So in my quest to run a race in all 50 states, I picked this to be my Alabama race, and I am really glad I did. I flew in on Friday and I stayed at one of the race hotels, The Westin, I got a discount on it and it was a really nice hotel and near many places to eat and about a 5 minute walk to where the race starts and ends.

The expo is small, but nice. Easily got my number and swag (a nice shirt) and if you wanted a bigger or smaller size, shirt swap was right near by. Went through the expo fairly quickly but still enjoyed it.

The race itself was really nice. It is self seed and I hate self seed but this isn't a big race so I understand. It is a bit hilly, nothing crazy, but be prepared for that. You get run by lots of historical stuff, which to this history nerd, is super cool. You also run through a lot of different neighborhoods and it is a really great way to see a lot of Birmingham. There wasn't a ton of crowd support, but it was rainy that day, so the weather may have had an affect on that. But people were still out cheering us on. Plenty of water stops and plenty of volunteers. The roads we ran on were closed, but not all the roads connect were, the local police did a great job of directing traffic and I even saw one cop doing some push ups with runners. The chute at the finish was smooth and the medals are so cool, it's a Benz logo, I mean, come on. The field where the food and people where was a giant mud pit (rained all weekend) so that wasn't cool but they can't help that. I didn't stay for the after party, I wasn't feeling right so went back to my hotel.

I would highly recommend this race, especially if you are not into BIG races. This is a nice mid size race and it is very well run. Birmingham is a fun city to visit and has some nice stuff to do, just know there really isn't any public transportation.