I ran the ODDyssey Half Marathon in 2014. It was June in Philadelphia, so it was HOT out. I did not attend the expo, since I live in Maryland and it wasn't really worth the gas and tolls to make two trips into Philly for packet pickup so I opted to have my packet mailed to me for $15.00. When I paid the extra money to have my packet shipped to me, I thought they would also be mailing my shirt, but it was just for the bib, so $15 for a bib to be mailed seemed a little excessive, but still worth the convenience to me. After the race I would have to wait in line to pick up my t-shirt. The shirt for this race was a cotton uni-sex t-shirt which could be upgraded to a tech tee for I think another $15. This is probably the only half marathon I've run where a tech tee was not the standard.

On race morning, I made the hour drive to Philadelphia and easily found a place to park at the Mann Center as recommended on the website. The lot they had us park in was only about a half mile away from the start line, so it was super easy.

When I arrived at the start area, there were tons of port-o-potties for any last minute stops and I took full advantage of it.

The race started just after 7am and I hit the start line about 12 minutes later. There wasn't really a corral system for this race, though we were assigned wave colors on our bibs based on predicted finishing time, it was pretty much lining up on the honor system.

The course was hilly, but scenic. There were some monster hills on the course, but a lot of shade which was nice on such a hot June day. While the roads we ran on were closed for the race, there were a lot of bikers not respecting the closures and I had a few near misses with them. I saw other people having the same problems. More course marshals might help that problem.

The aid stations were under staffed with volunteers. Runners would have to wait in a line to get a cup of water while a volunteer scrambled to pour cups, or pour their own water. There were also only two stops with gatorade, and on a hot day it was not good. The line for gatorade at mile four was particularly long as there was only one cooler dispensing it and runners were cutting and shoving in line. I wish I had carried my own electrolyte drink for this race, but I just didn't think ahead. I had some in my car though, so I was looking forward to getting back there.

Along the course there were several bands for entertainment. There were also a lot of challenges that you could stop at along the course to play games. I was already in the back of the pack though, so I didn't want to stop and take more time, it did look fun though. There was also a clown throwing water balloons at runners, I caught one and held onto it to help cool me down until it broke.

There were also a lot of runners out on the course in costumes. This half marathon has a costume contest, so its fun to see what everyone dresses up as. I ended up winning third place in the costume contest!

When I finished the race, I was towards the end. I was given my awesome Liberty Bell bottle opener medal and headed over to the finisher tent. As I reached down to grab a bottle of water, a volunteer yelled at me and said that water was only for people who just finished. I said I had, and he said ok, but you can only have ONE. Thats fine, I had more in my car. As for post race food, they had run out of just about everything by the time I was done. I was handed a Philly soft pretzel and a Kind bar. All of the fruit was gone, and unfortunately that's all I really wanted. I saw other runners walking around with bags FULL of fruit, so its a little sad that the earlier finishers hogged it all up.

The line for beer was super long, they were having trouble with the tap. I wasn't planning on getting a beer, but was able to get my pint glass from the line I had to wait in to pick up my t-shirt.

Overall, I probably won't be doing this race again, as I've moved farther away from Philly and I've learned that half marathons in June are not my cup of tea. I would recommend it to other people though who are looking for a unique half marathon experience, but just tell them to pack a couple Nuun tablets or something similar in their belts to help keep hydrated out there.

My friend that I ran this race with went to packet pick up earlier in the week since they had it in the town she lived in. She was able to pick up my packet as well which was great since I was almost 2 hours away. It's a good thing she did that because when we arrived on race morning parking was an absolute nightmare. We sat in traffic for over an hour trying to park. We wouldn't have had time to wait in the long packet pick up line as well.

For the race itself, since it is not timed, I brought my phone along to record my run since it was my first 5k. I should have brought a zip lock bag to put my phone in, but luckily the powdered dye didn't do any damage.

My friend was pregnant at the time so she had to stop and use the bathroom a couple times and there were plenty for everyone, even on the course so that was a plus.

The dye is basically powdered chalk and when it gets in your mouth it can make you cough. We were smart enough to wear sunglasses to keep it out of our eyes, but bringing a bandana to cover your mouth would be a good choice too.

The course was a narrow out and back path and it was very crowded, sometimes hard to get through the people walking with strollers. It is nice that it is family/stroller friendly, but some runners were being quite rude and pushing and making comments. It is an un-timed fun run, but some people are always competitive.

When we finished the race, they had bottles of water that you could grab and there was a band playing on a stage.

Overall, I thought the race was well put on but the parking was horrible and put a damper on our day. I probably wouldn't do another "color run" type race because the powdered dye really irritated my lungs, but for someone who enjoys this type of run I think they could have a good time.