I have done so many inaugural races that I tend to have fairly low expectations. Most inaugural races they are still working out the kinks, course, scheduling, etc. For an inaugural race, this really wasn't that bad. When I read about the I Dream of Jeannie theme and saw the race medal I just HAD to sign up. I'm a huge I Dream of Jeannie fan. And then to top it all off, Barbara Eden was presenting the awards. Done. Sign. ME. UP! The biggest complaint I heard from other runners was the beach portion...3 miles on the beach. I honestly didn't think it was that bad. But I went into this race just to have fun, not PR. I've run on much worse beach conditions and the sand was actually pretty compacted in my opinion. I'll break down the Pros and Cons on the race.

Pros:
- GREAT medal! An I Dream of Jeannie bottle. This thing is heavy! It's seriously a weapon. It's so stinking adorable. Worth the 13.1 miles of sweat and effort.
- Cute Jeannie costumes all over the course. The mile markers were ladies dressed up as Jeannie holding up Jeannie bottle signs with the mile marker.
- Aid stations were well stocked and supported every couple of miles. Water, gatorade, bananas, chews...
- Cute finish line running across pink shag carpet and between huge blow up Jeannie bottles.
- I liked that they tasked a local beer company for the beer supply - Florida Beer Company. They had a great choice of several different beers to try.
- Barbara Eden...She was adorable and amazing.
- Small race field. A little bit of weaving at the beginning but it opened up fairly quickly.
- Flat race. ZERO hills. Zero.
- Nice tech tee for the race shirt.
- Dunkin Donuts at the finish. DONUTS!!!
- I stayed at the race hotel (The Hilton) and they were very accommodating. They even offered late check out on race day and late, late check out (up to 3 p.m.) for an extra $29.
-Shuttles to the race start were quick. Again, I stayed at the race hotel so I just had to walk across the parking lot to jump on a shuttle. The coordinators made it clear that there were no color restrictions for boarding the buses. Just get on and go.

Cons:
- The course was a bit odd, running through several parking lots to get the mileage.
- Race start was a cluster. Runners were supposed to line up by their color - only three: elite (8:00 pacers or below), middle of the packers (9:00 - 10:00), and everyone else (under 10:00/mile). Yeah...well, that didn't really work. It was pretty much a free-for-all at the start. I was fiarly close to the front and still dodged a bunch of walkers. I think some simple signage would have helped direct people where to go.
- MORE porta-potties please! I jumped in the potty line at 7:15 and it took 25 minutes to finally get to a bathroom. I barely made it before the start.
- Even though there was cloud cover it got muggy and warm quickly, especially running on A1A. I know they pushed the start to 7:45 to try and work with the tide for the beach portion but an earlier start would be nice to avoid the sun.
- I wish they'd had Gatorade or like at the finish. I just saw water and VERY sweet tea in bottles. They couldn't get them iced down fast enough and most of the bottles were warm. I was forced to drink cold beer. Yeah...terrible (NOT). :)

Neutral but Noteworthy:
- 3 miles of the course (miles 9 through 12) were run on the beach. In the sand. Right next to the water. I personally enjoyed it. I thought the view was amazing, the breeze felt great, the sand was pretty compacted, and there was little pitch. I've run in MUCH worse beach conditions. The soft, loose sand getting to the water was a little rough. But I actually enjoyed it. Not something you get to do for most half marathons. Definitely different. Just know it going into this race.
- Really not much of an expo to speak of. It was small but that's really not a big deal for me. I usually just want to pick up my bib and head out anyway.
- It looked like parking might have been pretty limited if you were driving to the start race morning.

I think they will keep improving this race as they work all the bugs out. Really, not a bad first effort. I had fun and I'd do it again.