This year the 5K and 15K started in the same place and time, but once you reach the one mile or so then you split off, the course was well marked and there were tons of volunteers with distance signs to guide the runners the right way at the split. Even with all that signage and help, I heard of a few 5K runners who went into the 15K course. No idea how that happened or what they did, that's a huge distance to change to when you mind is set for doing a 5K. Last year the race was warmer due to the humidity and some minor rain that actually held out until the end of the race, this year was no such luck as there was no rain, there was sun, but the temperature never rose until after the race which meant it was a cold, cold, cold race! Nothing that a cup of hot chocolate cannot help though!

The course itself is entirely on the road and I would like to say it is a flat run race but it is full of hills and the last mile is tons of turns which make the last mile seem like the longest mile. The best part of Atlanta races is you get to run through parts of the city that you normally would be able to and actually see what's around there instead of from a car or stuck in traffic. It was a lot of fun to get a sense of the size and scope of the city while on foot as opposed to the usual stuck in traffic.

This year I ran the 15K alone so I was more set on keeping up a good pace and passing a lot of people since I started a few waves back with friends that did the 5K. So I wanted to catch up to my other friends that were doing the 15K. I didn't catch up with them but I did manage to finish with people from a few waves before me so that felt great and it also felt great to finish in an hour and 23 minutes! The course it self was fairly hilly, but I've been training my long runs mainly on hills so I was pretty much accustomed to running on inclines. I would say the 15k would be slightly hard for beginners but the 5K would be a great to get a feel for the terrain and how the race is run. It's definitely a you want to be ready to run in the cold at.