I was mostly impressed with my first Rock N Roll experience. Savannah is always a fun city to visit and is less than 4 hours drive from Atlanta, making for an easy run-cation. The course was flat as expected, but did include some hills (mostly the highway) that did well to break up the monotony; complete flat tends to wreck my legs after a while. Truthfully, I expected there to be more bands considering this was a "rock n roll" race. I figured there wouldn't be a quiet section of the course but, unfortunately, there were some sections that were lonely (highway again). I've done nonprofit races with more music. However, the music represented was excellent and high quality. If you're a slower marathoner you'll miss the headliner band at the post-race party (I guess they want to grab most of the half marathon and earier marathon finishers for biggest bang); I made it just in time for the last song. In any case, the race accessibility, family friendliness, entertainment, swag, and awesome volunteers make this a worthwhile run-cation.

Pros:
- Expo: easily accessible by car (paid lot) or free ferry from River Street.
- Expo: even Friday, as the busier day, was still controlled, organized, and no long lines
- Course: flat, fast, old Savannah is beautiful, spectators are lively
- Aid stations: every 1.5ish miles, tons of ice cold water and gatorade (always cold even after several hours of a very hot race). Awesome volunteers. Spray stations, sponges.
- Start: if you stay in historic Savannah it's likely you'll be able to walk to the start and from the finish. Anywhere else and you probably have to take a shuttle (free) or park in town (I don't suggest this - very little street parking on those historic streets). I stayed 1/2 mile between the start and finish and this was great. I can't speak towards the shuttle situation.
- Music: not as much as I hoped, but it was all great quality and fun

Cons:
- No packet pickup for friends/family. Given this was a Saturday race, I had some friends that had a hard time getting to the expo before it closed from Atlanta, leaving after work. They do not allow friends/family to pickup packets even with signed confirmations and photo IDs. I was told by a director that this had to do with liability but I find that kind of a hokey excuse considering I've been to many other high security races that had alternative pickup options. They don't advertise this but there is supposed to be an emergency packet pickup on race morning at the start. Luckily my friends made it to the expo 15 minutes before it closed on Friday. The start is very crowded and chaotic; we would have never found the race morning packet pickup in time.
- Course: yes it's flat, but it also includes too many miles on a not flat, not shaded, highway. Boring and painful, especially in the full exposure of 80+ degree sun, with no clouds.
- Music: I've done nonprofit races with more bands/mile
-Start: very crowded and chaotic around the start area. There are supposed "corrals" but there's no actual separation and you can really just start anywhere.
- Finish: pet peeve really, but the jacket pickup for marathoners should really be directly after the finish line chute, not across an open, sunny field. Luckily we remembered to walk over there, but we met people at the hotel that simply never found/remembered the jackets because they weren't obvious where to pickup. Add to the mix people tired and sun baked, it's easy to forget to pickup if it's not right in your path after finishing.

There's only one turn but this race always provides plenty of excitement. Treat it as a race, treat it as a party, treat it as both, and you're bound to have a good time. If you've run any previous race I highly recommend submitting a race time so that you don't end up in one of the last waves. There's around 25 waves with about 2 hours between the first starters and the last, so race experience can vary widely depending on where you start. Despite the huge number of runners, the waves start exactly on time, 5 minutes apart. Enjoy the costumes, the spectators, the signs, and the possibility of plenty of free drinks along the way. Atlanta Track Club membership (only $35 per year) has 2 major benefits related to Peachtree: 1) guaranteed entry if you're a member before February and 2) entry into the post-race party with free beer and bagels. DO IT!

PROS:
-access: I always park about 1 mile north of the start at Kroger or the Brookhaven MARTA station, and then walk to the start. It's easy to MARTA or Uber back to our car at the end. Not bad considering there's 60,000 runners
-swag: the peachtree shirt is a great collectors item and you often see them running around ATL in the years after the race. I save mine for a future shirt quilt. Beer, bagels, peaches, Whole Foods goody boxes at the finish. You can purchase a commemorative medal if that's your thing.
-Spectators: best 4th of July party/block party/parade ever. Includes drunk people at 8am, candy, drinks, costumes, a priest with holy water, etc.

CONS:
- Heat and humidity - it's ATL on July 4th...duh
- Aid stations: warmish water and no powerade. M'eh. At least it's only a 10k. I will say, they finally figured out how to keep the water at the finish cold this year.

