I've been looking for more fall races to keep me running later into the season, and loved that this race has a flexible completion date through November and early December. I chose to run mine in December, a couple weeks after the Epic Races Turkey Trot and it worked out perfectly!

What's fun about this "virtual" race is that it still has some requirements—your 5k needs to be run in a Michigan State Park (or if you're from out of state, in a state park near you.) This turned into more of an adventure than I realized as the parks I initially had in mind were Metroparks, not technically state parks managed by the DNR/Department of Natural Resources as required by the race. Consequently, I wound up doing some research to find running trails in State Parks near me, and learned quite a bit about our state parks along the way!

In the end, I chose a park I was familiar with from triathlon swim training, and explored a hiking trail I've never tried before. Luckily, the park also allows dogs on a leash, so my pup got to join me in this "race", too. I'm really happy this run pushed me out of my usual running routes to try something new—Rosie and I both loved exploring a new place! We also discovered that trails are a good "equalizer" for us on the run, so I suspect more trail runs are in our future!

I'm preemptively giving the swag 5 stars, as I <3 all the Epic Races swag. :-) I'll get a present in the mail in a couple of weeks with the shirt and medal, so it will be fun to see what they will be! I also love that this particular race supports our state parks, so this race is just a win all the way around!

(P.S. A rating for Aid Stations is required. As there are no aid stations in a virtual run AND I didn't want to ding the race with anything one star, I simply gave it 5. Ditto with the Expo.)

My kids have only done a couple of Epic Races, but they already know to expect a nice spread after each race! This race was no exception, with pumpkin pie accompanying more traditional post-race snacks. Personally, I loved the chicken broth--after a dramatic drop in temps from the previous day, plus snow while we were on the run, chicken broth never tasted so good!

What caught my eye about this race was the "Iron Turkey" option--running both the 5k + 10k. This worked out great as I ran the 5k with my family, had time to celebrate with them a bit, and then headed back out for the 10k. The race also offers a one-mile fun run after the start of the 10k, giving young families a great way to be involved (and stay busy!) during the race.

The venue for this race is great - Hudson Mills Metro Park. The run is on a scenic, mostly paved path, and the very few "hills" are pretty gentle rollers. The start is held on a gravel trail, enabling the race to set up tents in a grassy field for food, pre-race warm-ups, massage, etc. The tents were a nice safe haven from the precip while we waited for 5k runners to finish and start the 10k. After a short stint on the gravel, the centerpiece of the race is on a nicely paved trail, with a short run up to the finish on gravel.

Another unique twist to this race is that the first place finishers (both male and female) take home a turkey for Thanksgiving! While I didn't take home a turkey, I did manage to snag my first 3rd place finish in my age group, thanks to the great pacers who were part of the event!

The best part about this particular event turned out to be my sons "epic" finish--they sprinted to the finish line and finished with exactly the same time. :-) Looking forward to the rematch!

It's so fun to be in race full of little kids running for the hot cocoa--gotta love that energy and enthusiasm! :-)

I ran the "double shot", which starts with a 1 mile run up and down Mt. Brighton--our local little ski hill. Next time, I think I'll do a couple of loops of the parking lot first--running straight up a hill, even little Mt. Brighton is enough to spike your heart rate pretty good! Note: the volunteers will have all of the medals at the end of the second race so there's no need to grab one running through the chute the first time.

Next up, my son Christian and I ran the 5k--his first race! I think it says everything you need to know about this race that we came straight home and signed up for the next race also put on by Epic Races, a Turkey Trot in 2 weeks. :-) We didn't run for time, just to have a good time, and Epic Races makes that easy. Great shirts, great medals, great food, well run... Everything you could want in a race--plus lots of chocolate. :-)

There's a pretty sweet bonus if you do both races for the "double shot"--you get a second shirt (this one is long sleeve) and an extra medal. Even sweeter: the two medals are magnetized to come together a create a new "third" medal. Pretty ingenious!

At the end of the race was what you might call a sundae bar, except for hot cocoa. Marshmallows, whipped cream, syrup, sprinkles, etc., and I understand there were shots for purchase to doctor up adult hot cocoa as well. The post race food was well organized, with one of everything in a little to-go tray which kept the line fast and efficient. (Everything = a small peanut butter wrap, banana, Michigan-made Better Made potato chips, and a mini chocolate Clif bar.) Speaking of food, there was also a mini Clif bar in the goody bag, and Michigan-made Sanders chocolates handed out mid-run at the "chocolate tunnel". Yum!

