This is a great beginner race. There are a lot of participants, lots of energy, right downtown and the course isn't tough/rough. It is all on roads in downtown Columbus and in a few neighborhoods so you catch some shade from tree lined streets.
I opted to do the 10k this year. I have loved the shirts in the past except they have always run super small. This year they changed from cotton to tech shirts which was a disappointment to me as I actually wear the cotton shirts all over and don't really wear the tech shirts very much.
Parking is always a pain for downtown races so you either take a chance and look for a spot when you get there or prepay. My friend and I prepaid and we got in a garage that was super close to the finish and start but the traffic getting TO it was terrible. We didn't expect it to be as bad as it was so we got a little nervous that we might miss the start of the race. So keep that in mind also when doing this race, parking is a pain.
We did make it to the start just fine and got in our corrals. The start was high energy and fun.
I was wanting to hit a specific time so I left my friends and pushed ahead. The race is big but it does thin out a few miles in and you aren't elbow to elbow but also never alone either.
It was pretty cool day for the race which is a little unusual but that's Ohio weather, you never know what you are going to get.
The break off from the 1/2 marathon was clear and easy to follow not sure you could miss which direction you should go.
The only confusing part was when the 5k fun walk merged in with the 10k runners. There was a finish lane for the 1/2 marathon and for the 10k but the walkers started merging with us and it was congested and a bit confusing to know where we were to go and dodging walkers in the last 1/2ish mile to go.
The finish area was great, lots of snacks and pizza, drinks. Kind of odd to get 3 alcoholic drink tickets are 9ish in the morning but hey! Great time to try them anyway!!!
Overall this is a great race to do for a beginner or experienced racer.