The Cherry Creek Sneak is a staple in the Denver running community and this year was the first year I did this run. Maybe it was because I lucked out with the weather this year. The run is held on the last weekend in April in Denver. You can have sunny and 60 or cloudy, snow and 20 weather...you never know. That said, I had a great day and I would recommend this to everyone.

This year, just like every year, they have a great t-shirt. I got a really cute long sleeve blue t-shirt that is super soft. It has become one of my favorite long sleeve shirts in my collection. They always have a great design and I love the little running cherry logo.

There are three starts for different distances (10mile, 5 mile, and 5k). The course is laid out well and the starts offset enough that everyone finishes around the same time but you are not running over each other. You have enough room to sprint to the finish without having to weave around slower runners. That is one of my biggest pet peaves...trying to sprint to the finish and people walking a shorter distance are walking 4 wide and blocking the route. The Cherry Creek Sneak does a great job of separating the runners for the different distances near the finish so you don't get tangled up with other runners.

Some people think parking in Cherry Creek is not very convenient. The mall has several multi-level parking lots and parking is free before noon on run day. It is easy to get in and out of the mall parking lots, avoiding runners and the post-race party.

The course is also laid out well and there are more than enough aid stations for the run. I run all over Denver but I found some new places to run that are part of the route. The race organizers do a great job positioning the water stations where they can be accessed from two sides with runners going opposite directions.

I was not excited with the ‘free’ photos that they advertise and offer. They offered free photos to all runners but they have not associated bib numbers to the photos. You have to search through thousands of photos to find yours. I thought it was just me or my bib #, but I looked through other runners and nobody had any photos associated with their account. If you want a photo, have a friend take one because you probably won’t get one on the course unless you are one of the top finishers. That is why we wear our bibs on the front, so they can associate photos with the individual runners.

The website is not very informative. Registration was not a problem, but I could not find anything on the site about the race directors, the history of the run, and any other information. I use the website as a resource and there is a lot of information not provided that most other runs offer.

That said, I would recommend this run. It was a great day and based on the organization on race day, the organizers know what they are doing and are probably runners.