I came from out of town for this race, so took advantage of the day of packet pick up. I did hear they had 3 different packet pick ups in different locations so that sounded nice if you were local. I was able to easily park and get my packet, which included a swag bag full of awesome coupons and goodies and a super soft cute t shirt that I will wear again. I noticed very quickly that many food trucks and booths were being set up for post race, as well bouncy houses and a beer tent.
I was a pacer for this event and was pleasantly pleased that they had flags set up for various pace groups on the starting chute. Yes, there were short lines pre race for the porta potties, but as the race grows, I am sure the amount of porta potties would grow as well. Anyway, we loaded into the chutes with very little confusion, had a beautiful National Anthem and then were counted down. As the horn sounded, a HUGE flame was shot off of the start gate and that was pretty cool! The course was relentless hills, but nothing horrible, they just never really ended. The course was an out, a loop, and a back, and wasn't very scenic, but I didn't mind it at all. We mainly saw fields, houses, and more fields. We had a full two lanes to run on for most of the course, and had no threat of traffic at all. Most aid stations had water and gatorade, but coming back, a couple of the stations no longer had gatorade, and one of my ladies in my pace group really needed it. I did pace a later group, so they may have just run out, no biggie. There was an aid station with bananas, as well as an aid station with I believe GUs and other goodies. I carry most of what I need since my tummy is so specific. Everyone was very friendly, cheering us on, but overall crowd support on the course was pretty small. Again, I don't mind lack of cheering, but it was fun when we came around to groups of people cheering for the ladies battling it out in my pace group. The finishers chute had a couple of announcers, and I heard my name twice and got a big thank you for pacing, which I super appreciated. The medals were very nice and VERY cute, and we had bottled water and bananas, as well as chocolate milk in the finisher's chute. The after party was really good, still going strong way after the 3 hour mark. The food was amazing and the beer was cold. I would highly recommend this race to anyone who wants a challenging course that won't kill you like Hospital Hill in KC:) I would do this race as a pacer or just to run for time again in the future.