This was my first vacation race and it didn't disappoint. I have been following Vacation Races over the last few years. This was a point to point race, it started in Ghost Canyon and finished in Keystone SD. I will say if this race comes back book your hotels early, it was very expensive and luckily found a room at the last minute that was a little more affordable.

The expo was at the start line so it was nice to be able to drive the course while we headed to the expo. One thing is if you don't have a car you would need to pick your packet the day of the race and can't attend the expo unless you find someone to take you. The expo was okay, I wished there were more vendors and a vendor that was selling gels/nutrition. I bring my own but for runners who may have forgot theirs it would be great to be able to get it at the expo especially in a small town with no running store. They did have cool picture moments at the expo and the Rushmore mascots came out.

The day of the race, you can either drive to Ghost Canyon then take the bus back after the race or park in Keystone and take the bus to the race. I'm glad they offered both, we decided to take the bus to the start line. It was a very early morning so that is something to note for point to point races.

Overall the race was well run, it was a cupless race so that was amazing. Less waste and great to not see cups all over the ground. They had multiple aid stations with port-a-potties and honey stinger gels. I was very surprised at how well their aid stations were ran and to see that many port-a-potties on the course. I've been part of many races that do not provide nutrition and as runners we sometimes run out and need an extra boost. The course was very challenging so it was great to have pacers that adjusted to the course and helped runners up the mountain. The views were like no other, it was just beautiful.

I loved the medal, they are very large and heavy (just we need as runners). I really liked the shirt but the size different from the Men's Large to XL was so different that I either had a shirt that was tight or a shirt that was so big and it looked really bad. That isn't a race thing but a manufactory thing to look at. Would 100% recommend this race and would do it again.