Pros: This race was SO well organized and well marked. The folks at Dirty Spokes had plenty of markers to keep runners on the correct trails and I appreciated that! They had aid stations set up at 3 points along the trail and offered water and gatorade. The size of the race is a giant Pro for me - only about 250 people. The trails were nice here - not technical and easy to get a nice rhythm going for long stretches.

Cons: The distance was "iffy"... I tracked around 9 miles of a 9.9 mile race. I get that GPS + trails sometimes creates a mismatch, but that's a big difference. There wasn't much on offer after the race - only bananas and gatorade/water. I appreciated the "chip timed" finish but there was no mat at the start of the race, so everyone had the same start time despite being probably 45 seconds difference between the first and the last to cross the start line. Runners do two loops of the Homestead Trail (a ~4 mile segment) and I'd have appreciated a little more diversity on the course!