Fun race full of Christmas spirit! The 5K starts in White River State Park and runs along the White River Trail, a paved trail that's pretty much completely flat. It's one of my favorite places in the city to run. This race brings out a lot of walkers & first time racers, so there are a lot of people to pass if you don't start up front. But I can't really complain about that too much - anything that gets people out & active is a good thing.

Everyone got a super cute hoodie this year, plus a Santa hat & beard. If you preregistered early enough, the hoodies were dri-fit & men's/women's specific sizes. Otherwise, they were cotton & unisex, as the dri-fit sold out in November.

There were 3 aid stations along the course. The first had mini M&M's, the second had water & Gatorade, and the third had cookies. Each aid station was playing Christmas music, also. At the finish, there was water, more cookies, granola bars, bananas, and potato chips.

Since the race is on Sunday, street parking in downtown Indianapolis is free. The race website, however, directed people to park in a couple of nearby parking garages where they would have to pay, and did not mention at all that street parking at meters would be free. People who live in the burbs & don't come downtown often might not know that already.

The expo/packet pickup only had a couple of vendors, which was a little disappointing. I was hoping to check out the flip belts.

I would definitely do this race again. It's always a lot of fun!