When I first heard about this race, I signed up right away. This was the first time that the organization was holding a walk/run in Stamford. I love this organization and all that they do to help children battling cancer and their families. It's one of those organizations where I wish I could do more because of all the great work that they do.

What was pretty cool about this race was the 11:00 a.m. start time. Luckily the temperature was very "Fall" like so it wasn't too hot at the start. I appreciated the late start time.

We arrived to the race around 10:15 and it was very well organized. It only took a few minutes to get our bibs and find our friends.

Before the race, there was an opening ceremony filled with music, zumba and a warm up to get everyone ready for the run/walk. They also had a photo booth available to take photos before the race.

Overall the race was very organized from start to finish. Bib pick up was a breeze and they had food and water available before and after the race. I also liked that they had entertainment and a Kids zone for the children.

My only one recommendation would be about the course. The 5K race started 15 minutes before the walk. The route required two loops in a park and by the second loop the runners were merging with the walkers. It caused the runners to slow down and/or run on the grass just to get by the walkers. To avoid this, I think the walk should start 30 minutes after the run. In addition, the mile markers were way off so it made it hard to know when to "push it" and the end. Even with these issues, I still think it was one of the best local races that I have done in Stamford and I would definitely do it again.

It was definitely a very HOT and HUMID day for the half marathon!

Let's break down the Pros and Cons of the race...

Pros

Course - This is a primarily flat course, so of course you have to love that. In addition, since this was my first time in Chicago, I really enjoyed running through the streets of downtown during the first half of the race. Although the pavement was a little uneven in some areas, as long as you were looking at where you were going, it was fine. Also the tall building provided much needed shade for a majority of the race.

Crowd Support - Because the first half was through downtown, crowd support was AWESOME for the first half of the race (it did die down during the second half). I also want to give a shoutout to the Kingdom

Runners. Their volunteers were so encouraging and uplifting. They were some of the loudest cheerleaders on the course!

Sponges - I can remember the exact mile (it was somewhere between 11-13) but there was a bucket with cold water and sponges. This was a very welcomed thing because of the heat!

Volunteers - As always, the volunteers worked extremely hard, especially in the hot weather. I would like to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all of the volunteers because they were energetic, friendly and helpful. I can't imagine it was easy for them to stand out in the heat for hours on end - you are all rockstars!

Port-a-Potties - Tons of available port-a-potties. I did not really see any lines so I believe they had more than enough available.

Post-race food - They had bagels! I repeat, they had bagels! This warmed my carb-loving heart. I was also able to get water and ice from a Dunkin Donuts station. I also saw granola and bananas available as well.

Medals - I did the remix challenge so I got 3 medals and all of them were awesome. I will say that I like my Rock 'n' Roll DC medal better, but these were pretty nice!

Cons

Water Stations - Coming off of the 5K, I was hoping that there would be enough water stations. Before the race I heard from a few people that there were supposed to be water stops at every mile - this didn't happen. I don't even know where the water stations were - I'm assuming every 2 miles? My GPS watch was off so I couldn't really couldn't figure out how often the water stops were on the course but they didn't seem to be spaced out well. It was weird.

Medical - I saw medical staff running with us during the race, which was great but I heard from others that runners needed assistance and medical was no where in sight. They may have needed more medical personal.

Course support - As I mentioned, the volunteers were absolutely amazing, but there were not enough volunteers. At several water stops I saw lines of runners waiting for water or they were pouring their own water. Not only is this not fair to the runners, but its also not fair to the volunteers. They were working their butts off, pouring as often as they could, but couldn't keep up with demand.

Bands - I only counted two bands on the course but there was a live DJ somewhere between miles 8-10. There were also huge speakers along the course for the last 3 miles so we could hear the music from the DJ. Since the first half of the race was downtown, I could see why there may be a lack of bands but there should have been more in the second half of the race.

Overall, I just think that the hot weather made the race not so enjoyable for me. If I forget about the weather and just focus on the course itself, it's actually a fun course and not too difficult, considering its mainly flat. I'm still on the fence about signing up the race in 2016 because I do feel like the water stations and medical support are two things that definitely need to change for next year. Is it a coincidence that Rock 'n' Roll sent me an email while I was typing this review asking for feedback?! LoL

Before getting into the race recap, I think I need to break down the significance of this race.

Waaaaay back in 2011 I participated in the Hope in Motion walk with a team from my job. I always knew about the 5k run that took place before the race, but never thought I could do it. During the walk I told my mom and friend that we would run the race the next year. Guess what, we did! This race was my first official timed 5k. I wouldn't say that I was totally on board with running after that race (in fact, it took a few more years), but this race will always hold a special place in my heart. I also ran the race in 2012 and 2013. In 2014 they added a 10k option, which I happily signed up for, and I also ran the 10k this year.

This is by far my absolute favorite local race. When I say local, I really mean local. The race start is about a 5-10 minute drive from my house, bib pick-up the day before the race took approximately 2 minutes, and I run past my house on the race route. More importantly this race, which celebrated its 20th anniversary on Sunday, helps to raise funds for the Bennett Cancer Center. Even better, 100% of the funds raised through Hope in Motion go to the Bennett Cancer Center to provide free programs for their patients. So far the event has raised over $800,000 and they have a goal to raise $1 million. I personally know cancer survivors that have received treatment at the Bennett Cancer Center and I know that it's a great facility with caring doctors and nurses. I love this race and all that it stands for and I will always make an effort to participate.

As I mentioned before, bib pick-up was easy breezy - we were in and out in two minutes.

Before I knew it, we were off! My mom race the 5k race and had a good time. The great thing about this race is that I know the route very well. I know where the inclines and hills are, etc, which made it a little easier to pace myself. My legs didn't feel 100% before the race (I'm blaming this on the #RWRunStreak) so I knew I probably wouldn't get a PR. After the second mile, I knew I wouldn't PR, so I just tried to keep a steady pace. Shortly after mile 2, I ran into a friend on the course. Once he started walking I tapped him on the shoulder and waved for him to run with me. Secretly I wanted to pace him to the end of his race (he was doing the 5k). We ran all the way to the finish for him and then I veered to the left for the 10k turn off (The 10k is basically two loops of the 5k course). After I finished the race, I found my friend and he told me that he got a PR by 2 minutes. Score! If I couldn't PR, at least I could help push someone else to a PR.

The second half of the race was much like the first. The 10K is based two loops of the 5K route. Just keep a steady pace and keep moving. Unfortunately I had to stop to tie my shoelaces on both sneakers and then later on I had to walk for about a minute up one of the steeper hills. I kind of hate to take a walk break for a 10k, but my legs were just shot so I didn't have a choice.

All in all it was a decent race. We had really great weather with no humidity. There were plenty of water stations and mile markers on the course. The volunteers were also great and offered a lot of crowd support. After the race they had tons of yummy options - bagels, orange slices, apples, fruit bars from Trader Joe's and water. In the same general area, they also had a mini petting zoo. I refrained myself petting any of the animals because I would have wanted to take one home with me :) Right next to the food they had a rock climbing wall. It looked like fun but I didn't have time to try it since I had to meet friends and co-workers to participate in the 3-mile walk.

I always participate in the walk after the race. This year the walk had over 4,000 people. People do the walk for different reasons - some people walk in honor of loved ones that have passed away from cancer, others walk to support a loved one currently battling cancer and some walk solely to support the cause. It's a beautiful thing to see so many people walking to raise money for cancer research.