I picked this race because it fell on my birthday this year, and I really wanted to run a race to celebrate my birthday, and I thought a women-only event might be fun. Even though I had some IT-band issues and had to walk for part of the race, I still really enjoyed the whole experience. Really the only complaint I have about the race itself is that there weren't enough port-o-lets near the start. That's probably tough to do in downtown Indy, though.

The race starts in the center of downtown, on Monument Circle, and loops around through downtown before heading northwest towards Riverside Golf Course and Marian University, and then turning back to downtown, finishing along New York St. It's a good mix of urban and park and really shows off the city. I know they are changing the race to September instead of June next year, but I hope they keep the same course. There is one challenging hill just around mile 8 going around Major Taylor Velodrome. It's not super-steep, but it's a very long hill. Indiana is not as flat as you think it is.

The race shirt & medal are really nice, and the race management company was super-responsive to the participants - putting potential medal designs on Facebook for voting, etc. The race shirt is a tech-shirt in women's sizes, so I have worn it many times for running. We were handed our medals at the finish line by soldiers, which was pretty cool. We also received roses, and there was a finishers stage for photos, which were Free! Free photos are always one of my favorite race mementos. Course photos were not free, however.

I also participated in the training program prior to this race, where I made some great running friends! You can read more about that & my IT-band issues in my blog post at http://uglypaxtonsisters.blogspot.com/2014/06/older-wiser-lessons-learned-from-my.html.