The race is on a Saturday. I like that. I was coming from out of town, flying in pretty late on Friday, so I appreciated the expo/packet pick-up being open until 8pm the night before. Expo was as expected: big, spacious, friendly, fun. The t-shirt was alright. It was a Brooks shirt, but fit kind of wide. Medal was fine/average. However, all marathoners got an unexpected, free finisher's jacket afterwards -- very useful because it had drizzled a little during the race and, even though the sun was out, it was a little chilly at ~65 degrees.

The start line wasn't my favorite experience. Logistically, the actual start line was set-up fine, but the pre-race area was a cluster and a pain to get to. It wasn't close and the paved path was narrow (which made you had to walk in the muddy grass). And I trekked all the way over there for some water and there was none left. I didn't gear check, so no opinion on that. But the race did start 15 minutes late (although I didn't care).

The course was way less hilly than I was expecting, as a (flat land) Chicagoan, I don't handle hills well, but there aren't any monsters that I can even really recall about this race (unlike what I experienced walking around, site-seeing in the north part of town the next day). The views, especially around Lake Washington, were incredible. In addition to that, the Run to Remember portion around mile 11(?) was very heartwarming and a wonderful addition to the event!

I disliked the 1 or 2 water stations that were on an incline (but I dislike that when it's done in any race). And I also didn't care much for the out and back, over the bridge, to Mercer Island... but I think I was just exhausted by that point. I did, however, like the separation of the half marathon and marathon folks. It was nice to be able to run by the back-of-the-packers without bobbing and weaving.

The finish line was as expected. Nice experience, plenty of post race food (the chocolate milk and fruit cups were a great touch!), picture options, vendor booths, medical and massage tents, etc. My only complaint is they only had a shuttle from the finish to the start line in the morning (for parking). But they didn't have a shuttle from the finish back to start line (1.3 miles) in the afternoon (for those of us that stayed in a hotel closer to the start line).