This was my second marathon but one of my favorites! It's hard to pick the best moment, but the finish line had the best support. Colorado firefighters place the medals on all finishers. Of course, it's not the first time you see the firefighters. You also run through the station itself early on in the race!

I loved seeing the full tour of the city and even getting to run on the interstate part of the time. Colfax Avenue runs through all of the city's neighborhoods and even takes you out to Lakewood suburbs. As you run through the most residential part of the course, you also get some of the best support. Many neighbors brought their patio furniture to the end of the driveway and made a morning cheering for runners.

Colfax is Denver's only marathon so it's very popular with Coloradans, but its glory should spread beyond the state. I was one of the few running from out of state and the elevation did not bother me as much as expected. I took it a little slower, but the course itself is mostly flat except for one major hill through downtown at the end.

The expo takes place at the Stadium, which involves a lot of walking to the front entrance. There was a cycling expo happening at the same time in the parking lot but most of the vendors were redundant. The Stadium is a good tease for race day, when you run through it twice. The second run through the Stadium happened just after mile 20, which was set up with a cute "wall" to run through.

My only major complaint is race day parking, which is confusing and difficult. There's not a train stop near the start, so you're forced to drive but spaces are very limited. The parking attendants were very rude, and I'm fortunate I was with locals who knew how to get around downtown in the wee hours of the morning.

This race is a must for any Lululemon fan! Instead of a race shirt, you receive a custom pattern of Lululemon shorts to use for training. The tagline "run, yoga, party" makes it a full weekend event. Plan for lots of free yoga and stay for the concert festival (which I regret skipping). Tickets are available for the festival separately for any spectators who don't want to run or didn't get a bib.

Getting a bib requires clicking online registration at just the right time. The race caps out around 10,000 and it sells out in minutes. The weekend is one giant advertisement for Lululemon. The expo is really the specialty showcase store with exclusive (not discounted) Seawheeze patterns. There are some great vendors like Saje that offer freebies elevating the party atmosphere of the weekend.

The race runs along the Vancouver seawall and has one major hill early on, lined with the famous drag queens. I had a great PR when I ran, especially coming from Texas to Canadian at the end of the summer. Everything centers on the Vancouver Convention Center, which has hotels nearby but can be expensive. We stayed at an AirBnB and didn't have any trouble getting there by walking most of the time, but be wary of the hills walking there and back. There's no access by car in the morning of the race, so plan to get dropped off as close as possible but be prepared to walk.

Finishers receive a mini-brunch at the end, which is some of the best post-race food I've had. The area around the convention center gets really crowded at the finish. Get in the brunch line immediately and then find a place to relax. There's a long delay between the race and the festival, which happens at another site. They do offer buses out to the festival. Plan to take a nap and relax in between.