It doesn't take a genius to look at the calendar (June) and the race location (Central FL) to realize that this race is going to be a bit on the warm side. So if you don't like a serious sweat fest, this race might not be for you.

Overall, I think the race was great for what it was: a small race for the local(ish) running community. And as far as I'm concerned, I'll take the smaller races over the bigger once any time.

To clarify on a couple of my ratings:

Scenery-Nothing fancy to look at, but I was anticipating mostly streets/neighborhoods and was pleasantly surprised that about 9 miles of the race is on paved trails/back roads. The trails ran through the woods, and looking at trees and bushes beats cars and houses any day.

Expo-I didn't attend the expo, as another runner picked up my packet for me.

Parking-This was the only real negative that I noticed. The parking at the start was a cluster to say the least, though we did get there slightly later than we'd planned. Perhaps getting there earlier would have helped, and I didn't see many better options, but parking was a bit of an issues. (As long as the race stays smallish, however, it shouldn't be a real deterrent to running the race.)

Other than that, things were really good. Great post race food/drink options as well.

To read my full race recap highlighting "The Good, The Bad, and The Heartbreak" of the race, head over to the blog: http://dizruns.com/echo-half-marathon-recap

Link to this review