I ran the half; as did my partner. My goal for this one was just to have fun and help maintain some of my fitness from having trained for a November full marathon...I ended up PR'ing, and having a pretty good time.
We opted to pick up our race packets the day before the race (Saturday, race was on a Sunday), as we were already planning to be downtown that evening. Pick up was in a ballroom at a hotel downtown, and didn't offer much more than picking up bibs and shirts. There was one other vendor there, so it was not really an 'expo'. Packet pick up went smoothly, and we received all the items we'd expected: chip timed bib, hoodie, and Santa hat/beard to wear during the race.
The day of the race was very cold, but clear. We lucked into a street/metered parking spot right by the start line. There were several holiday decorations you could get your photo taken near, and an abundance of race photographers roaming around taking photos. Portalets were near the start/finish, and there were a good amount of them available for the crowd size. The DJ was enthusiastic and did a good job of trying to keep everyone pumped up in spite of the cold.
The race began on schedule. Part of the fun/silliness of the race was that there were cookie and candy stops along the route. Both of these happened in the first 3 miles of the half course, which I think worked. I had just been looking to have fun with this race, so I took both and managed not to get an upset stomach. I also ran portions of the race in the Santa gear, but was grateful that I had worn the race hoodie, so I had a nice big pouch to shed layers into as it got warmer.
There was one big hill that stood out in the course, by the velodrome. Otherwise, I found the course to be pretty manageable and fairly scenic for Indianapolis.
As far as course management, I was disappointed by some of the water stops. While early stations were well staffed and stocked, water stations around 7-10 miles were out of water and/or cups by the time I came through (I finished in about 2:30). I suppose this worked out fine, because I ended with a good time for me, but seemed like a pretty basic thing that they let slip. Additionally, I'm not so sure how well the course was measured. Fairly consistently, the mile markers were a bit earlier than my Garmin mile notifications...to the extent that when I hit the Mile 12 marker on the course, my Garmin showed 11.75. When I crossed the finish, my Garmin showed right around 13.0. I want to believe that is just as likely the course was correct and my Garmin was wrong, but I kind of feel like this finishing time for me will always have an asterisk behind it.
At the end of the race, there were basic recovery snacks and water available, and there were plenty available when I finished.
I really liked the sweatshirt we received for this race...not sure how well it will hold up in the long term. The Santa garb was really fun, and helped keep things light during the race. Medal was very cool.
At the end of the day, I had a good time running this race and would probably do it again if I had a discount code for it. I think there's room for improvement in how they could manage things. The dysfunctional water stops were a turn off. When I signed up for the race, I had missed the spot to add my coupon code. I emailed the race organizers immediately to see if they would apply it to my charge, and they never got back to me at all. On the other hand, general pre race communication was good, and I really enjoyed the race photos and the frequency of on course photographers. A fun one if you're not looking to take it too seriously, and want to enjoy the holidays though a running event.