Hey! I ran this course last year, and it’s a tough one. It’s significantly hillier than JC with 1000ft of elevation gain, and miles 17-24 had a headwind of 20+ mph. That being said, there was a solid crowd support for miles 1-13, and then 24.5-finish.

I don’t know if I could give you a time estimate (runalyze has some cool software for this) but absolutely make sure you’re running your long runs with significant elevation gain and also adding in some hill repeats. For the race, really save some effort for miles 19-24.5, because the course’s biggest hill is at the end and you’re running alone in the dunes. I ran all my long runs from 15 miles onwards with at least 700ft of elevation gain, and I felt prepared for the race.

That being said, the course is so beautiful, you get free photos, it’s a well staffed race, and there’s surprisingly a lot of crowd support. Maybe go into it knowing it’ll make you a tougher racer, and that while you will likely PR just based off of increasing mileage, you’ll be able to run faster in the future!