The Kansas Half Marathon in Lawrence is part of a 3 race series called Harvest Half Series. It features 3 northeast Kansas half marathons in back-to-back-to-back weeks. The first race, which can ran individually, is the Kansas Half. This course had variety and the weather was perfect.

Registration/Packet Pickup/Expo:
The Kansas Half gave plenty of chances for packet pickup. The local running store started provided pickup on Thursday, and continued Friday and Saturday. If that all wasn't enough, then you could still get your packet on race day. I had to pick mine up on race day, but it went very smooth since I was an hour and a half early.

Parking:
There were plenty of places to park early in the morning, with multiple parking garages and street parking. All free on Sunday.

The Race:
The route started by running through the popular downtown, and headed through east Lawrence. All up and down for the first several miles. We spent a little time out in the open country before heading back into town to cross the bridge. We then spent a few miles following a packed sand trail along a dike before going back across the bridge. Though I will note the sand trail wasn't too wide, which didn't provide much room to pass with runners in both directions. We finished at the park we started at.

Swag:
I'm not sure if the in store packet pickups got anything extra, but race day was a nice clinch bag and race tech shirt. The medal was a very nice sunflower design.

Race Management:
The race seemed to be ran ok, but it did start 4-6 minutes late. That might have been to wait for the registration table to clear up, as there was still a line 10 minutes before the race was supposed to start. Other than that it all seemed to be ran very well.

Overall:
Not all courses in Kansas are flat. This course had a handful or variations in the course, which provided variety and challenge. Highly recommended.