I was truly looking forward to kicking off my racing season with the Nutrabolt Oktoberfest Half Marathon for the second year in a row, but they ended up having to cancel the race this year. However, that was totally out of their control and they made the best of the situation.
Here's the parts I was still able to enjoy with this race:

- Pre-race: While the website may not be updated super frequently, they do post frequent updates, giveaways and general information on their Facebook page. I also found that they emailed everything I needed to know, so everything was in one place. They also had a great deal on a wonderful hotel, and seemed to really think of every detail.
- Expo: They stepped up their expo game this year. It was small by some standards, but had a good amount of variety and a fun photo both. I appreciated that they took extra effort to make it worthwhile.
- Race Day Communication: I've had other, larger races get cancelled where they did not communicate nearly as well as this one. A cold front blew through less than an hour before start time (it was originally forecasted to pass through by then). Management continued to monitor the forecast and made adjustments to the start time, posting them to Facebook. Though they did end up having to cancel (again, not their fault), I thought they handled this situation as good as anyone could have.
- Post-race Party: They still were prepared to have the most important part - the post-race party! There was delicious craft beer, plenty of food to go around, and of course, swag.
- Swag: Finisher medals were amazing - large, colorful and complete with a bottle opener. We also received really soft finisher's tees, a boot glass to drink our beer out of (it is Oktoberfest, after all) and a nice tote bag at the expo.

Fingers crossed for better weather next year. I can't wait to actually run the fabulous course they worked so hard on next year.

Read the full review on my blog here: http://wp.me/p74Lch-sP