The festivities begin the Friday before the race at the Race Headquarters Hotel for the Expo. Now, for those of you who don't know Phoenix; things are spread out so rent a car or become comfy in your Uber/Lyft. I headed over to the Expo which had a great flow to quickly grab your bib number (if needed), grab your bib and take a look at the course maps. You were then quickly whisked into the fun of the Expo, including a wall of Marathon runner names patterned into the races new sponsor, BMO. Tons of free goodies and even discount athletic wear from local running shops. They even gave out free sponsor socks on your exit. One item that I wasn't too keen on was that women only received tank tops and men received t-shirts. I am not a tank top gal but I was happy with the keys/ID/money pocket in the back of the tank top!

Race morning was pretty stress-free! An Uber/Lyft was able to easily drop you off at the location for the shuttles. The race is point to point, so shuttles are offered to take all runners to their start line beginning at 3:45 am! There were plenty of race volunteers around to make sure that you got on the correct bus (don't want to start at the wrong place). The weather was surprisingly chilly (even for the locals) so the race organizers promised heaters at all the start lines. Well, this may have worked for other races but we were like sardines at each of the probably 30 heaters. Since the race started at 6:30 am, some runners were standing upward of 2 hours prior to taking off; not the best for the legs! There were a TON of porta potties available and lines at the half marathon only became normally long at around 5:45 am. Gear check was available until 6:30 am, which helped so many who brought extra layers to stay warm before the start. Also, water, extra safety pins and vaseline were provided to runners right near the starting line. The awesome announcers gave us plenty of time reminders and we were all easily able to gather at the start line. We were greeted with fireworks to kick off the start of the race...and we were OFF!

The half marathon course is mainly residential and business districts. The scenery was filled with gorgeous gated communities, oranges trees and cheer zones. Along the course there were plenty of aid station stocked with water, electrolytes, gels and even bananas! Many locals came out to cheer and some families even camped out to see their loved ones. The elevation is mainly downhill with only two rolling hills. The finish line was at a popular strip mall with plenty of amenities. Tons of local businesses offered lunch, ice cream, cookies, fruit, even free massages. For a mid-pack runner, everything was pretty packed when I arrived so I passed but grabbed a few snacks. One thing to mention is that this race has FREE RACE PHOTOS! Needless to say this is always a plus of any race! There was some insane traffic to leave the race but that is common anywhere!

I hoped in my Uber and headed back to my hotel (about 10 miles away) and headed to the airport.

Overall, I will do Phoenix again. It was a terrific experience!

Key thing to remember try to book your hotel close to the finish line to avoid long rides back to your hotel.

Happy Running Everyone!

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