This was my first time running a MO' Cowbell race, and it was a really fun run! Although I hadn't trained very well for the race, I was able to finish the race with not much difficulty. This is a race to arrive early to in order to find parking, which was adequate and conveniently located near the start/finish line. However, there was a lot of traffic getting into and out of the parking lots. There were many porta-potties, but the lines were very long even 45 minutes before the race. There is a fun cowbell ringing tradition performed just prior to the race starting that really gets you excited just in time for the race. The course went throughout downtown St. Charles and New Town, and was a nice course overall - mostly flat except a never ending hill from just before mile 10 until mile 11. There were plenty of water stops with Gatorade and some had GU gel packs as well. For the relay, it wasn't well marked where the relay teams traded off beforehand and where the relay teams met up again. I did really appreciate all the spectators and cowbells - definitely helped encourage me to continue on with the run! The medals were ok for this race - they were somewhat plain and there wasn't much of a difference between the half and full marathon medals. One big complaint that I heard about was that they ran out of medals, which was a huge disappointment to many people. However, the race director made a facebook announcement about the shortage of medals and promised to mail medals to the runners who did not receive a medal. The Ex-MO' was one of the best expos that I have been to for a race! There was plenty of vendors and fun activities that included the Brooks signature team, a zero gravity treadmill, and free fitness classes.

Overall, I really enjoyed this race more than I ever thought I would, and I would definitely do this race again!