Registration was easy, although the page was formatted for mobile/tablet which made it somewhat klunky on a desktop computer. Not long after registration, the start/finish line location was moved to an area with limited parking with shuttle service from the prior start/finish line. The announced start time was the same for both 5k and half marathon, which sounded like a mess waiting to happen. The map was linked from the website, but the klunkiness of the website caused me to miss it until I did a search on the page for 'map'.

I arrived early enough that I could park close to the start/finish line, although the parking lot was filling up. I walked past a line of port-o-lets on a hill (odd, usually you'd want those level), and there was no line for them. I then proceeded to warm up and heard them announcing that they would be delaying the start for the 5k (thank God, since we were sharing the first 1.55 miles of the course!).

With about 20 minutes to go, they did a kids race/dash. Then, all of us half marathon runners lined up. As we were moving around talking amongst each other about where to be for certain paces, they announced for all of us to vacate the starting line and line up in pace groups in the parking lot. No sooner did all of us get into the parking lot, we had to move out of the parking lot for a shuttle bus to enter and drop off (those who have seen the end of The New Red Green Show - this is like the 'sit down, sit down... ALL RISE' during the Opossum Club meeting). During this time, I heard another runner claim that one of the shuttle busses got lost. We all decided to line up in rough corrals at the starting line. Forever and a day later (17 minutes late), they started the race.

The course is and out-loop-and-back on a paved multi-use path around an airport bordering some woods, and then across a river and into a nature preserve park. The course is mostly flat with a few hills. The weather was overcast so shade didn't matter, but the portion in the nature preserve park is mostly tree-less and would be very hot if the sun was out (advantage of a race in late November - nobody would have minded the sun). The path was clear of debris, although one area did have some leaves on the course.

There were water+gatorade stations roughly every two miles and were well staffed and they had the trash bins AFTER the station (nice for those of us that drink on the run, we have a chance to toss our cups in the bin). Additionally, all turns and intersections were staffed with at least 2 volunteers with flags actively directing and cheering on runners. The mile markers on the course disagreed with my GPS by usually +/- 0.1 mile, although one was 0.3 miles off. The overall distance was 13.1 miles, so I think it was just the mile markers being misplaced (0.2 - 0.3 is too much to blame it on GPS issues), and this isn't really a major issue anyway. There was one vehicle on the course during the way back (a work truck that didn't appear to be involved with the race and not sure how it got there; he was yielding to runners).

The post-race area was sparse when I got there - the 5k runners had all left (and I didn't see any of them on the course, despite finishing 26th overall and almost expecting to overlap with stragglers/walkers). There were plenty of cinnamon rolls and some Gatorade and water. The timing trailer had two large monitors hanging off the side that were scrolling live results. Since I won my age group, I got an additional medal. I did notice the gun times were all about 20 minutes longer than the chip times.

Despite the starting line disorganization, I would consider running this again. The size of the race and course makes for a fast race, the volunteers were great, and being a few days after Thanksgiving makes it easier to schedule.