This is a great beginner race. There are a lot of participants, lots of energy, right downtown and the course isn't tough/rough. It is all on roads in downtown Columbus and in a few neighborhoods so you catch some shade from tree lined streets.
I opted to do the 10k this year. I have loved the shirts in the past except they have always run super small. This year they changed from cotton to tech shirts which was a disappointment to me as I actually wear the cotton shirts all over and don't really wear the tech shirts very much.
Parking is always a pain for downtown races so you either take a chance and look for a spot when you get there or prepay. My friend and I prepaid and we got in a garage that was super close to the finish and start but the traffic getting TO it was terrible. We didn't expect it to be as bad as it was so we got a little nervous that we might miss the start of the race. So keep that in mind also when doing this race, parking is a pain.
We did make it to the start just fine and got in our corrals. The start was high energy and fun.
I was wanting to hit a specific time so I left my friends and pushed ahead. The race is big but it does thin out a few miles in and you aren't elbow to elbow but also never alone either.
It was pretty cool day for the race which is a little unusual but that's Ohio weather, you never know what you are going to get.
The break off from the 1/2 marathon was clear and easy to follow not sure you could miss which direction you should go.
The only confusing part was when the 5k fun walk merged in with the 10k runners. There was a finish lane for the 1/2 marathon and for the 10k but the walkers started merging with us and it was congested and a bit confusing to know where we were to go and dodging walkers in the last 1/2ish mile to go.
The finish area was great, lots of snacks and pizza, drinks. Kind of odd to get 3 alcoholic drink tickets are 9ish in the morning but hey! Great time to try them anyway!!!
Overall this is a great race to do for a beginner or experienced racer.

We drove in and arrived 1/2 hour to spare to pick up our race packets on Friday night. Packet pick up was easy and quick, volunteers were nice. There were some vendors but not many and because how late we were some of the shirts were picked over but that's to be expected.
We stayed at The Hotel Roanoke & Conf Center, Curio by Hilton which was 0.2 miles from start so the walk was nice in the morning.
We got down to the race and the bag drop was a little odd, they wanted you to use a tiny zip lock baggie, wasn't very practical. You could also swap your shirt size if you needed to which was nice because they did run a little small.
We got to the start line and we started a few minutes late but no biggie. The race started with a little hill and they just kept coming!!! The support alone the race was fantastic! Some locals came out and had stands with food, drinks, candy and lots of cheering!
The hills were insane! The pic I attached is from our hotel and the circled area is the Roanoke Star-that was first hill you went up to give some perspective.
The race ended were it started and the food area was not well labeled. When we finally stumbled upon it there were tons of choices and plenty to go around. Lots of fruit, pizza, bagels and drinks. I would say one of the better I have seen.
The medal could be a bit more enticing for what you go through to get it but not a huge deal.
I can honestly say I am so glad I did it but not sure I would do it again, I couldn't walk for a week I was so sore!
But it was fun and Roanoke is a very friendly city and the event was really done well and really organized.

I look forward to this race all year. Even though it is usually cold weather (which I don't enjoy running it!) this is still a fav. race of mine.
The expo is easy and quick. I love the fact that you can exchange your jacket if you got the wrong size. I liked the mens jacket color and I ordered too big but the exchange was simple! I love getting a jacket for this race, I wear it all year long. The expo is small but has great vendors, it would be nice to see some more there still this is such a big race.
Parking is pretty simple. You can pre-purchase in a garage or take your chance when you get there. I didn't pre-pay and I parked in a lot that was just 2 blocks from start/finish.
There are tons of port-a-johns at the start/finish. Bag drop is right there and the start is set up in Corrals.
The route was a little different than the past years, it wasn't any more or any less exciting than before but there was a lot of space. The race did seem to end about 1/4 mile longer than expected and I did hear several people mentioning it.
The end of this race of course is the best part (aside from the jacket!). The medal is a nice, heavy chocolate bar (15K medal only) and some water right at the finish. Then a short walk (bit muddy but that can't be helped!) to the hot chocolate and the melted chocolate and treats!!! We were mid finish time for the 15k and they had already run out of bananas. I didn't mind because I don't eat them but others were disappointed. Then they ran out of other treats which I would say for the price paid, they should make sure there are enough goodies--that is what is promoted.
Overall, I love this race but somethings could be improved.
But I will do it again next year!

Being from the United States and getting to travel to China to do a race was just amazing. The entire experience was great. The experience started at the hotel where packet pick up was. There was no expo pre-race and you got your race packets in a hotel room-first time for everything!! They were super nice at the pickup and let us exchange our shirts (sizing was a little different than we are used to). We were treated like VIP the entire time.
They shuttled us in buses to the race. There was so much going on there it--much different than any other race I had been to. The language barrier was a bit difficult trying to find bag drop and the starting line but other than that I would say it was very organized. This is where the expo was and there were just a few vendors. The full marathon race was an out and back but you ran alongside the water and it was beautiful.
There were tons of aid stations along the way-some with the race and others were spectators and race groups. They had all kinds of different food along the way-including sushi!
The finish ended with an amazing medal and goodie bag, massages, ice blocks and cupping.
If you ever have the chance to go I would HIGHLY recommend it!!