THE SWAG: All available apparel is not including in the cost of race registration. Although the registration cost was relatively low ($30 for early registration climbing up to $40 by race day) I was a little disappointed to not receive any sort of t-shirt. All runners did receive however a stainless steel pint glass with the race logo on it if they registered by a certain date. Since the race is still relatively new, I imagine that the swag for this race will evolve over time.

THE RACE: THIS COURSE IS GORGEOUS. Beginning at the New Castle Island Common, a waterfront park area located in Portsmouth area of NH and wrapping around the entire New Castle peninsula this course offers numerous opportunities for waterfront views and even features a peek at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and the Portsmouth Naval Prison, which many say resembles a castle. A course with rolling hills, this is the perfect race for new and experienced runners alike. I had a blast with this race! A relatively new and smaller-sized race, I was pleasantly surprised by the number of vendors featured at the expo and the great crowds throughout the town and along the course.

THE BLING: There was no medal for this race, which was ultimately disappointing. I hope that as the race grows over time that this is something they begin incorporating.

FINISH LINE: This large loop course finishes where it started in the beautiful Great Island Commons. A decent crowd and breathtaking views makes this an exciting and memorable finish. There was plenty of parking located at the start/finish and transportation out of the event was a breeze.

I hope to run this race again in the future!