I heard about Troegs Brewery from a friend who told me how great the beer is at this place. So when we found out about a race with Troegs beer at the end, we signed up. And believe me, I was not disappointed!

Communication/Organization: The emails I received were very clear and laid out exactly what was going on and when. The information for parking was spot on and I was able to park very close to the race finish and without cost (the garage was free). Getting to downtown Harrisburg proved to be issue free and finding my way around was easy. This was my first time to Harrisburg so I always get a little nervous when going to a new city but truly found my way without any problems.

Race Day: Packet Pickup was a set of tables near the finish line. The morning was cold and windy but you all know that doesn't stop runners. The swag inside the bag was awesome! First, a very soft Troegs shirt that I know I'll wear again and again. It's not a technical t-shirt but that's okay by me. I also got other little trinkets like a chip clip, beer koozie, toothpaste and coupon pack (which for someone who doesn't live in/around Harrisburg proved to be kind of worthless). A photographer sat on the overpass and captured pictures of the runners with the Capitol in the background. That was definitely a nice background for a running picture.

The course: the course was basically in/around downtown Harrisburg. We started on one side of the Capitol, looped around (passing the finish line on the loop) and then ran up onto an overpass. The course was well marked, relatively flat, the roads were free of potholes so all in all, a nice easygoing course. The tough part was when the wind whipped while running on the overpass. But I suppose that tends to happen in the fall in Pennsylvania.

Post Race: Ooh, this is where the Troegs Hop Dash 5K shined. First, the medal. The medal is a nice piece of bling (quite heavy) and doubles as a bottle opener. Would we expect anything less from a craft brewery? And then each runner received 2 cans of Troegs beer. Bring your ID because everyone got carded. After the beer, I went to stand in line to get my post race treats. Besides the typical post race snacks like bananas and pretzels, they gave us a pretzel. A big soft pretzel (not a little crunch pretzel). Ooh, beer and a pretzel was a fantastic snack combo post race. A DJ was cranking out tunes but for me, I was getting awfully chilly so I didn't stay much longer after my beer and pretzel. But hey, with a 2nd can of beer, I had a beer to go to enjoy later. Full disclosure: I gave my can of beer to a friend but still, it was basically a beer that each runner could enjoy later which I thought was awesome.

Overall: this was a great race and I would run it again if I can get over to the area. I'm not from Harrisburg so this was a nice little add to my visit. Now if they turned it into a half marathon...I may definitely have to make the trip back. But if you live in the area and/or are in the area on race weekend, definitely hop on over to the Troegs Hop Dash 5K. No matter your time, everyone is a winner with Troegs beer!