Do you want to test your limits and see how far you can go surrounded by fun, supportive people? Then Merrill's Mile is for you! I signed up for the Merrill's Mile 24 Hour race in order to hit 100k training distance as part of my 100 miler training plan. There's not many 100k's around so doing a timed race was pretty much my only option. I expected to feel like a hamster in a wheel, with tedium going around a 1 mile track but I was happily surprised at how fun this event was. I did know many people at the race, which allowed for a fun, campy group feel. However, even if you're not from the area and arrive solo, everyone is so friendly and helpful. No one runs alone!

Race options:
6hr Race Options:
* Start time: 9am Saturday
* Start time: 9pm Saturday
* Start time: 9am Sunday
* Start time: 9pm Sunday
12hr Race Options:
* Start time: 9am Saturday
* Start time: 9pm Saturday
* Start time: 9am Sunday
* Start time: 9pm Sunday
24hr Race Options:
* Start time: 9am Saturday
* Start time: 9am Sunday
48hr Race Option:
* Start time: 9am Saturday

Pros:
- Easily accessible: 1.5 hrs north of Atlanta and a 9am start for the 24hr race allows for an easy morning drive to the site. I arrived early and set up camp with plenty of time before the start.
- Luxuries abound: a timed, loop race allows for runners to set up camp and pass all their goodies every mile. It's a great way to test nutrition and race day plans for a long effort with less aid station access. I set up a tent and camp chair for resting, and had a cooler with some personal goodies not available at the aid station.
- Aid station: amazing volunteers with great food. They switched up the food throughout the day and night, with soup at night and pancakes in the morning. Everyone was helpful, friendly, and supportive. A volunteer even did minor blister surgery for me in the middle of the night.
- Swag: the t-shirt is nice and comes in women sizes as well. The finisher token is a dog tag since the race is on an Army Ranger base. Very cool! Also included: badass metal spork, and a folding cup.
- People: have I mentioned how nice and supportive everyone is? Seriously, if you want to try for big miles these people will get you there.

Cons:
- An ultra...in Georgia...in July...around an exposed track. DON'T FORGET YOUR SUNSCREEN!
- Running circles for 6,12, 24, or 48 hours may not sound like a lot of fun but it's not bad with all the friendly faces around. I talked to a lot of people along the way. In a normal trail race I usually see a few of the same people due to my pace.

Looking for a run-cation with beautiful scenery, cows, friendly volunteers, and hugs at the finish? Then Mad Marathon, Half Marathon, and Relay is for you! It's a tough course, probably the hardest road course I've done, but more than worth it for the idyllic setting. Hike the hills, run the downs, and enjoy everything in between.

Pros:
- Check in : in a tent outside the Waitsfield Inn, the official race lodging. if you stay there you just walk outside to get your bib, and roll out of bed in the morning to the start/finish area. Driving is very easy. Waitsfield consists of one main street area and you can park at pretty much any business in town with marathon signs. Very easy access all weekend. Note, small race = no expo. You check in and get your swag. That's it. No other vendors. I hate expos so this was great imo. It's a very small race, so there's not much reason for an expo anyway.
-Swag: nice gender specific shirts (but they're not distance specific - they all say 'marathon'), sling bag with some goodies and discounts from local vendors, nice medal with a barn, of course. :-)
- Course: absolutely stunning. Cows, barns, farmland, mountains, covered bridges, dirt roads.
- Aid stations: at least every 2 miles with great volunteers. Water and gatorade. The half didn't have any food at the stations but I don't need any for a half. Not sure about the full. Every aid station had port-o-johns as well.
-Volunteers: have I mentioned how friendly everyone was?
-Beer stop at mile 10.5 with local brew. Full pours too!
-Finish area: easy access for friends and family. Beer. Donuts and cider. Ice bath. Yoga mats. All the things.
-Hugs: the race director hugs every single runner across the line. Awesome.

Cons:
- I don't count this as a con but many people would like to know that the course is extremely difficult in terms of hills. Long, steep hills that you pretty much have to walk/hike. I saw everyone walk except the elites. But for every killer uphill, there's an epic downhill.

Check out my full weekend report at https://funsizeathleteblog.wordpress.com/2017/07/12/bibrave-race-review-mad-half-marathon