My Dad and I went to Tulsa not knowing what to expect for the Tulsa Run. I signed up for the Challenge (5K and 15K in the same morning) and he did the 15K. We stayed at a hotel in downtown Tulsa and we were pleasantly surprised at how nice, cute, and unique the city as a whole was as well as how great the hotel/race location were. We parked at the hotel and didn't drive at all the rest of the trip. We were able to walk to the start line, back to our hotel, and to various restaurants and even a Feet Fleet (running store) - which was REALLY nice considering I forgot to pack a sports bra!

The expo was at the Cox Business Center, which is a really nice, big building. There were a good amount of vendors, but the expo wasn't overwhelmingly huge - just the right size to do some shopping/browsing, but not overwhelming. We spent about an hour getting our packets and looking around. The swag that came with our bibs were AMAZING. A HOODIE! for the 15K and a long sleeve shirt for the 5K! I am wearing the hoodie as we speak - rarely do I get race swag that I actually use! Also a really cute and practical tote bag, which is a nice change from the drawstring bags. BONUS and BEST race swag: free race photo downloads after the race!

Race start times weren't ridiculously early - 7:50 for the 5K and 9:00am for the 15K - which was nice especially since it was unusually cold that morning (33 degrees). Race morning, my dad and I didn't even need to leave the hotel until 15 minuted before Start time and had just enough time to get to the start line (seriously!). Then he was able to go back to the hotel and relax and we met back up for the 15K. It was just an overall great and convenient location!

The race organization was great - announcer, organized Start line (a little bottle-necked at the beginning, but that's to be expected at a big race), plenty of nice volunteers for water stops, porta potties throughout the race, and a nice race Finish. The medals were amazing - the 15K medal was particularly HUGE and impressive, and if you did the "challenge" you got an additional add-on for your medals. They gave you a boxed lunch from McAllisters at the finish (super nice!) along with a banana and full sized candy bar! They had massages available and (really cute and unique) Tulsa Run apparel available for purchase.

The course was hilly, which isn't necessarily a negative, just something to be aware of. The route was pretty and went throughout Downtown Tulsa. The 15K went over two gorgeous bridges over the Arkansas River and through the old Route 66, which was really neat and iconic. The finish line had a huge, gorgeous US flag hanging above it and made crossing the finish feel really special.

We took our boxed lunches and goodies up to our hotel and grubbed out and were on the road back to Dallas within the hour! Although we would've loved to stay and experience Tulsa longer! We agreed as soon as we got back up to the hotel room that we'd make this race a tradition. We both truly enjoyed the course, city, organization, and convenience of running the Tulsa Run. It was perfect and I already can't wait to run next year!

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