My sister in law best summed up the race when she said, "This is the first half marathon I ran where I couldn't stop smiling!" ...The race course was so scenic. Loved that half the course was road and the other half was trail! Kept it from being monotonous. I've been on other out and back courses where nobody says a word to each other, but this race I couldn't believe how the runners cheered each other on!!! The medal with the mining theme was so beautiful! The female cut race shirt fit perfect! The swag bag is amazing. Love that its not a virtual swagbag of coupons that are just immediatly deleted. I can't stop wearing my 13.1 bandanna! The post race food and mini pasty was so delicious, and the post race massage from the wonderful folks at Back in Motion was a real treat. Because of them I was able to actually walk the next day. Next year I'm inviting even more out-of-town friends to experience why I'm so proud to be an IM runner.