I have run Longview Half Marathon 2 years in a row, now. It's a fun but challenging course, that can be fast if you run it smart.

The parking enters the park, single file. This can cause some back up, so I recomend getting their early. At an hour early I was able to pull in pretty comfortable. When I was doing my warm up, 30 minutes before the race, the car line was backed up at least a mile. Once parked, the parking is all close. Great for the cold weather race. You do park in the grass, so it may be a good idea to bring extra sock or shoes and use the drop bag station. I got blisters the first year and was very glad I planned ahead the second time around.

There are adequate porta-potties, with the usual pre-race rush. Not terrible tough. You can choose to pay extra and enter the VIP area, which is warmed up and has special bathrooms.

The course starts off flat until the first mile and has some gentle rolling hills until mile 3. That is were you will find the king/queen of the mountain competition. This is basically a race within the race. There are timing mats at the bottom and top of the hill. The top 3 fastest for each gender gets and additional award. I think this adds a fun element to a tough spot in the course and makes you prioritize your race strategy. The long down hill after the king of the hill portion and turn into the flat campgrounds is a great opportunity to recover from the push effort. After camp grounds the course has a long straight stretch heading toward the dam. The dam is the most scenic part of the course and you will go out and back across it. The far side of the dam is another tough hill. After mile 10 the hills are all smaller gently rolling and the last mile is fairly flat. Entering in park you finish where you started.

This is a smaller race, so you shouldn't have too many issue with crowds. There are two water stations, that I remember along the course offering both water and Gatorade and each has a porta-potty. Being a cold weather half, I skip the water stations ,but they appeared well managed. There isn't a whole lot of crowd support along the course. Mostly, at the bottom of the kiing of the mountain hill, and at the top of mile 10 mile.

Medium size medals. Plaques for Overall winners were really cool this year. They included an individual picture of the winners finish. They also had plaques for the king/queen of the mountain and age groups. You can not double dip Overall, and age group awards, but you could recieve and an overall/age group award as well as a king/queen of the mountain plaque.

A very casual finish area with chocolate milk, bananas and chicken noodle soup. You could also get a massage after the race. Leaving the park is very easy, with no traffic. Probably because of the spread out finishers.

I have run this race, 3 years in a row now. This race is consistently enjoyable. This race is a part of the heartland 30k series and draws so fast regional competition. I am guessing the fasted kc in the Midwest.

There are a lot of parking lot choices along the plaza. Arriving early will ensure that you get a more prime location. You shouldn't have to venture of the plaza, though. There are many business open for breakfast/coffee along the plaza which is really nice, especially for spectators.

The course starts and ends at the country club plaza. There are some small hills, but mostly flat. Aide stations a long the way included Gatorade and water. The weather has been consistently good at this race which really makes this a great PR course. The turn into the finish is deceivingly long, which actually was a bonus because it makes me sprint longer than I want to.

The medals are good size, especially for a 10k. The are really pretty also, This years had a nice cut out of the plaza. The have cash prizes for overall-5th place and Age group awards.

If you are going to do a 10k in the fall, this is the best one. The timing is great for a tune up or lead up race going into the fall racing season.

I have done this race twice now, both times as part of the heartland 30k series. I like the heartland series, but probably wouldn't sign up for this race individually.

The course is at Corporate woods. The parking is really easy, the lots don't fill up and you are right by the start. I was easily able to return to my car 5-10 times before and after the race. Plenty of porta-potties. No problems even a few minutes leading up to the race. This is a last minute arrivers, dream.

The course itself is pretty boring, worse for the 10k runners who get to literally cross the finish line twice. As a faster 10k runners, I spend almost the entire second loop weaving around walkers. The course has some rolling hills and its mentally challenging knowing you get to do it again.

The race is for a great cause, fighting against childhood Brain tumors. However, it is really hard to prepare for a race, when they give a really long, emotional introduction at the starting line. First they have Paulina's family tell you her story, and then each year they have a child who is currently fighting, and they tell their story. It's very emotional and then as soon as they are done, they start the race. The transition was just weird.

The finish area had bagel, fruit, pizza, coffee and chocolate milk. Massage therapist were also available. The little kids dot to dot run is really cute for kids 5 and under. I am not sure the older kids got as much fun out of it.