This race was a small race, full of crazy people who knew how to start the New Year right!

There was no finisher swag other than FOODS, but the awards were SUPER cool! They were trophies made with local beer cans called "Pour Judgement".

There were no aid stations (it was short and honestly too cold for volunteers to be stuck outside. They would have been handing out cups of ice instead of water.) unless you count the end! Lots of food and drink there!

The course was around Colt State Park which is always really pretty! It was cool to see it in the snow since it's usually a summer location.

There were a few inclines, which I wouldn't say would be very tough normally but in the freezing cold and with some spots being covered in a layer of snow it was more difficult.

Parking was fine and free. If you got there early enough you could get a spot at a restaurant near the start. I ended up at the school around the corner, which still wasn't very far away.

I really like Rhode Races race management. They are always awesome! I'm glad they set up a race for us crazies in the -6 degree weather!

I signed up for this race because a friend asked me to run it with her and am really glad I did! It was definitely a cold start, but warmed up a bit. I found it very enjoyable anyway!

No t-shirt, instead you got the choice between a really nice, running baseball style hat or a lined winter hat! You also got touch screen comparable gloves, a cool finishers medal, free zoo admission, free beer, and I saw a photographer so I am assuming race photos!

Plenty of aid stations with water and Gatorade. It was cold though so I didn't need hydration.

The course goes mostly around the zoo/park and pond so the views showed some nice Fall woods and water scenery! It does have some small sections by the highway and through town.

I didn't go to the expo if there was one. They did have an after party with lots of food!

It was a decently hilly course. Rolling up and down but nothing too serious. Really good for people who enjoy the challenge of some hills.

Parking was at the zoo parking lot so it was nice and close to the start/finish. It was free and there was plenty of spots.

Race management was very organized and put on a great race!

Overall it was a really great race! I did it last year, but had a bad day and didn't realize how awesome of a course it actually was until this year!

As usual they gave out a nice technical t-shirt, a finishers medal, and free race photos!! This race was the final of the Rhode Races series so I also got the final piece to my giant medal, a long sleeve cotton tee, and a North Face wind breaker! (I also got a hat for doing three races in the series.) Doing the whole series gets you A LOT of cool swag!

Aid stations were about every 2 miles, had very helpful volunteers, and had water as well as Gatorade.

The scenery was really pretty! You run by the water and down nice wooded roads most of the race! I'm really happy I ran it again and actually paid attention to the scenery this time.

I didn't attend the expo. I know the previous day's packet pickup was at the Whalers Brewing Company so that sounded pretty neat.

There was some incline, but nothing crazy. I think the longest hill was at around mile 2. There were a few very short, slightly steep inclines spread about randomly (but very short so not bad).

Last year I got there earlier and parked at the beach which was really close and free. This year I was too late for the beach, but I easily found parking at the park across the street which was just as close and free.

Both years this race was super well run!

For swag you got an awesome neon blue long sleeve technical t-shirt, socks, and a finisher medal! They also give free race photos!!

They had aid stations every two miles-ish with both water and Gatorade. They also had one at about the half way point with a few types of fuel.

The course went through many different types of scenery. A winding wooded road toward the beginning, along the highway/main road for about a mile, through mansions in the countryside/along the water, and actually running along the water.

For being labeled as a flat course it seemed to be on a slight incline a decent amount, but I also was having a bad day so it may just have seemed harder than it was.

There seemed to be plenty of parking at the actual beach and along the beach right near the start for free.

Packet pick up as well as the whole race was well run. They blocked off a few major intersections for the race and they were traffic controlled really well.

Overall it was a fun race, just not my day. Some bonuses: They had 1/2 mile markers as well as the usual mile markers. They announced your name as you crossed the finish! At 2-3 points you loop back past where you came from and can see/cheer on friends running at a different pace than you.

This race was such an amazingly fun experience! You definitely have to be up for the adventure of misadventures, but it's completely worth it! Normally you have a team of 12 people split into 2 vans of 6 or an ultra team of just 6. My team had a hard time finding and keeping 12 people crazy enough so we ended up with a team of 9 as a freestyle team (whatever configuration you want). With the team of 12 you each run 3 legs of the relay. Each leg is a different length and elevation profile as you are running down New Hampshire and are at the mercy of the landscape. With 12 people all trying to guess their pace over extremely diverse legs it's really hard to have exact timing down (cue the misadventure). Also since they can't block off all the roads of NH your team (yes you are the drivers) are driving your vans (and somewhat directing yourself) through normally populated NH. Honestly the whole experience kind of reminded me of a track meet as you hangout with your friends waiting anxiously for your race (leg) that will go off AROUND a certain time. The race is non-stop once it starts so there will be night legs for some of your team as well!

You get shirts, the awesome team medals that come together to make one, tattoos, a bag of tons of fuel/food.

Most of the aid stations were amazing and had a variety of snacks, actual food, and drinks. I am Celiac and most of these stations had gluten free foods as well as foods that are naturally gluten free. A few were lacking and had even run out of water by the time we got there (my team was probably a mid paced team).

The scenery was AMAZING. It started at Mount Washington and went through the White Mountains National Forest. Really all of the route was beyond beautiful.

I didn't attend the expo if there was one.

The elevation was something fierce, but kind of expected since you are going through many of the mountainous roads of NH. Different legs had different elevations. A warning: They specify the difficulty of each leg, but honestly I have no idea what algorithm they use. You would think it would make sense to go by distance, elevation, and possibly how late the leg is in the race (to account for having run ones previously), but they don't seem to go by any of this. The first leg is only a mile but it is DIRECTLY UP A MOUNTAIN, then back directly down. It is killer (and honestly sounded like the hardest leg of the race) but they only labeled it as "Hard" when "Very Hard" was the hardest option. No one at our start time could run up it. You HAD to walk. Many other legs seemed off in their ratings too so I would look at all the stats and give them a rating yourself.

Parking at the start and any major transitions was really good. Since my team had only 9 members we had to switch who was in the vans at some minor transitions as well and that generally wasn't too bad either.

The race was really well put together for how different it is from any other race and how large scale it is. There were a few spots with unclear directions, but other runners/drivers or volunteers were quick to help when they could. For a 200 mile route where so much more could have gone wrong, it was really well organized.