I really enjoyed this race! I was looking forward to the challenge of running some hills, and it didn't disappoint. There was one kind of boring stretch in the middle of the race, and a few minor issues with water stations but I saw volunteers and staff working hard to address those issues and make sure everyone was ok. So overall, a very good experience and a race I would run again.

First up, the expo was very good. Small but well organized, with a good variety of vendors (running stores, other races, products, food samples). Packet pickup was quick and easy, at the host hotel. I was also picking up for my sister and her husband and had no issues there. They would have had a hard time making it to the expo before 6, though, since they both had to work.

The race swag was pretty awesome! Everything came in a clear drawstring backpack-bag with the race artwork logo, which will definitely get plenty of use. The t-shirt design is really pretty, and the shirts were gender specific and sized correctly. We also got a matching buff. There were also several product samples in our bags.

Race morning we arrived downtown and had no trouble parking in a nearby parking garage for only $5. They were still setting up all the finish line/post-race stuff, but we did think it odd we didn't see any port-o-lets. It wasn't an issue for us since we had a friend who worked nearby letting us in her office, but there was a very long line for the one public toilet. Later when we made our way the couple of blocks over to the actual start, we did see the port-o-lets. The line was really long there too.

There were no corrals, but the pre-race announcements were asking everyone to line up by pace, and it seemed most people did. The race started right on time; there was also a 10K that was starting 15 minutes later.

The first 6 miles of the race were really fun. Up and down hills, winding around the streets of downtown Asheville. Very interesting to run, and made the miles fly by. The next 4 miles were down by the French Broad River - all flat and straight, with not much to look at. You could make some good time here, but this part of the course was kind of boring. Mile 11 was all up hill, as the course climbs up Overlook Road. The views got pretty again, and then Mile 12 took us downhill and then winding through the A-B Tech campus before we ran back through downtown to the finish. I don't know how it was for the front of the pack, but by the time I got here they had us running on the sidewalk, which was kind of strange. I was also disappointed there wasn't a little more crowd support. I like when people come out to watch and cheer us on, especially at the end.

At the finish, we got our finisher's medals and a bottle of water. There were some people cheering and music playing right at the finish line, which did give me a boost at the end. The post-race party was good. A free beer from Sierra Nevada, and lots of snacks from Earth Fare. I did hear there were some mixups about the overall winners and age group winners, but no one in my group was affected, so I don't know how that all got sorted out.

As I mentioned earlier, there were some issues with the water stations early in the race. It was an incredibly hot and humid day, but we did have that forecast so it wasn't a surprise. Water was supposed to be every 2 miles. The first water station at mile 2 was unmanned when I got there, and all but 1 cooler was empty (there were cups & a line of people trying to fill cups). As I left that water station, carts pulled up with the volunteers bringing more water. They also began driving along the course handing out water bottles and making sure everyone had water. Miles 4 and 5 both had water stations, and then there wasn't another one until mile 8, so the spacing was a little off. But again, carts were driving along the course with water bottles, gels and Kind bars for anyone who wanted them. One big plus: all but 1 water station had COLD water. A lot of the time, us back-of-the-pack runners get warm water, so I really appreciated that this water was kept cold for us.

I really appreciated that race staff and volunteers were constantly driving the course, checking on the runners and making sure everyone had water. They were very responsive addressing the issues, and I would expect that next year they will be even more prepared. Overall this was a really fun race to run. The hills were challenging but do-able, and I would like to run this race again.