The expo was outside in a popular area downtown. Because it was a beautiful day, it worked out well! I think if it was snowy, rainy, etc, this would’ve been a bad idea. It was doubly good idea that this took place at the finish line area. That way it was easy for out-of-towners to know where the end point was. The expo itself was small. It’s a small town and a small race, so I don’t know what someone would expect. Not a lot of freebies or “big” sponsors there. Mostly a few local doctors and some nearby races. What was very fun about the expo was listening to Dr. Brent Weigner who has ran in all continents 10 times and Jerry Reif who has completed a sub 3hr marathon in all 50 states. Listening to their stories was great. It’s good to hear from them, specifically, as they are locals to Cheyenne, WY. All in all, the expo was about as great as a small town could offer; better really!

Then race day showed up! The start of the marathon was at a place called Archer; quite a bit outside of town. The parking lot was in front of a very large building. All the runners got there, and the first thing they did was run to the building to use the restroom. But, IT WAS CLOSED. All doors were locked; I know, I tried them all. And there were no port-o-potties. So, this was a bit frustrating. Later on, I found there was another building across the road that offered places to pee; but it wasn’t advertised in a meaningful way. Also, coming into the event center before the sun came up caused other problems. There were no “marathon this way,” signs out. There were signs for an October Fest which may have caused some confusion for some. When we got out of our cars, we looked around and couldn’t see anything resembling a start line or any real direction. There was a bus and several police officers. But, they didn’t know what was going on either. Eventually, we found the start line was about a half a mile from the parking lot. But, in pitch black, that was not evident. The bus did take people to the start line once they got their orders, so that was kind of nice. But, then at the start line there was one port-o-potty. Not one row; ONE port-o-potty!

Then the race started. It was fine. The first half was running outside of town in some fields. There was no real scenery or town to see. It was just 13 miles of tall, yellow grass. There was also an issue many complained about that during that first half, we kept going back and forth from gravel to pavement. It wasn’t bad; just odd. The halfway point hit at a park that was the start line for the half marathon. And we just ran along their route. This is where I started getting nostalgic. I grew up in Cheyenne, which is a big reason I signed up for this race. So, I ran by my old pre-school, Jr. High, Sr. High, churches, etc. I got to re-live my childhood as I ran around my old stomping grounds. We ran through several parks including the center they host the yearly, Cheyenne Frontier Days. The only thing I heard complained about along the course was the lack of aid stations. There was one less than a mile into the marathon. I don’t think I saw the next aid station until mile 7. And the medics were told not to hand out any salt or aspirin. This is out of the ordinary for a marathon. I heard several people cramp up and get frustrated at the volunteers and medical personal.

The finish line area was nice. If you’re familiar with Cheyenne, it was at the Depot. After crossing the finish line, there were people giving out medals and then you could walk into the old train depot to get food, a free beer and even a massage! The crowd support at the end was great too considering the population of the town.

As for the swag, it was pretty good. The medal was big and unique. It was very “Wyoming.” The medal wasn’t huge; but it was a good size, and the ribbon was a great print. The shirt fit a bit large, but it was fun. It is comfortable and of good quality. I can’t say it was a bad shirt at all. Not going to be one of my favorites either though. I give it 7 out of 10.

What wasn’t good about the end was the shuttle back. You weren’t allowed to park at the finish line. They wanted everyone to park at Archer; which is a long way from the finish line. I went to get onto the shuttle, only to hear that it just left and the next one would be there in 20-30 minutes. That’s a long time to wait when you’re sore, sweating, hurting and stink to high heaven. There weren’t even any chairs there to sit on while you wait. They should’ve given parking passes downtown and then bussed people to the start line. That would’ve cleared up the parking situation AND the confusion at the start of the race. But, again, this is their inaugural year!

