I loved this race. I would run it every year if I could.

This is a big race, consisting of a 5K, 10K, and a half, and the expo is huge. My 11-year-old son was with me, and even he found things that entertained him. There were games, giveaways, food, drink, massages... everything anyone could ask for in an expo. Lots of booths, lots of people, lots of activity. No problems with packet pickup, very well organized. I even learned how to make a most awesome slow-cooker meat.

Race start was right in front of the capitol building. I was running this with 3 other family members, so it was a celebration right from the beginning. We all ran at different paces, but that's not the point... we were still doing it together.

The scenery was gorgeous. We started off in downtown Boise, ran through a few beautiful neighborhoods of big historic houses, through the Old Idaho Penitentiary Site, across the Boise River down to the Greenbelt (which I had run previously in a training run), up through downtown Boise a different way near the capitol building, up a mother of a hill, and down on into Ann Morrison Park to finish it off. If you ever want to see the heart of a city, run a race to get a close look at the beauty. This one was fantastic.

Aid stations and support were amazing. People came out from everywhere to cheer on the runners, and the people at the aid stations were so friendly. I carry a hand-held and everyone was ready to fill up my bottle if I needed it. There is a nasty hill at mile 11 or so, and I had an entire cheerleading squad from a local high school escort and cheer me up that hill.

Post race, they had lovely little "brown bags" put together with all kinds of goodies, most importantly a bagel... but unfortunately they didn't have enough chocolate milk to hand out. Not a deal breaker, though. I can get that somewhere else, no worries, especially as I didn't hang around for long after crossing the finish line.

As I said, this was a great race. I loved the scenery, the people, and the overall atmosphere. I highly recommend it, especially if you're interested in seeing the heart of a city.