I ran the 2015 St. Michael's Running Festival Half Marathon this past weekend. The race was very well done and I’m looking forward to participating again in the future. Here are my thoughts:

Location – St Michael’s, Maryland, is a historic town on the Chesapeake Bay. Home to local seafood restaurants, good shopping and lots to see, I 100% recommend staying at one of the bed and breakfasts within walking distance of the expo, start and finish. They're a bit expensive but hotel options are minimal. The tree lined streets and bright green golf courses surrounding the water are beautiful in mid-May but beware the potential for warm to hot humid weather. This year race temps were in the 70s with upwards of 75% humidity and occasional breezes reaching 10mph.

Expo – Small and easy to breeze through. The weekend’s races have about 1,500 participants in the half, 650 in the 10k and 550 in the 5k along with race morning packet pick up that means the small community center is plenty large enough to handle everything even if there is a big rush on Friday. It was nice that I could pick up my number and gender specific tech shirt without having to troll through a crowded vendor area like you are forced to do at some larger races but the option to shop for some running gear is still available.2015 st michael's half marathon

Dining – St. Michael’s is home to a bunch of local restaurants that feature seafood, burgers and lots in between. The running festival brings with it a large influx of people on a normally busy enough weekend in the small town and an early dinner is recommended if you’re not looking to wait around.

Parking – Because I stayed within walking distance of both the start and finish, they’re only about 3/4 of a mile apart, I had no issues with parking. Everyone who drove in was directed to free parking on neighborhood roads though unfortunately those same people seemed to have some trouble leaving. The single road in and out of town got rather backed up post race so it probably pays off to hang out for a while after running. I would definitely recommend car pooling if you’re not planning on staying extremely locally.

Start – 10k goes first, half 10 minutes later and 5k after that. The entire start was delayed roughly 15 minutes due to I don’t know what and made the 2015 St Michael’s Half Marathon a little bit hotter than it could have been. Port-a-Potty lines were fairly long and moved slowly, there should be a system where those who start later are behind those who are racing earlier. The general area was spacious enough for all runners to have lots of room to warm up and everyone lined up in the starting chute where they belonged, which is always nice. There was gear check but I didn’t use it.

Course – The course is very flat though run mostly on the right side of the road which can get a little bit irritating to hips and knees. With warm temperatures, tree lined portions are great but not quite often enough. It’s a scenic, quiet course that’s traffic controlled for the most part. You will find cars on the other side of cones or, during one stretch, trying to weave down a long straightaway through the race course. I also wondered if the golfers we ran past a few times were bothered by the hustle and bustle of 1,500 runners. There are several out and back stretches that can get slightly tedious but also provide a good chance to see friends who are running.

Course Support – Water, Gatorade and at one, GU. They come about every 1.5 miles but some between the stops stretches in direct sunlight felt a whole lot longer. Each stop had plenty of volunteers and I did notice emergency vehicles parked at intervals along the course. I did not notice Port-a-Potties at the water stops but wasn’t really paying attention as I watched a few people hop off into the course-side woods. At each turn there were volunteers guiding runners in the correct direction along with good signage pointing the way. The crowd is slim and mostly people at the ends of their driveways cheering or waving until the last 800M and the Finish area is jam packed.

Post Race – After being announced crossing the finish line, runners received their 2015 St Michael’s Half Marathon medals, bananas, PB&J sandwiches, water and Gatorade. Each participant gets one free beer at the after party where is more available for purchase. Awards for winners and age groups in the chip timed race.

I had a good time at the 2015 St Michael’s Half Marathon. I’d love to go back for another shot at the flat course, the small town feel and nice swag this well organized race provided.