A friend of mine told me that this would be a good race to run for my first half marathon. I quickly found out that was not true at all. The course scenery is nice, and the bands along the route definitely help BUT the course if very hilly. The hills making your feeling of accomplishment that much greater at the end, but I could see this being a tough race for a beginner. All the people at the stations were encouraging and the food truck rodeo at the end was icy on the cake. If a beginner is up for a challenge, I would recommend this race; otherwise this is a good race for someone with a couple half marathons already under their belt.