The expo was outside in a popular area downtown. Because it was a beautiful day, it worked out well! I think if it was snowy, rainy, etc, this would’ve been a bad idea. It was doubly good idea that this took place at the finish line area. That way it was easy for out-of-towners to know where the end point was. The expo itself was small. It’s a small town and a small race, so I don’t know what someone would expect. Not a lot of freebies or “big” sponsors there. Mostly a few local doctors and some nearby races. What was very fun about the expo was listening to Dr. Brent Weigner who has ran in all continents 10 times and Jerry Reif who has completed a sub 3hr marathon in all 50 states. Listening to their stories was great. It’s good to hear from them, specifically, as they are locals to Cheyenne, WY. All in all, the expo was about as great as a small town could offer; better really!

Then race day showed up! The start of the marathon was at a place called Archer; quite a bit outside of town. The parking lot was in front of a very large building. All the runners got there, and the first thing they did was run to the building to use the restroom. But, IT WAS CLOSED. All doors were locked; I know, I tried them all. And there were no port-o-potties. So, this was a bit frustrating. Later on, I found there was another building across the road that offered places to pee; but it wasn’t advertised in a meaningful way. Also, coming into the event center before the sun came up caused other problems. There were no “marathon this way,” signs out. There were signs for an October Fest which may have caused some confusion for some. When we got out of our cars, we looked around and couldn’t see anything resembling a start line or any real direction. There was a bus and several police officers. But, they didn’t know what was going on either. Eventually, we found the start line was about a half a mile from the parking lot. But, in pitch black, that was not evident. The bus did take people to the start line once they got their orders, so that was kind of nice. But, then at the start line there was one port-o-potty. Not one row; ONE port-o-potty!

Then the race started. It was fine. The first half was running outside of town in some fields. There was no real scenery or town to see. It was just 13 miles of tall, yellow grass. There was also an issue many complained about that during that first half, we kept going back and forth from gravel to pavement. It wasn’t bad; just odd. The halfway point hit at a park that was the start line for the half marathon. And we just ran along their route. This is where I started getting nostalgic. I grew up in Cheyenne, which is a big reason I signed up for this race. So, I ran by my old pre-school, Jr. High, Sr. High, churches, etc. I got to re-live my childhood as I ran around my old stomping grounds. We ran through several parks including the center they host the yearly, Cheyenne Frontier Days. The only thing I heard complained about along the course was the lack of aid stations. There was one less than a mile into the marathon. I don’t think I saw the next aid station until mile 7. And the medics were told not to hand out any salt or aspirin. This is out of the ordinary for a marathon. I heard several people cramp up and get frustrated at the volunteers and medical personal.

The finish line area was nice. If you’re familiar with Cheyenne, it was at the Depot. After crossing the finish line, there were people giving out medals and then you could walk into the old train depot to get food, a free beer and even a massage! The crowd support at the end was great too considering the population of the town.

As for the swag, it was pretty good. The medal was big and unique. It was very “Wyoming.” The medal wasn’t huge; but it was a good size, and the ribbon was a great print. The shirt fit a bit large, but it was fun. It is comfortable and of good quality. I can’t say it was a bad shirt at all. Not going to be one of my favorites either though. I give it 7 out of 10.

What wasn’t good about the end was the shuttle back. You weren’t allowed to park at the finish line. They wanted everyone to park at Archer; which is a long way from the finish line. I went to get onto the shuttle, only to hear that it just left and the next one would be there in 20-30 minutes. That’s a long time to wait when you’re sore, sweating, hurting and stink to high heaven. There weren’t even any chairs there to sit on while you wait. They should’ve given parking passes downtown and then bussed people to the start line. That would’ve cleared up the parking situation AND the confusion at the start of the race. But, again, this is their inaugural year!