The Covid situation has created a challenging time for race directors all around the country. The Statesman Cap has been historically one of the best races in Texas, drawing participants to Austin for race weekend for years. This year, they offered a virtual option so runners could still participate. They did a great job offering local race routes, promoting the race date (April 11), even though you have through the remainder of the month to complete your race, and offering times for drive-thru packet pickups if you're in the Austin area.

I had an opportunity to participate in this virtual event and ran on April 11. Living near Dallas, I'm a few hours from Austin, so I chose my own route along White Rock Lake. This created a beautiful race day experience, with great views, easy parking, and relatively flat terrain. I truly appreciate the virtual options races have offered over the last year due to the restrictions throughout the country.

With all of that said, I rated the race management lower than I normally would because the team behind the virtual race struggled with ensuring those registered actually received their SWAG prior to race day. Like I mentioned above, they offered drive-thru packet pickups, but for those not in Austin, we had to have those packets mailed. The ball was dropped on the organization of mailing packets, as the main objective should be having packets in hand for your participants by race day. I hope to have my SWAG in the coming week, but we'll see when it arrives.

I've heard great things about the in-person race as this is one of the biggest and most popular races in Texas. I would definitely do the live version in the future, but would likely opt out of the virtual option given the challenges this year.

Cowtown is the best race experience in DFW. From the organization, pre/post race experience, and energy, this race cannot be beat. This race is large, as it offers multiple distances throughout the weekend. Saturday typically covers the 5k/10k/kids races and then Sunday has the 13.1 / 26.2 / Ultra. I've only been part of Sunday, and despite the number of people, it's super organized.

The Weekend: We choose to stay in Ft Worth on Saturday night and there are a handful of hotels downtown. The energy downtown is great, with so many people in town, at the restaurants, etc. Large races aren't for everyone, but I love the pre-race feel and vibe the night before. The organization of this race is so good too, with multiple busses transporting runners from downtown to the starting line and back after the race. It makes it so easy to enjoy downtown the night before, yet have no issues making it to the starting line on Sunday morning.

Race Day: After arriving at the race, the expo center is open all morning to relax, stretch, visit with friends, etc. It can be cold in February, so it's nice to have an indoor area to wait, if needed. Once you head out to the corrals though, it couldn't be more organized. They do such a great job!
Once everything starts, and you separate from the pack, the course is pretty great. You make your way through so many different areas of Fort Worth, depending on the race you're doing. For the 13.1, you end up going through the Stockyards, Downtown Ft Worth and lots of roads in between. There is a bridge/hill at Mile 9 that is brutal, which is the reason I bumped up the elevation difficulty. Outside of that hill, it's not bad... but man, oh man, that hill sucks.
If you're traveling with your family and staying downtown, they can walk 1-2 blocks from most hotels and watch you around mile 10 as well. It's perfect!

If you get a chance to run Cowtown, definitely do it! You won't be disappointed.

I was looking for a race in Florida when I came across Gasparilla, and I'm so glad I did. This is one of the top 5 races I've done and would recommend it to everyone!

The Weekend: From the pre-race expo and vibe around the city, to the energy on race day, this race weekend was so much fun. The expo was large and filled with people and vendors. It was right downtown near all of the hotels, so it was very easy to get to. There were multiple hotels in the area (we stayed that the Marriott), which made race morning very easy; a 5 min walk to the start/finish lines.

Race Day: Be ready for some extra heat and humidity, but don't let that deter you from doing this race. Before everything started, there was a lot of space to relax, stay indoors if you wanted, bathrooms, etc. Once I made my way to the starting line the corrals were easy to manage and the vibe from the weekend stayed at the highest level up until the start. Once we began, we maneuvered through downtown and then out around an island. It was darker than I expected, which made some portions of the course hard to see where you were stepping. (Although it's a road race, you never want to step in a hole). As we left the island, you come across a bridge and race along the water for 3-4 miles. It's a beautiful scene and made the race so enjoyable! The last 8 miles are basically an out and back along the water, but on separate parallel streets. This makes the scenery great for the majority of the race.

Post Race: Coming across the finish line was great, not only for the finish, but because of the MEDAL! One of the biggest draws for me to this race was the bling at the end. The skull and cross bones medal is something they appear to use every year in some variation, and my year was no different. I love this medal! The party from the entire weekend continues on after the race, making this one of the more fun filled race weekends. If you get a chance to do Gasparilla, do it! Tampa is beautiful, the race is so much fun, and who doesn't need a skull and cross bones medal?!

The Route 66 half is a super fun race! We made a weekend of it in Tulsa and the entire town gets into this event, which makes it even better.

The Weekend: From the moment we arrived at our hotel in Tulsa, it seemed like we were at the biggest race in America. The hotel was covered in welcome signs, course maps, etc., and this hotel wasn't even a sponsor of the event. The vibe was already high and my excitement level for the following morning grew quickly. There are plenty of options for food and fun in Tulsa during a quick weekend getaway, making this race one to put on your calendar.

The Race: When Sunday morning came around, it was sooo cold. I believe our starting temp was 26 degrees, which is freezing. However, cold temps lead to quick races, which was great for my time. Despite quite a few hills, the course flew by and offered some scenic moments as you run around Tulsa. After you finish, there were busses available to return you closer to the hotels downtown. This was a great perk to have.

Overall, I look forward to running this race again in the future. The city really gets behind the race and the crowd support, along with local business support is amazing!