to you ($4.50) — Select the option during registration
Race morning, from 7:00am — Seward Park — plan on long lines
Saturday, February 7th — time to be confirmed — Pre-race packet pick-up — location to be confirmed
Free gear check is available at My Better Half Marathon. To reduce waste we do not provide drop bags, so please bring your own. We will have identification tags for you to use.
Overall awards go to the top 3 male, female and non-binary runners on gun time rather than chip time, so start near the front. Age group awards are given in 5-year increments — check your results at the Orca Running tent. Awards are not mailed after the race and must be picked up on the day.
Carpooling is highly recommended. There are about 200 parking spots in the Upper Loop of Seward Park, as well as ample parallel parking. You may need to walk a little way to the start, which is on the south side of the park, so please plan ahead. There is also plenty of on-street parking around Seward Park, all within walking distance.
Seattle is a huge city, so there are plenty of options — hotels, AirBnBs, B&Bs and everything in between.
Where your entry goes
The dollars donated help rebuild homes, repair lives and revitalize communities. Say hi to the amazing and friendly volunteers who support the race every year.
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Good to Know
The fine print
We have a clear set of policies that we uniformly follow for all races. Entries are not refundable, but you can defer your entry, transfer it to another race, or transfer it to another participant. You can review our full set of policies here.
There are no higher stakes than being kind to the earth; we care deeply about keeping our planet viable for the next generation. To that end, we organize our events with an eye towards minimizing our impact on the planet. Read more here.
If you have a suggestion or idea for how we can improve our events in this regard, please let us know!
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Questions?
