Registration is awesome. They do a registration blitz where prices for the 5 miler starts at $5 and slowly goes up depending on what number you are in line to register, so I got into this race for $5! Register in the first week and you get a free hat or visor, which is also pretty sweet! The shirts were dri-fit, which I love, although I did hear some others complaining because they weren't very "fancy" design-wise, I was fine with them, though (see photo).

There wasn't an expo and honestly, I don't think the race needs one. It had a nice, local feel and I loved it. The only thing I wish was that they offered more than one packet pickup at one of the other FitNiche stores in the Tampa Bay area for those of us that don't live in Lakeland.

Parking was a free-for all. People just parked alongside the road and ended up driving up onto the medians to park, but really- there's not an actual "place" to park since we (again) were in the middle of nowhere.

Scenery-wise, there's nothing to look at. The race takes place on the outskirts of a new school (Florida Polytechnic) and the school is in the middle of nowhere. Basically the entire run you are looking at other runners, road, and shrubbery on the sides of the road.

The course was pretty flat and easy to run. It was a 5-mile loop and those that did the 10-miler ran it twice. Since it is in the middle of shrubs, the mosquitoes were plentiful and I'd advise anyone who runs this to bring bug spray as well as sunscreen. No trees and no buildings means no shade and in this Florida heat, you'll need the protection.

At the end of the race they do a raffle for money- 5 runners of the 5 miler can win $50, and 10 runners of the 10 miler can win $100. During the kids' run they can win as well.

Speaking of the kids' run, this year, it was delayed and the poor babies had to run 1-mile at 10:30 when the sun was BLAZING. I'm not sure what would've been best- to do the kids' run first, BUT if they did it that way then the 5 & 10 mile runs would've been pushed back and we would've been in the heat, so I'm not sure if there's a "good" fix.

The medals were amazing with a wonderful inscription on the back explaining the significance of swans in the Lakeland area.

Post-race food was bananas, muffins, and McDonald's breakfast burritos. Plenty of water and Gatorade along the route for the race, although I didn't notice an aid station. They had tables set out for people to sit at after the race, though with the sun it would've been awesome if they had tents to put the tables under. They also had netbooks out for people to check their official times on, which was pretty cool.

All in all it was an awesome race. I had a great time and would definitely run with them again.

Link to this review