This race was FANTASTIC!! Since I PR'd, I may be a little biased.
Since I don't live in St. Louis, I flew in on Saturday. Because of the time I arrived and commitments with friends I was meeting, I only had time to pick up my packet at the Expo. The Expo looked to be as good as you would expect a Rock 'n Roll Expo to be. Packet pickup was organized and easy, however I arrived late, however, so there were few people there picking up packets.
The t-shirt is short-sleeved dri-fit with the St. Louis skyline in the background and I love it! The medal was actually much better than I anticipated from looking at the pictures online. Plus, PR medals are beautiful no matter what!
Since I flew into town, didn't rent a car and stayed just a few blocks from the starting line, I can't speak to parking. The corrals were well laid out and easily accessed and facing the Arch, which made for some beautiful starting-line pics.
The aid stations were well managed, except for at mile 6. That aid station was still well-managed, but the Gatorade and water were flipped at this one, which made it a bit of a hassle for runners. The volunteers at this aid station were good about communicating what they were serving, so that helped. I just feel that all the aid stations should be laid out in the same order to avoid confusion.
The course was absolutely beautiful. Running by Busch Stadium was a highlight at the beginning of the race. The remainder of the race took runners through downtown and some neighborhoods with gorgeous old homes.
I felt there was a lack of bands and music on the course. This is a "Rock 'n Roll" race and one would expect music to be a focal point. In the first miles, there seemed to be bands around every mile or 1.5 miles. After the 10k runners split from the course around mile 3, the music was fewer and farther between. At times, I forgot there was supposed to be music on the course.
As far as elevation, I felt this course was not hilly. There were constant inclines and slopes, but I did not feel they were "hills". Other runners would probably beg to differ, as I heard some complaining about the "hills" along the course. As I neared the finish, the inclines got more difficult, but I think that was more leg fatigue for me rather than difficulty of the course.
The race seemed very well organized, overall, with the only drawback being lack of music on the course.
Overall, this race was a win!

I first ran Plano Balloon HM in 2014. I enjoyed it so much that it will likely be one of my staple races every year!
I always like the racer back tech race shirt although I'm not always a fan of the color or design. It is a great shirt to workout in, though, and I'm always happy to add to my collection! The medal, on the other hand, is ALWAYS home run!! This year, the finisher's medal featured balloons that could actually spin within the medal.
The course is set in Plano, Texas and is sprinkled with some nice, but tough hills. The course winds through Bob Woodruff Park as well some stables. A good amount of the course is set next to empty fields, which allows for a great view of the rising balloons. Runners were stopping to take pictures of the balloons throughout the race.
The race is well organized and the decision by race personnel to split the 5K from the half marathon this year was a good decision. The result of this was a less crowded course and much easier parking prior to the race.
Aid station workers are good about communicating whether they are handing out water or sports drink (which isn't always the case, in my experience). Course monitors are encouraging and double as course cheerleaders.
There is a post-race breakfast offered for all participants, which I have heard is wonderful. (I wouldn't know, since I can't eat things like that immediately after a run!)
A drawback that is completely out of the hands of race organizers is the Texas heat, although 2015 was less hot than 2014.
My one suggestion for race organizers would be to have the bananas available near the finish line with the water station. I wandered around for a bit, but gave up looking for one. In this case, it didn't really matter as I was so nauseated from my pre-race activities that I doubt I would have eaten it anyway!
All in all, this is a fantastic and fun race!

Dallas is the course that made me a marathoner, so it will always hold a special place in my heart. Even more so because I trained for the 2013 marathon, which had to be cancelled due to ice. Race organizers made a wise decision when they made that call.
Overall, I love this race, which is why I'll be running it again in 2015! The race went through a change in leadership in early 2014 and that improved the communication and marketing around the race. The race is well-organized. Packet pickup was a breeze. The course was clearly marked and the volunteers were awesome! I was most impressed with the way the post-race area was laid out. The medals, finisher item and water/fuel were easily accessible and not crowded because of the way they were arranged (or the lack of crowd could have been due to my terrible finish time because of my ITB injury). After grabbing these items, I was able to exit that area and my family was waiting at the exit! As far as parking/access....I stayed at the Omni Hotel, which is on the start line, so access was super easy for me!
I LOVE the t-shirt from 2014. The marathon shirt was a long-sleeve dri-fit, and anytime I can get a long-sleeve dri-fit, I am a happy girl! The design on the shirt featured the Dallas skyline so it was actually very pretty! A "unique finisher item", which was a drawstring back pack, was given to each finisher. This came in handy to help carry around all the things you end up picking up post-race. The Expo had a nice variety of booths from which to browse and my family and I spent quite a bit of time (and money) there.
As far as the actual race goes, I love the course....or most of it anyway. The course takes you through the iconic neighborhoods and areas of downtown Dallas, including Deep Ellum, White Rock Lake and the Santa Fe Trail. The famed "Dolly Pardon Hills" was actually one hill and, in my humble opinion, not much of a hill. Take that with a grain of salt because apparently my definition of a hill and a regular person's definition of a hill are not always the same. Having said that, the course is basically flat, with just a few inclines here and there.
The White Rock Lake portion of the race was probably my least favorite, because I knew that there would be a turn-around point and I kept wondering when that would happen. However, I liked this turn-around better than most races. Going out, the runners were on the lake road but coming back we were on a trail. This did help me mentally, because I find it very difficult to continually pass runners who are going the other direction when I haven't changed directions yet! LOL I could actually see the runners who had already turned around, but I had to work to do so.
One of my favorite parts of the course was around mile 20 when the course came off the Santa Fe Trail and race organizers hung the banner from the Expo there. My kids had all signed the banner and thinking about that gave me a nice mental boost that I needed. The course scenery after mile 20 declines somewhat until getting back into downtown toward the end of the race, but overall the course scenery is nice and I enjoyed seeing these parts of Dallas on foot.
I didn't use the aid stations because I wore a hydration belt, but they all seemed to be very organized. I will definitely drink the beer at mile 20 next time!
Looking forward to 2015!