The Expo runs the Friday and Saturday before the race. It was small, but the vendors had some great deals on clothing and fuel, and it was easy to get in and out.

Parking on race morning is a little tough--the race start/finish line is on the capital square, and there is plenty of parking around, but you'll have to give yourself time because of the road closures for the race route. Pretty much all park is going to be ramp parking, but the costs aren't too bad.

The only complaint I really have is the starting area-- they handed out maps ahead of time, but when I went to where I thought the line of portapotties would be, there were only 2, and a line about 30 people deep waiting. Someone came up at some point and told us that there were more about a block away, but at that point there was only 10 minutes until the half started and I didn't feel like I had time to be running around looking for a shorter bathroom line. I wish there'd been better signage--the layout of the capital square makes it difficult to see everything around you, and signs that indicated where the bathrooms were would have been helpful.

As a Madison native, I appreciated the opportunity to see my hometown from a different perspective. The course wrapped around the northeast part of Madison, and was hilly but scenic. There's a particularly deadly hill right at the very end (about miles 12.5 of the half) but the change of elevation throughout the course kept it interesting.

The post-race party was small, but nice. Given how freezing it was, I didn't really have any interest in hanging around for too long, but I did enjoy my complimentary beer before racing to the car to warm up!

All in all, I think this is a really fun fall race. Madison weather can be a little ruthless, but the crowds were great, the course was dynamic and kept things interest, and, for what it's worth, the medal is super cool! I would absolutely run this race again.

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