I was drawn to this race because it's run on a nice soft crushed limestone trail through a forest preserve during the prettiest time of the year in Illinois. It was a cold, but beautiful morning that was perfect for running. This is a fairly small race with few spectator opportunities, so it's quiet and almost peaceful at times. There were spectators at the turnaround who helped propel the runners home. The atmosphere was low key and friendly.
The only negative was the off-site parking which was mandatory for everyone. There is parking at the start site, and it would have been great to have had the option to get there early and sit in a nice warm car. It was cold standing around waiting for the start and my cheering section had to stand around for almost 2 hours with no access to a car or other warm spaces until I was done. This is really my only quibble and it was certainly not enough to turn me away from running this race again.
I had always admired the half zip with the cool logo from prior years, but this year the sponsor's name was so big and colorful that it seemed out of synch with the atmosphere of the race. The medals were ok, with different color ribbons for age group winners.
Packet pickup was a breeze and could even be done on race morning. Event photography was excellent. The course is terrific, but I noticed that I felt like it was very much uphill at about miles 10-11. Maybe I was just tired!
Overall, I would highly recommend this race for anyone looking for a small, laid back, friendly race that allows them to run freely on a beautiful course that's easy on the legs.