Expo - Ultra simple with a great pre-race meal.
Course - Trail race on a old railroad path. Slight upgrade the second half of the 50, not severe, but you feel it a bit.
Aid Stations - Excellent choices of food. Volunteers, were helpful and supporting. I was running this with no crew, but it felt like I had a crew at each station. High Marks!!
Finish Line - They could have drawn a line in the dirt and told me I was finished...I would have been happy. But it was a nice finish line, with the RD waiting with a buckle and again, plenty of food.

I had a great experience and it was cool to see a world record broke...not by me.

https://runhardalwaysfinish.com/2017/11/the-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel/

Expo was simple, but fun and everyone was helpful. Easy Check In

Parking was exceptionally easy, convenient, the best I have seen at a marathon

The course was well marked. There were some mild hills at the beginning, including the bridges, but not severe. It was cool running on the island, eerily quiet with no spectators, until you got to the aid stations, those people were LOUD!!

Aid stations were amazing. The RD did an amazing job preparing everyone for the heat. By the second half of the race it was blazing hot and they were ready. There was Ice, cold rags, water, readily available and medics were everywhere checking on people. It was impressive.

Finish Line - One of the best. RD was there giving high-fives to everyone. SO MUCH FOOD!!! Easy flow back to where you could sit and rest. A loud band. And the parking was so close, which made it easy to limp out to go home.

I really enjoyed this day. It was professionally run and you could tell they were trying to create a great experience for the runner...they accomplished it.

TRAIL RUNNING OVER TEXAS put on a spectacular race. Rob Goyen (Race Director) and his staff understand how to give a “pure” running experience. Volunteers were top notch and the day was memorable. Brazos Bend State park was a wonderful venue and the park rangers were coolest. (no one was eaten by an alligator…)

STARTING AREA:
Arriving at the park, the first thing I noticed was how calm the starting area was, there was no loud music, bright lights, announcers talking, nope….it was just runners, getting ready to run.

AID STATIONS/VOLUNTEERS:
I had my first experiences with an Ultra Marathon Aid stations. I am used to little cups of water and Gatorade being handed to me and getting out of everyone’s way quickly. Not here, these people treat you like you were the only runner that they were going to see all day. Filling my bottles, offering me food and if needed there was always an ice-cold sponge waiting for you. It literally looked like a buffet of the best food ever. These volunteers always greeted me with a smile and asked what they could do for me. I saw them attending to struggling runners and cheering loudly for everyone. #amazingvolunteers

COURSE:
The course is a 16.8 mile loop that winds throughout the Brazos Bend State Park. It has incredible sights, including beautiful lakes, alligators and many other types of wildlife. It is flat, on packed dirt/stone paths, that are well maintained. There is plenty of shade during the run. Excellent for either a really fast race, or in my case, my first Ultra.

SWAG:
Awesome shirt....Awesome Medal (See Pic)

FINISH LINE:
Just the best feeling to see that big RedBull Finish Line and they broadcast your name as you finish. Race Director Rob is there giving HighFives to everyone.

POST RUN FOOD:
There is simply no words to describe the awesomeness of the the buffet of food they have waiting for you when you finish.

FINAL WORDS:
It was a great day. Ultra runners are very supportive and all though I didn't know what I was doing, I finished. And then I ate a lot of food.

My recap can be found at https://runhardalwaysfinish.com/2017/04/50-miles-alligators-and-potato-chips/

This was my 7th time running this marathon. Each year it grows in popularity and the staff for this for this weekend continues to get better each year. The on course support from the community is unlike anywhere else that I have run, with the entire city lining the streets turning it into a big party. This year was the 10th anniversary of the race and they created the "Booby Challenge". You ran the 10K and 5K on Saturday, then Sunday you had your choice to run 13.1 or 26.2 miles. The Challenge had it's own individual medal that your received when finishing on Sunday along with the medals from the individual races. I participated in the challenge and ran the full marathon on Sunday. It is a great weekend of running and fun.

Courses:
10K - Flat with cool sights of the water, football stadium and the city. There was a chocolate shop that was open and giving samples as we ran....epic.
5K - They changed the course this year and it was completely flat. You ran through the city of Jacksonville and along the waterfront. Durning mile 3 it gets a little narrow as you run the sidewalks along the water, but it opens up quick and the shoot to the finish is great. So many people screaming and yelling for you that no matter where you finish, it feels like you are the winner.
Half/Full - In 2016 they moved several of the miles off of the beach. While there are beautiful views that are missed, the chilly headwinds and soft footing are not. The course is flat and well attended. You are going to get support from beginning to end. The tough part of the course comes at the toughest part of the race, mile 23. The 3.2 miles consist of running on Butler Blvd over the intercostal waterway. The bridge, while not steep, is a gradual incline that will work your legs. But as throughout the course, there are people encouraging the entire time. The finish is excellent, a huge shoot that you run down with people, announcers, big screens, makes you feel famous.

Expo:
Medium sized Expo that is well attended by the runners and vendors. Lots of different photo ops with the legendary runners. (Jeff Galloway, Joan (Benoit) Samuelson,) along with Donna herself. Package pick up is well organized and very simple to get through.

Parking:
Since moving the start from the Mayo Clinic to TPC Sawgrass they get better every year at traffic and parking. This year was easy and traffic flowed with no issues. Parking is ample and easy. The one drawback because it is no longer a loop, you have to bus it back to your car from the finish line. They run plenty of busses, but at times there is a wait and climbing into the little seats of a bus, as your legs are cramping can be annoying!!! It is organized and well run.

Swag:
This years shirts and medals were the best in all the years I have attended. It is evident there is much thought put into the the design of the medals and the shirts this year were also designed well. High marks given here.

I love this race, the reason for running is more than the finish line as they raise money to find a cure for Breast Cancer. It is a well supported race and continues to improve.