Great race! I may be biased, because I have family in Madison (my nieces came out with signs and high fives), but this race was one of my favorites. The expo is small, but well organized. Packet pickup was a breeze. Temps were a little cool at the start, but a throwaway long-sleeve shirt took care of that -- once we got moving, I felt perfectly comfortable in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt. There were only about 1500 runners, so the start line wasn't overly crowded and you could seed yourself properly. I ran with a pace group and our pacer (from a local running store) was outstanding, ticking off the miles at a very even pace.

The course starts in the middle of town, at the capitol building, loops out through a park and various neighborhoods, back through the university campus, out again through more neighborhoods, back through town, and finally around to the finish at the capitol. Most of the course is very nice. Make sure you train on hills, though! There are some rollers early, but when you hit the campus there's a pair of tough climbs around mile 9 and another out at mile 17 or so. The spectators were great, especially when you loop back from the outer neighborhoods and pass through campus and closer to the center of town. The aid stations were well-spaced and well-organized -- though I knocked them down in my rating because they used plastic cups, which makes it really tough to drink on the run. The last half mile or so to the finish line was uphill, but it's worth the effort. The crowds at the finish were super enthusiastic and the finish chute is outstanding -- mylar, medals, then a TON of food options. [EDIT: It looks like they've changed the course a bit and eliminated the uphill finish, but added some hills in the Maple Bluff area.]

Overall, one of my favorite races, and Madison is a great city to explore. Highly recommended!