Sunburst Races are typically held on the first Saturday in June. The event lines up with Notre Dame Alumni Weekend. In the past, I would have wanted to see this event moved to earlier in the spring to avoid the heat, but if you live in South Bend, you know everything revolves around Notre Dame. I say in the past because after this years event, I am not to enthused about running it again until they make some huge improvements.
The race begins in downtown South Bend and finishes barely on the Notre Dame campus. Between the start and finish, the courses (5k, 10k, half and full) wind through South Bend and Mishawaka.

Let's start with some positives.
-The shirts were of better quality design than last years.
-If finishers medals are important to you, this years were alright. I noticed that they decided to leave the race date off th ribbon after last years mistake. Probably smart.
-Packet pick up was quick and easy
-Volunteers were great
-Well marked course and police were there keeping the course clear of traffic.
-I enjoy running through the parks in Mishawaka
-6:00 start this year for the half marathon along with the full marathon

Now for the bad (hang on)
-Let's start with the biggest issue, the course measurement. Anyone who had run certified courses before knows that your Garmin will never be exact. In a full marathon, you can count on your Garmin reading anywhere between .1 and .3 miles long. It is near impossible to run the exact shortest distance for a whole race. If you figured out how this can be done, please, tell me your secret. With that being said, I have never ran a certified half marathon course and had my Garmin read 13.5 miles. It was a long course and I think Sunburst messed up somewhere
-The way that Sunburst handled the reaction from it participants on Facebook has been way out of line. You can see their Facebook post Here. I think about every runner took this as, "you are all wrong." You can read the comments from the post and draw your own conclusions. They did later post again on Facebook explaining that the course will be remeasured. We will see what that says.
-Alright something else about the course that doesn't have to do with measurements. Let's make the zoo a one and done thing. It seemed like a good idea, something different, but the paths through the zoo are too narrow and turns are too tight. Really slowed down everyone's momentum.
-Aid stations were well staffed, my only complaint is that some cups barely had water in them and others were about full. Unfortunately you don't know what you will get until you grab one and by then it might be too late to get another.
-I am going to stick up for the back of the pack marathon runners. Once again, Sunburst ran out of food and chocolate milk at the finish line. Sunburst provides food and chocolate milk to full marathoners, half marathoners, 10k, 5k, and the 5k walkers. My suggestions would be a sepreate area set aside for marathon runners. They paid more (both financially and physically) than any of us who ran a shorter race. Make sure they have what they need after they finished. I have seen some of these 5k walkers after they finish. Some of them are vultures.
-The big drawl of this race used to be that it finished at the 50 yard line inside Notre Dame Stadium. Because of renovations to the stadium, it's been a few years since this happened and who knows it may never happen again. I know this idea will piss of the Notre Dame Alumni and fan base, but let's move the finish line off campus. There is a minor league baseball stadium in downtown. Put the finish line there. It's a lot closer to the start. Besides, you run on campus for less than a tenth of a mile, what's the point?
-Picking up your checked bags is only for the half and fill marathons. This year you had to walk all the way around some buildings to get your Stuff instead of just after you left the runners only area.
-Fleet Feet was about all there was at the expo. Nothing against Fleet Feet, it's my go to running store, but other than Fleet Feet there was nothing.
-No bottles of water at the finish. Had to walk a little bit to get any water. Then when you finally get water, it's in cups like at the aid stations. Would be nice to get to take a bottle of water after the race.

My future in this race is uncertain at best right now. I can't say I won't do it again or even that I won't run it next year. I can easily see me stepping down and just running the 5k with my daughters. I can also see myself just skipping it all together. Time will tell. Right now though, if you were from out of town, I could not recommend you coming here and spending money on this race. Too many changes need to happen before I could do this.