This a local race, in which everyone knows the race director by name and you can easily spot her on race day. I love The Active Joe races, the crowd that Libby, the director, is able to draw is unique. If you really want to know what a runners community feels like, run one of her races. Everyone is awesome, and I'm not just talking about the runners but the community. People where at the end of their driveways, driving around holding up signs. There were two houses that really stood out to me on the course, one has snacks (trail mix and water) just set at the end of their driveway for runners. The other, the owner sat out front and took pictures of every single runner and uploaded it to the facebook page the next day, you're not going to find that at any other race. Yes the hills suck at times, but the llamas rules and you get a big race medal and bundt cakes. Just run one of the races. Please. You will not be disappointed. They have the very popular new years double which sells out every single year in every distance AND is consistently listed in a Runners World list for coolest race bling.