Loved this race. The expo had a ton of vendors. This was actually the first time EVER that my ID was checked before receiving my race packet. No big deal, just a little surprised. Really good crowd support. I think about 8 miles around LSU campus and lake was really nice, a lot to look at. The course was very flat. The finish was the best part, just south of the capital building. There had to be 20+ food trucks with all kinds of cajun food and local beers. If I recall correctly, there were 7 tickets that could be used for food or beer. Had a really great time visiting Baton Rouge!

My wife and I have raced in 9 states so far, with the intention of running a half or longer race in each of the 50 states. I generally do a little research of the area when I visit a new state/city for a race. This time, I thought... eh... it's Iowa, nothing special. I was pleasantly surprised! The town is clean and people were friendly. One thing to note if you are visiting Des Moines - they have an extensive sky-walk system in the downtown area. This was great! We stayed pretty much in the middle of downtown and the parking garage we used was maybe 4 or 5 blocks from the hotel. We were able to walk indoors from the garage to the hotel, from the hotel to the expo and also within a block of the race start all indoors. I like being outside, and the sidewalks were wide and clean, but it was a little rainy for part of our stay and race day morning was a little chilly, so we took advantage. There are tons of stores and coffee shops etc all along the sky-walk which was great for a long walk the day after the marathon. The race was organized very well. They even have a podcast - out of curiosity, we listened on the drive up to Des Moines. Pretty interesting stuff. Some helpful information about the race and training. The expo was great! Much bigger and more vendors than I expected. Everything was easy to find, there were a ton of water/aid stations throughout the course. The first half is hilly, nothing crazy, but be prepared for it. The second half was mostly flat and went around a lake and through some park areas. The crowd support was wonderful! The race offers a relay option for the marathon. The exchange locations for the relay participants seemed like a big party! There were people cheering and signs and all the fun stuff I like to see at races. Overall it was a great experience - highly recommended!

I love running races at beach towns in the off-season. The expo was great! Tons of vendors and the expo was held in one of the casino ball rooms. Nice facilities, but the town has some sketchy areas close to the expo and start/finish area so be sure to know where you are going. We walked the boardwalk from our hotel to and from the expo and race areas to avoid certain areas. The race itself does not have this issue. It's a little weird for the first 5 or 6 miles being on the highway running up and down on/off ramps, but after that it went through several interesting neighborhoods. A large portion of the second half or the marathon is on the boardwalk, which is really pretty cool. You get to see the beach and some of the casinos. Pretty decent crowd support in this area. The aid stations were well stocked and the volunteers were helpful and cheerful. Definitely recommend this race.

I love this town! I had been to Rehoboth many times in the past, but always during beach season. During race season is a little weird, because without many tourists a lot of businesses close for the winter. Several businesses, restaurants and even hotels open up for the week of the race. Hotel prices were really really great! We stayed right on the boardwalk for cheap! Nothing like during the summer when it's difficult to find a room and when you do it's way over-priced! The beach and boardwalk are clean and there are tons of great restaurants! Dogfish Head provides the beer for the after party and there is a ton of food! The race is pretty flat. It goes through three different state parks, some of which are not very spectator friendly, but we didn't mind at all. The race starts at the bandstand right off the boardwalk and ends up the street by the Cultured Pearl and Rehoboth Beach Running Co. Made a pretty good friend at the running store, if you run this race, you are likely to meet Gary and his dog Dede at the expo. So far, my wife and I have ran 7 full marathons and 16 half's in 9 different states. Rehoboth is by far my favorite! Truly great experience!