This is the third year in a row I have run this race and this was definitely the most disappointing of the three races. Maybe it's because I'm just coming off of running the Madison Mini, which is a beautiful and challenging course, but this year I felt that the majority of the course was blah and uninspiring. The conditions of the roads were awful - I felt like I had to keep my eyes down to avoid spraining my ankle on a pothole! The course is pretty flat, with the most difficult part coming from about mile 10-11 where there are two sizable hills back to back. The best part of the run is cruising through Miller Park at the end!

The T-shirts were awful this year. The first two years runners were given fitted tech tees and this year, while they can maybe technically be called tech tees since they are not cotton, they just seemed cheap and not something I would ever wear to run or work out in. Additionally, the shirt vendor apparently pre-shrunk all of the shirts so event management upsized everyone, and the shirt I received was just odd-fitting. Super short sleeves and the body is really boxy and wide, but also short, which I don't like.

There is no true race expo, but rather just a packet pick up where some of the other races produced by the event management team are featured. Sadly, some of those race representatives contributed to my disappointment this year as they were "hawking" participants picking up their packets trying to get them to sign up for their races. You know those annoying kiosk people at the mall who want to "ask you a question"? Yeah, They were those guys.

I did reach out to event management after picking up my packet to express my disappointment and to their credit they responded to me very quickly and explained that it is not meant to be an expo, just a packet pick up. I offered some suggestions and they will very likely not make any changes just based on my opinion, but they were very cordial and seemed appreciative of my feedback.

I am on the fence about doing this one again. Having run it three years in a row now I may choose to try out a different race in place of it next year. If you haven't run it, it is a fun race and the post-race party is great! Local Milwaukeeans, for sure a race I recommend doing at least once as it hits some of the great downtown landmarks, but be prepared to breathe through your mouth at a few points because our city certainly has some ripe spots (I'm looking at you Potowatomi)!