I was attracted to this race because I'd never been to Madison before and it looked like the course was a cool one, going through lots of downtown and other scenic areas to give visitors a real taste of the city. It was absolutely great for a visitor; you can see a lot of Madison in 13.1 miles!

The course started out in the heart of UW campus--and on the upward slope of the hill leading to the state capitol. For a visitor from Chicago, this course is HILLY! It would probably be described as "gentle rolling hills" by an average person, and for the most part was pretty doable, even for someone who trains only on super flat terrain.

The course continued through Madison's historic downtown (cute!), around Camp Randall, through some nice residential areas, near the Henry Vilas Zoo (first bit of waterfront, here, at Lake Wingra--very pleasant), through the UW Arboretum (so beautiful I came back twice later in the weekend to hike around), back through some residential and commercial areas heading north to UW campus again, and finally along Lake Mendota for a bit before finishing close to the start line. There were a couple of seriously punishing hills right at the end, and I was very happy to reach the final downhill stretch heading toward the finish.

There was great aid station support throughout, which I find really helps the distance pass. Even though it was pretty cool (around 70 or so), I really appreciated the misting stations set up along the second half of the course. The cheer sections at aid stations were a nice boost, too. There was good crowd support near the start and finish, and a good number of families had set up in their front yards to cheer on runners, but most of the course was pretty quiet and isolated (but in a good way, not demoralizing).

I can't think of any negatives except for the hills, and overall this was a great experience. I was toward the back of the pack here, so I can't really speak to potential crowding issues. Tshirt was nice but nothing amazing, and the race medal was pretty cool!