I was fortunate to be apart of the inaugural Milwaukee Running Festival! This race weekend included a mile run, 5k, half marathon, and marathon. This race has been years in the making and finally came to fruition. Since this was the inaugural event, I expected a few glitches, but to be honest, this race had a lot of perks that made me overlook this.

To start out, the expo was put on very well. The race director made the expo very inviting for families, so it was great seeing kids and parents wandering around at the expo together, celebrating this event in Milwaukee. The expo was a great size for only drawing in 4,000 runners between all of the events. Some of the perks that I enjoyed were: free Noodles and Company meal the day before the race, nuun at all 18 aid stations, easy parking for the expo and the event, great long sleeve tech shirt, free race photos!

The marathon was a great race, covering a large portion of the city of Milwaukee. For weeks going into the race, anyone could join on the free Thursday night runs, showcasing different sections of the race route, or introducing the public to the different sponsors. This helped in preparation for the event. Come race day, I already anticipated a hilly but scenic route. I even got to explore some parks and views of Milwaukee that I had never experienced before! Some great things about the event was that gear check went very smoothly and took a total of 5 seconds to give them my bag and receive it after the race. There were a few things that can be improved for future years. First, not all aid stations followed the same pattern. Some served the nuun first and water second, and others flipped this. There weren't any visual markers to show you which came first either, so after a while I learned to just call out what I was looking for and volunteers would indicate if they had it or if I needed to keep going. Second, most of my friend's gps watches marked the route as being short. Third, though I very much enjoyed running through some of the parks of Milwaukee, the zig-zagging in some areas did not feel great on my knees. Fourth, NO BEER!!! Apparently the liquor licence ended up falling through the cracks at the last minute. They did provide Sprecher's Root beer after the race though.

Some other issues I had were with the VIP package. This was supposed to include exclusive porta-potties, private gear check, food before and after, exclusive parking close to the race, and a free hat. Unfortunately, I was told there were no special porta-potties for the VIP area. And I also could not find the VIP parking. This was a little disappointing.

One nice thing about holding the marathon and half marathon on the summerfest grounds is the accessibility to the highway, free parking, and close proximity to downtown restaurants and bars for after the race.

In the end, I do believe this was a great race with a lot of perks for its first year. I plan on running it again next year.

Here's the quick overview:
Pros: Free photos, great family event, ease of access, great swag and expo
Cons: confusion at aid stations, no beer, route still needs some tweeking