What a beautiful, well-hosted race despite the circumstances.

For those unaware, the Naples half marathon runs through the heart of Naples, Florida, an area known as a winter escape. For the duration of the race, you run from downtown Naples, through the upper-end neighborhood of the city, Port Royal. The water views are unexpectedly limited but the course is entertaining enough through a very nice downtown and near suburb.

In terms of course difficulty, it's extremely flat. Maybe a hair of an uphill in the last 1,000 feet but extremely slight. The wind remained calm and the temperature cool so it was a fast race with negative splits for us. There were two or three cul-de-sac like turn arounds but not too sharp. A lot of overlap in the race but it doesn't necessarily feel so with the beautiful neighborhood views on each side.

In terms of logistics, all the props in the world to this team and hosting during a down year. They kept the group limited to 1,000 this year. The convenient logistics and parking allowed everyone to keep their space, all the way through the rolling start.