The 2019 event was on Saturday, May 4th with the first wave starting at 7:33 am. It was cloudy, rainy and about 65 degrees.

Registration: Available online starting and at the expo. Included was a long sleeve, gender specific tech shirt, technical running hat, bib with timing strip, and a bag with some fliers. The clear bag would double for gear check.

*I was not registered for the race until the expo.

Expo/Packet pickup: The expo and packet pick up was held at a large convention center Thursday evening and all day Friday. Bib pick up and registration was on one side of the room. With the expo vendors on the other side. The expo was a decent size with area races, running gear and race merchandise.

*Parking for all events was not free. You could park downtown Indy or at a lot with a shuttle provided. The shuttle lot was accessible all weekend.

Pre-Race: Before the half marathon was the 5k. Runners could do both.
The half marathon start was managed with corrals and waves. (There were 20-30,000 participants) No one was checking bibs. There were port-o-potties on a side street. The convention center was open too.

Race/Course: The course was out to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and back on the streets of the city.
-Scenery - The streets on this course were not the most scenic, some residential neighborhoods, industrial parks. The best feature was running a loop around the speedway mid race.
-Terrain - All paved or asphalt or race track.
-Elevation - FLAT! The biggest climb was to go under the speedway bridge and back up.
-Spectators - There were family and friends on the course. The residents along the course were awesome sitting on their porches with pots and pans making noise.
-Aid Stations - There were 11 advertised Aid stations, with an electrolyte and water. I didn't pay too much attention to the aid stations, as I carried a hydration pack. I noticed a candy stop and some organization was giving out lip balm.
-Course markings- No problems figuring out which way to go. All major intersections had law enforcement, and all other intersections had a volunteer. All miles were marked. There were some timing mats on the course too.
-Photographers - They were scattered on the course, but this is my only gripe about the race - they were available for purchase.
-Volunteers - I can't say enough about the volunteers for this race, there were so many!

Finish: The last half mile or so is lined with checkered flags, and announcer is encouraging finishers. Once across the timing mat a volunteer handed you a medal. Then it was a chute of finisher items, first a bottle of water, then a plastic bag to put things in!! There were cookies, bananas and maybe a granola bar.

From this area runners were told to go to a finisher party area. This was all on grass. It rained the entire race. It was mud bog. There was no other route out. The area had some food trucks and the post race beer tent.

There was access for spectators to sit in the stands and watch their friends and family finish. Then they could reunite in the mud bog.

My race: I signed up for the event on Thursday at the expo. I was helping a vendor at the expo. I was a week off another half marathon. I was just excited to run a loop around the speedway.
The goal is to finish with a smile, so I embraced the rain and just kept moving. It rained the entire time. I recall placing a phone call to my husband around mile 6, before we got to the speedway telling him how awesome the event was and I hadn't even run on the speedway yet.
Once we were at the speedway, it was super cool!! It's in the center of the race, so mentally it's great, it breaks up the thought of running a half marathon. Also it's about 2 miles of the race! I made sure to stop and kiss the bricks. Such a cool experience! Then it was time to trek back to the finish line. I had no issues, and crossed the finish near 2:25 (well that's my Garmin time with a bathroom stop.)

I wish it wasn't rainy and the post race wasn't a muddy mess, but other than that an MarathonFoto, this race really doesn't have any downfalls!! I would recommend it to all.