This was my first ever half marathon. I signed up with a friend and we trained together to get ready for the race. We booked a hotel very early close to the start/finish which I highly suggest. We had hotel parking and the walk was easy and convenient.
We arrived and checked out the expo, picked up packets and walked around the convention center. It had a lot of booths with lots of product.
The day of the race we got down to the start early and hung out. It was a good start, nothing out of the ordinary or hard. The course itself for the majority was around the city and some neighborhoods, pretty standard but of course the best part was running into the raceway. Being on the raceway, getting pics and running on the brick was the coolest experience. It was so massive and knowing how fast the cars go on the raceway and being able to run on it was just awesome.
The aid stations were plentiful and some even had some "unique" items if you chose to try :)
The crowd was pretty awesome too. LOTS of entertainment, music, bands, and just all around fun.
I would recommend this for any level athlete as the experience alone is worth it but the course is well supported, great swag and fun photo ops!!!