This is my second year in a row running in this festival. Last year I ran the half, this year I finished the hat trick (5k, 10k, half) I can't stress enough how organized this event was. There is what I call "base camp" near the start and finish lines - The Artsquest center, which is perfect for getting in out of the cold before and after events. Free parking Saturday and Sunday with shuttles to the Artsquest center. Plenty of activities, seminars and sightseeing. An awesome and well managed event from start to finish. No matter what your skill level this is a great event to add to your race calendar. Plenty of runners use this as a warm up to a marathon run (Marin Corp marathon is two weeks away), but I also ran in to a numbers of runners who were racing for the first time.

On the plus side, the race promoters had great communication before the race. There were frequent e-mails, and by using RaceJoy, there was a wealth of information available - parking, logistics, etc.

I stayed at the Fairfield Inn, and they did a great job. There was a shuttle to and from the race, and the breakfast buffet opened early (5 a.m.) and stayed open until 11 a.m. (second breakfast!)

But I can't recommend this race because it was poorly run. My main issues were:

1. No water at two aid stations. At both, there was just one volunteer, and they simply could not keep up with the volume of runners. The race director advised runners to bring their own water, but this is no excuse.

2. Missing mile markers - they were either poorly placed or missing, I'm not really sure. For a 13 mile course I spotted fewer than half.

3. Limited to no post race food. They advertised limited quantities of pizza and ice cream, but all were gone when I got there. They also ran out of food, so no bananas or Kind bars to be had post race.

4. The expo, if you want to call it that, was just a few tents with some local vendors.

This is a flat, easy course, but is usually very hot and humid this time of year, and 2015 was no exception.The course this year started in Downtown and then took a nice loop through nearby Davis Islands, and then to an out and back loop on scenic Bayshore Blvd.

My one minor compliant is that half of the Tampa Convention Center was blocked off do to another event on Sunday. The race expo is on Friday and Saturday, which I missed because the half was on a Sunday.

I decided to run my first half marathon here, figuring that, if anyone can put on a great race, Runners World would know how to do it.

I was not disappointed!

The Expo was outstanding, with tons of vendors and many different seminars to choose from. Packet pickup was a breeze, and parking was free. On the day of the race, they had shuttles to and from the parking areas.

The course had a few challenging hills, but was mostly downhill after mile 7. Great coverage at all the aid stations, and every aspect was extremely well organized.

I had such a great time, I'm running this again in 2015, this time going for the hat trick (5k, 10k, and half).