I took part in the Grand Slam weekend and lastly we ran the half marathon on Sunday.

We hit the expo Friday afternoon which is in the Arts Quest building across from the historic Steel Stacks. It was easy to navigate with a good mix of vendors. Shout out to Aftershokz!

Earlier in the week we received a virtual goody bag with lots of discounts from the race sponsors. Since I was running the Grand Slam I got a long sleeve and half zip. Both were very nice quality.

Parking was the same as it had been all weekend. I got there half an hour before the race and was able to park and walk to the start in 5 minutes.

It was a lot colder so I was even more thankful for the heated buildings with bathrooms.

I believe the start was the same as it was for the 10k. On Friday a local runner and I decided to run the race together so I found her in our corral and we were off.

We wove around the same streets we had for the races the day before. Aubrey had advised me that there were four "challenges" to the course. Each challenge was comprised of a set of hills.

The first challenge came at mile three and was easy enough. It was the same bridge we'd crossed in the 5k and 10k followed by an uphill with a little downhill recovery.

The next challenge came at mile six. To the best of my memory it was a few steeper hills back to back.

For me the third challenge was the most difficult it was a long gradual hill that never seemed to end. This was from miles 7-8. My Oiselle Volee ladies were waiting at the top though and that lifted my spirits.

The last of the challenges came in mile 10. I knew once that hill was over I'd be home free. A little down hill then the same route back as the 5k and 10k.

There's something really cool about crossing the same finish line three times over the course of three days.

Since I did the Grand Slam I was given a special larger finisher medal.

Post race they had bagels, granola bars, bananas and water.

The course had ample water stops and I think a few even had gels.

Overall I'd highly recommend this half marathon. It's a great course full of challenges. I'd also recommend combining it with some of the other races of the weekend. Runner's World really knows how to put on an event.