This was my first time running in this classic community event honoring Arizona's Pat Tillman. I have hesitated in the past due to the large crowds. Last year it sold out before I got the chance to register.

I heard that there was a medal for the first time this year, so I decided to give it a shot. I took light rail to get there which cut down on all the stress of parking.

There was great pre-race communication, and there was a full 3 days of packet pickup before this very large race with 28,000 participants. Packet pickup was surprisingly small. I was in and out in 5 minutes, very efficient. There only a handful of booths..

Race morning, there is a large expo. I walked around but didn't want to pick anything up before the race and have to carry it. I was lucky enough to be in one of the first corrals (there were 28!), so after a moving national anthem, I was off!

It was very crowded the whole way. There are a number of wheelchair participants, being pushed by volunteers. Personally I feel that these people should get either an earlier start, or have them in the last corral with the other strollers. I did not enjoy trying to get around them.

The course is all the best of downtown Tempe - the big hill on curry, coming down mill avenue, over the bridge at Tempe Town Lake and finishing inside Sun Devil Stadium on the 42 yard line! Now that is unique. I even heard my name announced in the stadium, which was suprising for so many participants.

Post race is where my disappointment begins. I only saw water, bananas and oranges at the finish area. I felt like there was zero signage pointing folks in the direction of the expo, or the beer garden. We had to stop and ask volunteers, and it was not set up very efficiently. The volunteers were great, though, and it was a nice touch that the beer served was from Dog Tag Brewing, a nod to Pat's military service.

I did not bother going back to the expo after the race, it just seemed like a hassle. Overall, if you can handle crowds, I recommend this race. For $40 I got a quality commemorative tech shirt, a medal, post race beer, and was able to contribute to the Pat Tillman Foundation.