Break out your Lederhosen and Dirndls! The German Family Society of Kent puts on this 5k, 1 mile Fun Run and 50yd Toddler Dash during their Oktoberfest weekend. They even have a Beer Belly division and those participants are given a head start to the 5k.

You start and finish at the German Family Society with the course taking you through the neighborhood around Ranfield Road in Kent.

The fun begins once you cross the finish and enter the Finish Line Beer Garden. Your entry gets you some post race snacks and one beer or soda. Sausage sandwiches and hot pretzels are available for purchase. Awards are given for the top finisher in their division and for the best costume as well.

Pro Football Hall of Fame Marathon started their race series this year with this being the third event in the series. If you registered early for this one, you were able to get a hooded sweatshirt instead of the T-shirt - keep that in mind for next year's registration!!

Packet Pickup: There were two locations for the pickup - one in Canton on Thursday, and one in Akron on Friday which is very convenient for those runners living in Akron. Thank you HOF Marathon!! Nothing more annoying than driving 25mins just to pick up your race packet and then driving 25mins back home.

Race Day: We were given a parking pass at pickup for the lot in Monument Park. If you did not get a parking pass then you had to park by McKinley High School and walk down the hill to the start line (not too long of a walk). The race started promptly at 8:00am after the National Anthem was played. The course is flat and fast for those working on a new PR and it routes you through the beautiful grounds McKinley Monument Park and thankfully, the stairs to McKinley Monument are not part of it - save that workout for another day!!

Finish Line: Once you cross the finish line, you are given your medal and get your picture taken...and that's it. No water or food at the finish line. You have to walk back over to the parking lot and get your finisher food. That part is slightly confusing and there is no one, at the finish line, telling you where to go so you end up just following the trail of finishers, AND the finisher tent is on the OTHER side of the parking closer to the start line - which does not make any sense - it should be closer to the finish line so it's more visible. The medals are well designed and will be a great addition to anyone's collection.

I will definitely run this event next year as part of the HOF Marathon race series!!

The National Interstate 8k & 1 M is the first race in the Akron Marathon Race Series. This is the third time I've run this race and it's one of my favorites!! Akron Marathon does a fantastic job with their race series events. They are well organized, have good swag (shirt, the medal is a beer opener, beer koozie, and you get one free finisher photo) and the AM staff is really responsive if you have any questions.

Packet pick-up: At the University of Akron Stadium so it was pretty easy locate and to find parking. The AM staff had designated a specific parking lot for packet pickup which wasn't full since pickup was from 11am-7pm. This is gives you enough time regardless of your work schedule and you also have the option to have a friend or family member pickup your bib too. There is no Expo for this race.

Race Day: Downtown Akron traffic was pretty light even for someone who doesn't get to the race super early. Parking for the race was in the LARGE parking deck next to the stadium - Note to Self- remember where you parked otherwise you are wandering around the deck looking for your car! Parking was FREE - Bonus!

Runners gathered in corrals outside of the stadium while waiting to start. The best part about this event at the Stadium is RESTROOMS and plenty of them. They are open before the race starts -for those of you that get the "jitters" before ;)

The course is NOT flat - Akron is not flat especially the downtown area, but the hills and steep inclines are manageable. The first mile (Spicer Street) is a bit of an incline as you make your way down hill throughout downtown. By mile 3 is when the hills come in and there is one big hill as you are coming back up to Exchange Street and once you're on Exchange, there is another incline, much smaller than the first - thankfully - and Carroll Street has another long incline for you to conquer. You then make your way to the front of the Stadium, back onto Spicer and that last burst of energy pushes you to cross the finish line!!

Finisher Festival: You get three Beer tickets and one Food ticket. The Food ticket gets you a Chick-a-filet sandwich and a banana and the AM staff has multiple Beer trucks set up around the Stadium so you are not waiting in long lines to grab something to drink.

Overall, this is a great race to start off the race series!!

This is the second event in the Akron Marathon Race Series and I highly recommend this run! Being able to run on the Proving Grounds at Goodyear Headquarters is pretty amazing.
This is an early race starting at 630am because the weather is usually HOT for this one (third time running it) so thankfully they had a sprinklers set up to cool you down along the course. Beer, ice cream and Swenson's burgers are at the finish line waiting for you. That is worth entry right there!
The run is pretty easy with only a few small inclines, mostly flat and fast. Run goes through part of the Goodyear's campus and down Sieberling towards the Akron Fulton Airport and back to the Headquarters on Innovation Way.
Goodyear allows you to park in their deck at no charge.