The Runner's World Half & Festival was held on October 19-21. The weekend was filled with running, running, and more running. There was a trail race on Friday, 5K, 10K, Dog Run on Saturday, and capped off with a half marathon on Sunday. I ran the half marathon and absolutely loved it.

Packet pickup was available on Friday, Saturday and the Sunday morning in the building right next to the start/finish area. It was extremely quick and easy. The Expo Hall was located upstairs. The Expo was rather small but had a nice array of running related items to search through.

At the Expo, I received my half marathon t-shirt. This is definitely one of the nicer ones I have received. I love the texture of it. Really nice job by RW.

I loved the start/finish setting of this race. The steel stacks in the background is just so cool. The historical buildings all around is a sight to see. You just think about all of the history in this location. They had a large stage set up with bands playing. The bag drop off was a quick and simple as I've seen at a race.

On to the race. One real nice feature was that they kept announcing how much time there was before the start of the race. It was a cold morning, so it allowed most runners to stay in the warm insides before lining up too early. Everyone got in the corrals pretty quickly and it seemed like the race started on time.

The course starts out pretty flat for the first mile, so you can get your legs warmed up which is key for what is to come throughout the race. Unfortunately, I had to stop for thirty seconds only 4/10 of a mile into the race to adjust my shorts and tie them tight. They kept falling after I started and I knew this couldn't go on. Good reminder for the NYC Marathon that I need to make sure they are on securely.

This course featured a lot of ups and downs. Lots of steep inclines but also some pretty steep declines. Your legs are definitely put through a test on this course. I really enjoyed it. I ran this race more at a marathon pace as I was using it for my final tune up for the NYC Marathon. They say NYC is a hilly marathon due to all the bridges, so when you think about it, this is the perfect race two weeks before. It allowed me to get a practice race run in. Work on my hydration. They had plenty of hydration stops throughout this course. Plus, with all of the inclines and declines, it was a good test for my legs and for working on my paces during those stretches.

If you're told there aren't any hills after mile 7, think again. I was fine with it, but for honesty purposes, just know there are. You'll be fine, believe me.

I thought the crowd support was wonderful. You had sponsors out there cheering on, lots of high fives and encouragement. They had a couple of high school bands out at different locations which was really cool. You do hit areas where there are only a few people, but that's expected in a race like this.

You run through a very pretty downtown at one point and through a college campus which is very pretty. Approximately, the last two miles are done over most of the first two miles. I always kind of like that because you have a really good idea of the distance you have left.

One pleasant surprise was hearing my name as I was about 50 yards away from the finish. You get a little extra burst in you when you hear the MC announce your name and city. I thought this was a really cool feature.

I received a nice finisher's medal that I was proud to put on. They had water, bagels, granola bars, bananas available. Yuengling had a beer garden area set up where I happily accepted and drank a Yuengling Light Lager. It's actually the first race I've ever drank a beer directly after. I have to say, it did taste good, even in the cold temps.

I got my bag quickly and was able to change out of my sweaty clothes in the building where the expo was. This was awesome to be able to do considering I had an hour and fifteen minute drive ahead of me.

Overall, I really enjoyed this race. They do a really nice job putting this together. I don't see this as a PR course, but definitely a course I really enjoyed. Great job Runner's World and Bethlehem.

This race started seven years ago. I first ran in it in 2014 and have run it each year since and will be running it again in 2017. It is easily one of my favorite races of the year. It has a very good turn out of runners for a 5K in December. It is run the first Saturday in December.

The only negative for the race is the start. You don't run that far before you have to make a right and with a larger amount of runners it can bunch up with different paces, ages, and walkers involved.

Once you hit Smull Avenue, it starts to break up. You're on Smull for about a 1 1/3 miles or so. Smull is a continuous incline so you need to push through. It's not a terrible incline but it's not flat at all. Once you hit Mountain Ave, you make a right onto it. You have two incline along Mountain Ave and it's flat and then a decline after the last incline. You pass mile marker two while on Mountain Ave. They close off one side of Mountain so there are cars going by on the other side, but you have plenty of room and it's safe. Towards the end of Mountain you can pick up speed as you make a right onto Forest Ave. At this point it's all a decline for the most part until the finish. You can make up time here. You make a sharp left into the parking lot and sprint about 20 yards to the finish. The course is nice. Beautiful homes around.

You see a lot of young kids running this race which I think is fabulous. Lots of families. It's so nice to see. The community really gets behind this race.

Afterwards they have a great spread of food, water, and coffee available. They never run out. There are local sponsors there with tents and giveaways. They also had a pizza shop come in and they make pizzas (for purchase) right there on the spot. Also out in the parking lot are games for the kids to play and also a train ride that kids take around a part of the parking lot. My kids love coming to this race. So much to do.

Inside the gym, they set up a market and you can purchase holiday gifts. The assortment of items available is really cool. Clothing, food, kids toys, etc. And of course, Santa is there! Your kids can make their lists and put them right in the mailbox and take a picture with Santa (no fees).

It's such a well put together race. Trinity Academy does a magnificent job and I love taking part of this race.

The Ashenfelter 8K Classic is run on Thanksgiving morning. The race is named after Horace Ashenfelter, the 1952 Olympic Gold Medalist in the 3,000 Meter Steeplechase. Mr. Ashenfelter has been at the race every year I've ran it and addresses the crowd, speaks with people and hangs around. It's really cool to run a race in a small town with an Olympic champion there encouraging runners.

The past three years I've run the race, there have been around 3,000 runners in the race. The course is nice, mostly flat, with small rolling hills. Just one significant incline towards the end of the race but it's not long or anything. The course has a couple of water stations which is nice. Many residents of Glen Ridge are out on their front yards cheering on the runners as they pass by. The homes are beautiful and the roads are in pretty good shape. The race has some of the best runners in NJ along with plenty of casual runners. It's a real nice mix. I love running this race. You can't beat a race like this on Thanksgiving morning before you get to enjoy all of the food during the holiday.

After the race, they do a phenomenal job with water, bagels, coffee, donuts, granola bars, etc. Plenty of food and drinks for the runners. Packet pick up is the night before and in the gym. It flows really well. You can pick up your packets the morning of as well. Parking is mostly street parking throughout the neighborhood but I've never had an issue.

I would say this is my favorite race I run every year.