I was going for a sub 2 hour half when I signed up for this race. The course was flat the whole way except the last half mile when you turned on to Maryland and had to go up this short but very steep hill going over the 101 freeway. It was the perfect course for trying to set a PR. There wasn't a whole lot to look at but that was ok since I was concentrating on time. The one coll part was we did get to run through a portion of Luke Airforce base. It was very cool having the soldiers cheer us on and I appreciated that they were out there for us considering how much they already do for us with their service to our country. There were plenty of aid stations although I didn't use any since I brought my own water bottle. My goal was to not stop at all! I actually was able to achieve that and not walk for even a second. That was part of what help me reach my goal. The race finished at the water fountain at Westgate mall which was beautiful way to finish the race. As I made the turn that went to the finish line, I was crazy excited because I could still see a 1 on the big time clock. I crossed the finish in 1:53:29!!! Sub 2 achieved! There was plenty of fluid and snacks at the finish. They had the official times posted in a fairly quick amount of time on a wall near the finish. There was even some small swag things at the finish like a cool pin with the race logo. The medal was really nice too. It had the Arizona flag and a picture of a fighter jet on it. The parking was great. We could park at the mall and they bussed us to the start. One of my favorite things is that we waited at a community center. We were able to use the restrooms in there even though there were porta-a-pottys outside too. We could sit in the warm community center until the start which was right out the front door of the center. I really loved this race and will definitely do it again.