There are three things that stand out to me about this race - the hard work and dedication of the race organizers, the beauty of the course, and the completeness of the experience.

The race organizers were all over the place on Social Media leading up to the race. The race director, Eric, responded personally to every question and comment I posted on Twitter and Facebook. When a snafu came up regarding the tech shirts in the weeks before the race, he was upfront and honest with the registrants that the Nike tech shirts would not be in, and what he was going to provide instead. I personally LOVED the lightweight, vintage hoodies that they chose. I have enough tech shirts. I like having a shirt I can wear all the time.

The organizers also made for a very well-organized expo, a well-organized race, and a memorable experience. In fact, this race is all about the experiences. Runners could purchase tickets to special pre- and post- race events including course tours, dinners by local chefs, distillery tours, and tours of the local horse farms. I love that they made a whole weekend experience out of it!

The course itself was so unique to me. I am typically an urban runner, both in training and in racing. I loved the half marathon course that ran by horse farms each and every mile! The course is very hilly, and, while the hills are constant throughout the entire course, no one hill felt too long or too steep. What goes up must come down! There was almost no crowd support, which is different from most urban races, but the scenery more than made up for it.

The only less-than-stellar thing about this race was the race morning parking! I'm not super familiar with the area, but I think there was only one entrance to the parking lot race morning. I was "on pace" to get to the parking lot around 7:45 (they suggested to get there at 8 for a 9:00 race start) but I waited in a line of traffic for 45 minutes to get in! Once you got into the lot, there were plenty of spaces. I just wish the parking had been directed differently - maybe use multiple lots or multiple entrances?

Otherwise, a perfect race and race weekend. I also have more pictures and more of a review on my blog at http://runyinzerrun.blogspot.com/2015/04/run-bluegrass-half-marathon-race-recap.html

Link to this review