Thanks, Epic Races, for making it a truly epic race! :-)

I've run the international half a couple of times, and ran the U.S. half for the first time this year, and I love both races for very different reasons. The international half is a truly world class experience. It's a treat to run through 2 countries (plus the crowds in Canada are a blast), and getting to run the only "underwater mile" is a fun running bucket list item to check off. It's just really hard not to take off too fast because the energy of the huge group of runners is incredible!

The start of the U.S. Half feels like a much smaller local race--if you want the high energy vibe, do the International Half. On the other hand, if you find crowds of tens of thousands of runners overwhelming, you'll love the U.S. half! It wasn't crowded, but you still get the "big race experience" because you're sharing the second half of the marathon course. That means you get the benefits of the larger race (like a fun party atmosphere coming through Indian Village, kegs and all) and a pumped up finish line, because you'll be finishing with the marathoners!

As a bonus, if you do both races in different years as I have, you'll have previewed the entire marathon course. I don't know how many other marathons have that kind of "practice run" built in, but I've got to believe it's fairly rare. Of course, now the family expects it will be no big deal for me to do the whole thing, and I can't quite seem to explain to them that doing them both in one day is a different thing altogether. ;-)

I should note that one of the previous reviews mentions a poor design for the packet pickup, which was true 2 years ago. They've since fixed it so that you have a straight shot around the outside of the expo to get to the packet pickup. You could even sneak out of the expo altogether if you wanted, though I always find something interesting. There's always free stuff of some sort--this year we got some sample Lara bars, I won some Brooks headphones, and we picked up a free chocolate "Got Milk" cowbell, which my husband made good use of during the race. :-)

I can't say enough about how much I loved the whole experience of this race. My son and I were spending time up north while he did some summer camps at Michigan Tech, and we went backpacking in the Porcupine Mountains and Pictured Rock National Lakeshore. Luckily, the timing worked out to hit this race!

We splurged to stay at the race hotel--I've done enough events personally and professionally to fully appreciate the ease that comes with staying in the event hotel. I haven't stayed at a Holiday Inn in eons, and was pretty impressed! This one in particular is a beautiful log cabin style, and we had a balcony room overlooking Lake Superior. We opted to pick up some snacks and have dinner on our balcony given that we already had the best view in town. :-) The patio for the breakfast bar shares the same beautiful view.

I decided to give the "race expo" (at the hotel) 5 stars, which is a bit funny because they didn't really have an expo. That said, they did an incredible job of stocking the essentials--I packed pretty well for the race considering we had already been on the road for several weeks. However, I forgot any sort of race drink and they had Hammer tabs, so I was happy! I believe they had gels and running socks as well--specialty items that can be hard to find when you've pretty much driven to the ends of the earth to get to the race location. They also were giving away free copies of Trail Runner magazine, and those were fun to read given this was my first trail race!

The logistics of the race were great--I was able to take an early shuttle and my son followed on a later shuttle so he could get those all important extra minutes of sleep. ;-) The shuttles took us to boats and across to the island. We signed up in advance for my son to ride the spectator shuttle on the island as well, so he could follow me around. He did mention that the drivers didn't seem very well versed in where to go/timing, so he wound up arriving at the finish after I had already been through the chute. Even so, it's neat that they offer that service, and I'm sure they'll get the logistics ironed out in time.

They also seemed to do a nice job of staggering the start times for the different races so that we were all finishing together. It was quite something to get passed by someone doing the 50k like I was standing still--huge respect!

I gave the race two stars for elevation difficulty, though it doesn't really have much elevation. It does have difficulty, however, because a section of the race is on sand. I've done some sand running with no issues before, but the packed stretch also happened to be at an angle that really wrecked my legs for the rest of the race. I was woefully under-prepared for the uneven terrain.

Nevertheless, it was a beautiful run on a gorgeous island. It would be worth working up to doing the full marathon one day as the island is practically designed for a marathon--the marathon course circles the island on the beach. I can't imagine a more spectacular run!