When registration opens for this race, sign up early because it isn't cheap! But the swag is the best of any of them. The jacket is one of my favorites and I paid the $3 to get it embroidered with "Atlanta finisher" too.

Expo- I work very close to the expo location so I darted there as soon as I was done. I must've just got there in time because as I was leaving the line was out the door. Very cold inclimate weather was predicted so it felt like half of Atlanta was there. But you could try on jackets and swap sizes if needed. I was allowed to pick up my roommates packet which was a huge plus as she wasn't able to get down there. And the expo had a lot of food samples including the chocolate. Smaller expo but I enjoyed the few min I spent there. Parking is not free but you can pay ahead of time. I don't like that you have to pay to park for a few min - seems crazy but all expos at that convention center are like that. 🙄

Race day- IT WAS SO COLD! This was my first truly cold race with start temps in the 20s. The course was similar to other races I've run, but I knew what to expect. I didn't really eat any of the sweets on the course but I knew my stomach wouldn't like it. I heard they were good.

The finishers chocolate was delicious!! And the medal is awesome, a candy bar with symbols of Atlanta on it. I heard parking was kind of crazy the morning of, but we took Uber and our driver knew a way around the traffic. Turner Field parking lot was a nice big open area to have everything. Free gear check was appreciated for last minute layer toss. Overall I loved this race and can't wait to do it again.

I feel like if I have run this in a different year my experience would have been better. The year that I ran it, two people later died from heat related issues. The entire race I kept wondering if this would be a one and done event for me and honestly, I'm still not sure.

Registration - this was my first half marathon so I was really unsure of what my estimated finish time would be. I registered with a 3 hour time thinking surely I'd be a little faster than that. My best friend running the race too did the same thing. Then came months and months of training in the Georgia summer.

Race weekend
Expo- rock and roll requires all bibs be picked up by the individual runner. For a race that was Saturday morning, we had to leave Atlanta by lunch Friday to get to the expo in time. This doesn't sound like a big deal, but the expo is at a convention center on an island and traffic was a nightmare on the bridges to it. We sat there so long I increased the amount of data on my cell phone plan, so we could continue to distract ourselves from the frustration. What started from "oh we still have plenty of time" slowly turned into fear we were not going to make it in. Fortunately, we did, but honestly with not much time to spare. There were vendors and I think some discounted shoes. I didn't look around much.

Race morning- we had been placed in the VERY LAST corral. They weren't really enforcing staying with your assigned sections so we could have moved up but didn't chance it. It was unbelievably hot and humid. Shocked me even though I've lived in these conditions my entire life. I quickly was worried that leaving behind water bottles had been a bad idea....

And it was. Which brings me to...
Course support- the first 3 water stations were fine but after that they were bone dry. Tables turned upside down. If not for the hospitality of the residents of Savannah it would have been so much worse.

Finish- there was no 12th mile marker sign!!! The finish area was a long chute of lots of free stuff and signs pointing to where to get your beer. There was a post race concert that actually was entertaining (from the shaded sidewalk where we were resting). I do like that, for a fee, we were able to get our medals engraved with our finishing time, which is a really nice memento from our first half marathon.

My best friend has done a few other rock and roll events since and had a more positive experience. I still can't decide if I will return to this race again.

This was my first race longer than a 10k, and one of the first i actually trained for, so at the time I had very little to compare it to. I don't remember much of an "expo" but picking up race packets at the Big Peach in Brookhaven was a breeze. I was well stocked with my own race fuel but I remember most if not all of the aid stations had electrolyte drink as well was water. This year they also handed out sports beans which aren't really my thing but my bf enjoyed mine after. If you're an Atlantan, and train in the city, the course will be no problem. It has the same "cardiac hill" as the peach tree road race and there are prizes for being among the fastest (I won't ever win any of those lol). The jacket for this race is still one of my favorites and I like having Atlantic Station as the start/finish line area. The only downside is in 2015, getting out of the parking deck was very congested and took about 30 minutes. I ran this race again the next year as well, and plan to for years to come. It's part of the triple peach race series