This race should be on your bucket list of half marathons to run in Florida. Major highlight is the sunrise view as you come back over the causeway. Really awesome way to start your day.

The race offers bib pickup at three local Fit2Run stores in the area between Wednesday, Friday and Saturday before Sunday morning's race. This is in addition to race morning pickup, so many options for getting your packet before the race which is great. I was impressed that when my friend and I called during our drive over from Orlando, they held our packets for us beyond the 5pm time listed. That was definitely eased my mind from doing race morning pickup.

Race morning had a bit of backup when it came to getting parked, but it happens at races. I would suggest getting there up to an hour before the race start time to avoid that. Once we got into the parking area, volunteers got us parked quickly and we had enough time for a port-o-let stop (a must before a race LOL!).

The race itself was nice, so many volunteers out on the course, especially at the aid stations. They really made you feel good and were great with water and Gatorade Endurance. I was impressed with the volunteers, and I appreciated them a lot. Some of the best I've encountered!

Like I said before, the sunrise coming back over the causeway is just beautiful. After having a bit of my own struggle with a crazy sock (see my blog review, link at bottom), it made me feel relaxed and smile at how beautiful it was. Florida beauty at it's best!

There were some fun, motivating signs along the course that I enjoyed seeing. For me, fun spectator signs or signs by a race give the experience a little extra greatness. Some signs were about food since the main sponsor is First Watch, while others were just generally inspirational to keep you going.

The finisher party was full of food and beer if you are into that. Even as a back of the pack finisher, there was still plenty of breakfast food left for everyone. You could get pancakes, parfaits, bananas, muffins and more.

A huge thing about this race, besides the big bling (and it's big!) is the photos. The race offers FREE race photos to all participates! It's a great perk and I love it when a race offers free photos.

I would most definitely run this race again. It is well supported and the race management does a great job. The only thing I would like to see is more options for vegans (maybe a vegan smoothie or parfait?). It's a race I plan on going back to run again in hopes of getting a better finish time. It's a course that I can see many folks getting a PR on.

Check out my blog race recap:
http://girlsgotsole.com/blog/race-recap-first-watch-sarasota-half-marathon/