Boilermaker is an experience everyone needs to have at least once in their life. It is the largest race I have ever run and it was definitely the most fun. We visited the expo on Friday, which was actually smaller than I thought it would be, but still had a lot of stuff. My biggest complaint is that with the Boilermaker you pay $50 and all you get is a glass and a pin. If you want a shirt you need to purchase it at the expo and they do have medals if you would like to purchase them there as well. This year was the first year they threatened to cancel Boilermaker due to weather. On Saturday they had a news conference at 6pm, but never sent out the information to people who couldn't watch it until hours later. Sunday morning they decided the race would go on, but the party would be cut short. We were very lucky because we had someone drop us off at the start, so we didn't need to use the shuttles. The start line is really a mess though. They have what I thought were corrals to start each color at a separate time. I was the last color so we just stood there for at least 5 minutes after the race started before we even started to move. My husband was in an earlier corral and he said everyone just went. I personally think they should have time paces listed for the last color, because there were so many people in front of us that were walking.
Once we got started I have never experienced a more interesting race. There were people all along the course cheering us on. I have never been part of a race that people are always there to cheer you on, give you a high five or hand out free popsicles or beer. There were aid stations every 1/4 mile with water or ice. The worst part of the race is because there were so many people in our group, we were constantly weaving in and out of people. It wasn't until the last 5 miles that we finally had a break and could run without hitting into people.
Besides having people all over to cheer you on, this is the first time I have been at a race that was televised. It seemed at every turn there was a camera snapping photos or a video camera recording us. As well as music at every mile, if not every 1/2 a mile. When we crossed the finish we were given our finishers pin and ushered to the finish line party. I have never seen so many people. We didn't even make it to the free beer, because we wanted to leave before the storms hit. It was great to have popsicles and fruit handed to us as we walked towards the area though. If you love crowds this is a race I would highly recommend, if crowds are not your thing I would stay away from this race.