Getting there: I flew into Denver on Friday and drove up to Ft. Collins. I stayed at a Candlewood Suites in Ft Collins and found a place for dinner. There is an airport outside of Ft Collins/Loveland, but Denver seemed cheaper for me

The Expo: The race was only about 800 people total, so the expo was held a Sierra Trading Post, one of the sponsors. Downside is that it was only from 2-7 pm on Saturday (9/17). I got there right before 2 and got my packet fairly quickly, but the line grew pretty quickly. There weren't any vendors or booths set up, but there were places you could go to that supported the race and that you could get discounts from.

Getting to the race/Pre Race: The race was point to point and started at the Mishawaka Amphitheater. We had to park at the High School and get bussed to the start of the race (about a 45 min drive). Buses left between 6 and 630 AM and no one could drive up there or be dropped off. Once at the start, there was bag drops, porta potties, water/coffee etc.

The Course: All down hill, which was nice since I had minimal training thanks to board certification exams that happened right before I left for the race. The race was on all highway essentially (one lane up, one lane down). Scenic race for sure, but it also meant no phone service. The first 3 miles, we got one lane shut down for us, but afterwards, we got something that felt like the width of a shoulder of the road. There were cars going either direction the entire race, though some areas had more activity than others. I wasn't a fan of that. My thoughts are, if you're going to do a race like this on a scenic course on highway, shut down the road for safety- I felt like there were blind curves where you couldn't tell if cars were coming or not. I did see police occasionally on motorcycles monitoring the race, but no medical personnel.

The Half Marathon started at 8 AM, while the 5 miler started at 8AM, only at the Gateway Natural Center, meaning we never really saw each other.

Water Stops: At miles 3.2, 5, 7.5, 9.2 and 11. A good race for sure to have your own water on you because it got hot real fast.

The Finish: at the base of the Canyon. After coming through the finisher chute, you were handed a medal and a glass. They had water available, food (donuts, bananas, popcorn and other treats). There was a separate line for beer and Pizza ($5 for everyone, but runners got a complimentary coupon for a free slice). I wish they would have had a separate pizza line for runners or done something so it was included in post race food instead of going to a separate line. The pizza line was so long, I bailed because I had to get back to the hotel and check out. They had the bag pick up if you checked a bag and some vendors and merchandise for sale. You could park there for $10 (more for families I think?).

Buses were running post race up until noon or so back to the high school to get runners back to their cars, which ended up being a 15 minute drive

Scenic race and small, but my one gripe is that if you're going to have a race on roads, I'd prefer that the roads be closed or that runners get more than something the width of the shoulder of the road to run on

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