While my time was not the greatest, I did enjoy this race.

Logistics: My family and I stayed at the Madison Concourse Hotel, which was within easy walking distance to the start/finish area. The expo packet pickup was the night before, which I generally am not a fan of because I would have opted to not stay over Friday night if I could have gotten my packet on race day. Everything was very well organized and easy to get to. I should say that I went to college at UW Madison so am very familiar with Madison.

Expo: The expo was fine. Very small, but easy to get in and out of.

T-Shirts/SWAG: I love the t-shirts. They offered a women's cut and a cute vintage-looking design. The t-shirt itself is very soft. One of my favorite race shirts. The medals are pretty and can be used as a bottle opener. The race-medal-as-bottle opener feels a little gimmicky at this point. Does anyone actually use their race medal as a bottle opener? Participants also received a free beer at the finish. The finish line party is held at the Memorial Union, which is a perfect venue for an event like this. Also, free race photos!!!!!

Aid Stations: The aid stations were well placed and well supplied. Most of the volunteer groups that worked at an aid station gave their aid station a theme so that was really fun because they went all out! My favorite aid station was the swimming team around mile 9ish.

Course: The course is fantastic, especially for a UW Madison alum who loves coming back to visit! The start and finish line were close to each other making logistics and spectating easy. I liked how the course was a mix of roads/urban and trails/woods. It was very well laid out.

Elevation: There are some hills but nothing crazy. I enjoyed the elevation change.

Race Management: This year was the 10th annual Madison Mini and worked like a well-oiled machine. I have no complaints. Volunteers were spectacular and easy to spot with their coordinated yellow t-shirts and everything was well marked. Emails leading up to the race were clear and easy to follow. My kids participated in the kids run and had a blast and of course we all loved meeting Bucky Badger.

Can't wait to run this one again!