This was my 27th state. I had been wanting to get Kansas crossed off for a while as it's a bordering state to me, and I'm poor. lol. But, which one? I was told about this one for years now. And, in all honesty, I've been putting it off for years so that I can complete it with a friend of mine who is an avid Wizard of Oz fan. But,after years of waiting, I finally just decided to sign up.
This was a huge themed race. Wizard of Oz was everywhere. There were cardboard cut outs of nearly every character at the expo and many others along the race. It was one of those races where so many people decided to dress up for the even in costume. One new friend of mine even made several changes and wore 5 or 6 outfits throughout.
The race was also sponsored by Garmin, so it's a great place for runners to journey to. The race started and ended at the Garmin headquarters. So, if you are as attached to your Garmin as you are your children, you really should view this as some kind of destination run! In fact, the best part of this race may have been that the event's start and finish line were right next to the covered parking lot of the Garmin building. So, there was plenty of close, free parking. How often can you say that about a race?!
This was a mid-level race as far as quantity of participants. There were only 1,800 people running the half. I'm sure there were many more doing the full, but it was pretty small compared to a RnR or something like that. However, it was much larger than some I have completed that had less than 100 runners. That is all to say the expo was kind of lacking. There were probably a couple dozen vendors. And many of those were just insurance companies. But, I got some decent swag. But, nothing too high quality like new racing equipment. The Gamin folks definitely didn't give free watches to all; hahaha.
The start of the race was good. As mentioned earlier, the parking lot was close by. It was cold, so I could actually hang out in my car for a bit. There were also plenty of port-o-potties with very short lines. It also had plenty of places to pose and get a good pre-race picture.
The race itself was fine. I have a habit of focusing on my run and forgetting to look around. So, I can't give a good description of the scenery. But, I can say it was a lot hillier than I had prepared for. I had looked at the course map prior (as I always do). And between the fact it appeared flat, Kansas' reputation and the elevation being 4K+ lower than where I live, I stopped running around my hilly neighborhood and focused more on treadmill running where I could run faster, flat runs in preparation. This was a big mistake. It's not that I haven't run races that had more inclines, it's just that I was unprepared for the few there were. I think there were about 5 good hills with 3 of those being difficult if you haven't trained for hills. In the end, I still got a good time of just under 1:45. I had a lot of help from the lower elevation.
Then, the after party began! They had a lot to offer. They had a live DJ. They had a truck that was giving several varieties of beers. There was also a local Mexican restaurant that was handing out margaritas. And who doesn’t want a margarita after a long race?! They had another tent that was giving out chicken sandwiches as well. So, as a fan of food and drinks, it was great. In addition to that, they also had a decent amount of vendors. Of course, the biggest was Garmin who had a place to get pictures converted to an MP4. It was a fun time all in all. I’m glad I did it.
The only thing I, personally, didn’t like about it was the race shirt/medal. This was “the year of Dorothy.” And as such, the shirt had a girl-shaped “Oz.” And the medal was that of a ruby slipper. It seems like most of the ladies loved it. However, it was feminine enough, that I will probably not wear the shirt again. But, that’s not a horrible loss as I have WAY TOO MANY race shirts in my closet already.
And to not, end with just the race, I also like to talk about the city. It was a good race to visit. It was my official Kansas run. But, it was in the Kansas City area. As such, I was able to make my way across the border and hang out in Missouri for the first time. I found fun to be had on both sides of the border. Probably the best place I spent was in the “Power and Light District” in downtown Kansas City, MO. My buddy and I also ventured to see the national WWI museum which had a lot of great information and history. I’m sure there are a lot of other good races in Kansas. But, I would highly suggest this one if you are looking for a great Kansas race experience!

I should probably start out by saying I HATE full marathons. I do a lot of half marathons. I'm pretty confident on those and can do them quicker than your average runner. But, full marathons hurt. That said, one day I want to qualify for Boston. So, even though I'm a long way from doing that, I wanted to train on a fast course to get that in one day. And a downhill marathon seemed good to accomplish that goal. I had no beliefs that I could do it this year. But, I figured it would give me some experience that way I could do it in a few years, potentially.

So, I suppose I'll start out with the expo. It was kind of lame. I didn't really get any freebies. And I don't think there were more than a dozen vendors. Also, I was given a cotton shirt and was told that was the upgrade. I don't recall asking for an upgraded shirt, but the "normal" shirt was a tech shirt with a real cool design. I asked if I could get the non-upgraded shirt, and they accommodated that. So, I'm happy for this. I just find it strange on what they consider an upgrade.

The race itself required you to wake up super early. Since this is a downhill race, they had everyone park at the bottom of the hill, load up in busses and be taken to the top of the hill. But, the busses ran from 3:30 - 4:15 am. Since the race didn't start until 6, that required everyone to be up on the top of the hill freezing for an hour or more. I did another race like this in the past (Utah Valley) that had fire pits set up to help out. It would've been nice if they had something for that. The other problem with the top of the mountain were the bathroom lines. They could've spread them out differently. They had them lined up side to side in a long row (which is typical). But, there wasn't a lot of room for a waiting line. After about 6 people in line, it would cause you to fall off the back end of a cliff.

The race itself was fantastic! It took place in the Rocky Mountains and there was beauty to be seen everywhere. The elevation seemed to mess with a lot of runners, especially at the beginning which started over 10,000 ft. above sea level! And the decline was a struggle for many people, complaining about knee pain and sore quads. I had been training at a decline so that helped me a lot.

On a personal note, I did great! I got my first sub-4 hour marathon. That was a PR for me, and who doesn't love getting a PR?!??! I will say that I thought we went a different direction, and I trained for one big incline around mile 12. I was surprised on the course when we took a different route and had several inclines to do. None were that big or long. But, I wasn't prepared for them, and they took a lot out of me since I had primarily been training downhill. The aid stations were great too. They had water and Gatorade at all stations. And they even had flavored Goo at several stops. I don't think I saw a stretch beyond 3 miles that didn't have port-o-potties. So, everything that you needed was avail! Did I mention how gorgeous it was?!!?

The after event was above par as well. They let everyone have a free slice of pizza and cherry pie. They, of course, had your typical bananas too. I think I also saw a yogurt vendor handing out samples and the Muscle Milk truck was there to help replenish much needed protein. There was a beer garden where everyone got a free cold one. Free massages were avail (though the waiting list was very long). And they had a fun set up where you could take pictures of your friends holding up "PR" and "BQ" signs. Everyone seemed to have a good time. And, the finish medals were awesome! Big bling that was textured and raised. This is definitely one of my favorite medals I got anywhere!

Then comes my next big complaint: the parking situation. The end of this event was not near where we had parked our cars that morning. We had to take a bus to get there. But, do you think the bus stop was near the finish line? NO! We had to walk what seemed like a mile to get to the shuttles. And after running 26.2, walking a mile isn't exactly easy for us runners. I wish the parking could've been set up better logistically.

I know I made a lot of complaints. But, in the end, it was much better that I made it out to be. I enjoyed this race. I am happy with my PR. I highly recommend it to anyone trying to get into Boston. Just train for downhill running and elevation. And be prepared to be sore the next several days!