Fun, local half marathon. Well organized. The course had a section of flat bike trail as well as some rolling hills. One hill in particular that was a big challenge. Nice race shirt as well as a reusable bag with race logo. The only element I did not care for was the balloon release at the beginning of the race. Great finish line and post race food.

I got to do the 2016 Boston Marathon with one of my running mentors. It was a special day for many reasons. Boston celebrates the elites and non-elites the same way. I see it as the super bowl of our sport only we get to be IN it and participate too! It is truly worth all of the hard work and when someone qualifies, I always encourage them to go. We had perfect weather in 2016. But even if the weather was not perfect (which is often the case)...it's BOSTON and you're there.
We prefer to fly in on Saturday and fly out on Tuesday. Plenty of time to enjoy the city, expo (at the 2016 expo, my husband and I met Dean Karnaze and Scott Jurek) race and not rush. Stay in Boston. You'll be glad you did. Their subway system is easy to navigate.
I'm telling you, Boston embraces runners like no other city.

This was as my first Chicago Marathon and I loved it. We took the train in and had zero issues finding our way to the proper corral. It was a gorgeous day. The first mile and a half were challenging as we were really in tight quarters. I knew better than to zigzag around people so I just watched my step and reminded myself that I could make up for this time later. And I did. I learned from my experience at Glass Vity earlier that year and held my place and waited for the course to open up. Eadier said than done when you have tons of race anxiety but I ended up with a negative split. The family meet up area was easy to find though we had to walk quite a ways to get there. The race management did a fantastic job at coordinating 40,000 runners and a LOT of spectators. Don't be intimidated by the size of this race. Chicago's got you.

In the end, I loved this race because I got what I came for: a BQ. There were many obstacles along the way though! Parking spots and porta pots were at a minimum on race morning. I was in the bathroom when the national anthem started playing if that tells you how things started off. By the time I hurdled my corral gate, I was well behind the wave I was suppose to be in. I shouldn't have cared as it was chip timing but I wanted to be with my group so I wasted a bunch of energy working my way up to where I thought I should have been. The course itself was unremarkable. It went though neighborhoods and a park and wound around to a bike trail then back into the University of Toledo's campus where we finished inside the Glass Bowl Stadium. Not much crowd support but I had my friends and husband there to cheer me on so that made me happy. If you need a BQ, head to Toledo.

Ice Age 50 miler was a very challenging course for me. A lot of gorgeous single track with a lot of elevation change. Much of the course was out and back and trail etiquette requires us to yield to the faster runners. When you're a mid packer, that's a lot of jumping off of the trail to allow the speedsters to get through. It's a bigger when those behind you don't give you the same courtesy. That's my only gripe from this race.
The course was well marked. Everything was well organized. This was a highly competitive trail race. Volunteers had drop bags brought to you as you came in to the Aid Station. My husband took his bicycle and used the roads to be able to see me several times throughout the day. The finish line was a glorious sight. I love ultras I just wish I had more time to train for these longer races!