The National Interstate 8k & 1 M is the first race in the Akron Marathon Race Series. This is the third time I've run this race and it's one of my favorites!! Akron Marathon does a fantastic job with their race series events. They are well organized, have good swag (shirt, the medal is a beer opener, beer koozie, and you get one free finisher photo) and the AM staff is really responsive if you have any questions.

Packet pick-up: At the University of Akron Stadium so it was pretty easy locate and to find parking. The AM staff had designated a specific parking lot for packet pickup which wasn't full since pickup was from 11am-7pm. This is gives you enough time regardless of your work schedule and you also have the option to have a friend or family member pickup your bib too. There is no Expo for this race.

Race Day: Downtown Akron traffic was pretty light even for someone who doesn't get to the race super early. Parking for the race was in the LARGE parking deck next to the stadium - Note to Self- remember where you parked otherwise you are wandering around the deck looking for your car! Parking was FREE - Bonus!

Runners gathered in corrals outside of the stadium while waiting to start. The best part about this event at the Stadium is RESTROOMS and plenty of them. They are open before the race starts -for those of you that get the "jitters" before ;)

The course is NOT flat - Akron is not flat especially the downtown area, but the hills and steep inclines are manageable. The first mile (Spicer Street) is a bit of an incline as you make your way down hill throughout downtown. By mile 3 is when the hills come in and there is one big hill as you are coming back up to Exchange Street and once you're on Exchange, there is another incline, much smaller than the first - thankfully - and Carroll Street has another long incline for you to conquer. You then make your way to the front of the Stadium, back onto Spicer and that last burst of energy pushes you to cross the finish line!!

Finisher Festival: You get three Beer tickets and one Food ticket. The Food ticket gets you a Chick-a-filet sandwich and a banana and the AM staff has multiple Beer trucks set up around the Stadium so you are not waiting in long lines to grab something to drink.

Overall, this is a great race to start off the race series!!