I was working on a goal of getting a half-marathon PR and if all things went right, a sub 1:30 half. Finish time: 1:29:18!!!!! I share this because that information goes a long way in loving this race :)

Now it's time for a breakdown.

T-Shirts/SWAG: Shirt is a nice, technical fabric long sleeve shirt with thumb holes and gender-specific. Typically I am a size M in women's shirts and I wish I would have tried this on at the expo because it is small. I would have switched to a large.

Aid Stations: I did not use the aid stations, but they were very visible and the volunteers were really great. I recall them being spaced out nicely.

Course Scenery: The course is really fun. You get a nice flavor of different aspects of the city and never get bored. I thought the course was marked well.

Expo Quality: The expo was good but SO CROWDED. The space did not seem large enough. I had to stand in line twice because I was given the wrong bib. Luckily I looked at the bib before leaving. The range of vendors seemed good. All vendors should be better marked. I participated in some marketing promotion and had a lot of trouble finding the booth to fill out an experience survey. They had some fun activities for kids to do which my kids enjoyed.

Elevation: There was one large hill in the beginning and a gradual incline up Wisconsin Ave. Overall, a fairly flat course.

Parking/Access: I thought the parking was a little annoying. I found a street spot FAR away from the start which was fine for me because I used the walk as an warm up.

Race Management: I could tell that they were trying very hard and it was only the second year of the event. There were still some mishaps. The race start time kept getting changed, which was annoying. It didn't seem that there were enough porta potties, especially since I was in line until the VERY LAST second before the start. The fact that gear check, porta potties, etc were all on wet, muddy grass was unfortunate. My toes were wet despite walking weirdly through these areas so as not to get my feet wet.

As far as the "festival" portion, it would be so cool to use a local beer as the sponsor instead of Coors.

I loved the bouncy house and rock wall climbing as it offered my kids something to do while my family waited for me at the finish.

The food trucks were fun, but to be honest, I didn't really feel like eating from them at the end of my race (around 8:45/9 AM).

FREE RACE PHOTOS!!! Super awesome touch!

I loved how the age group awards were given out right at the finish and that I didn't have to wait for an "awards ceremony". As someone who loves having her family, including two little kids (ages 6 and 3) at the finish, it can make for a long experience having to wait for awards.