I attended this race with 2 of my running besties from my running club. The Expo was easy to get to, although parking was a little crowded. They had lots of vendors and photo ops. They had a great deal on race merch and I got a really cute pullover with a 1/4 zipper.
Race morning, there were plenty of porta potties, parking was plentiful since it started at the mall. The race was point to point and there was a shuttle back to the start.
The course was well marked, safe, and had a variety of views. We can past malls, neighborhoods, through a Greenway, and along the beach. Plenty of water stops with enthusiastic volunteers. The course was mostly flat which I loved.
It ended along the beach, so beautiful, the only annoying part was how much the sidewalk wound back and forth but it couldn't be helped. The medals were huge and doubled as a bottle opener.

Expo: the expo was large and everything was spread out nicely so I didn't feel claustrophobic. Bib pickup was a dream, their system was perfection and I didn't wait at all. You had to walk to the back of the expo for your shirt but even that was quick and easy. They were giving out posters, and walked right up to you to give you one. The speakers were on point and had lots of great info and tips.
Train service was frequent and I didn't have to wait on race morning. Because of the Vegas shooting, there was heightened security, but even that was quick and easy.
Corrals were easy to find and potties were plentiful. Our corral started 15 minutes late, which i wasn't thrilled about, but it gave us time for one last potty trip so not a total loss.
Course was well marked and clear, but at times spectators were in the street with no one to stop them. At one point around mile 3, they filled a third of the course and were not stepping out of the way for runners!
There were many times on the course that people were crossing in front of the runners. And they were taking their time, and making runners stop dead on the course!
Other than that, spectators were amazing and the water stops were on point with cups and large bottles for refills.
Mile 13 had a jumbotron that displayed messages left by your friends and family. I received 2 of the messages left by the same person, which was fun to see.
I was not one of the runners that made the cutoff. At mile 18 they told us to get on the sidewalk but the spectators filled them up so we ran in the shoulder. Some volunteers with water and ice stayed on the course but all mile markers were removed and they were pulling up the barriers.
When we reached the finish, we were diverted to the sidewalk. I was so happy to be able to finish that I didn't care
BUT
And this is huge
We are given a medal and water.
That's it.
No Mylar blankets. No one offering to help obviously injured athletes. No food.
No. Food.
Instead, we watched as volunteers filled plastic bags to take home themselves. Bunches and bunches of bananas, what looked like apples, and all the other foods.
We were diverted away from the finish and our families and friends and made to walk several blocks to the street. It took my husband 15 minutes to reach me once I finally plopped down in the grass. I am unthrilled about this. There was no reason to deny us food, and divert us so far away.
Overall I really loved running the marathon,
And i would recommend it to anyone who can finish under the time limit. I am also super happy that they allowed us to finish, even though we couldn't finish on time!

Expo: they had a packet pickup the night before, but as a VIP I was allowed to pick up at the event. There was no line and we got to pick out the color of our glow necklace.
Our drawstring bag had shaded sunglasses that had LED lights, a glow wand, a bracelet, our shirt and bib. My bib was already wrinkled and used looking but it's a fun run so I let it go. Our wands didn't work so we brought them to the merch tent and they exchanged them.
Parking was close and easy but cost $10 which I wasn't a fan of, but at the same time, what can you do?
There were food trucks and beer stands and lots of crazy loud music to get us pumped up! They also had corn hole and giant Jenga.
As VIPs, we were supposed to get into the first wave but they let anyone in without checking bibs. I was unthrilled about this, since we paid quite a bit extra for the privilege, but we lined up right up front and got in the first wave anyway.
The race wound around the Speedway Parking lot and in and out of the tunnel under the stands which was cool. It was fun to watch all the glowing people running around behind us. They had selfie spots with black lights scattered around.
They also had music and DJs around the course as well so you always had music to dance around to.
About halfway through they handed out full sized water bottles and had more at the finish.
The finish was in the Speedway where we started. I'm not sure what they would have had going there, but there were 2 ambulances there loading people in right at the finish line. Obviously this isn't the race director's fault! I hope everyone was ok! We still had our water from the halfway point so we just left. They still had music going and food or beer for purchase, but we had both done long runs early that morning and we were so tired!
This is great race for kids and walkers as well as runners. We walked the whole thing and had a blast on the course. I would definitely do it again!