My first half marathon at home was an exciting experience. The course was an out and back through the downtown and on city trails. It allowed my partner and cheering squad to meet me at various points and give me the motivation I desperately needed. It also allowed them to swap out my water bottles, which was desperately needed as it was the hottest day yet, and the turnaround point water station had run out of water.

The start of the race seemed poorly organized, as all walkers and runners of all distance started at the same time. I stood next to someone in the middle of the pack corral who was walking her first 5k. There was clearly not enough direction given to racers, and perhaps a staggered start could have worked better for the number of people.

There were not enough aid stations or easy access for paramedics to get to racers, and due to unexpected high temperatures (and lack of water), there were quite a few dehydrated and exhausted runners who were far from the paramedics.

Overall it was a great course to run I love the trails in the city, and further out towards Marysville and it was great to run on a course that I had trained on for months. My biggest issue is pretty superfluous, but it is with the shirts being gendered, green for men and pink for women, and the medal was a little lackluster compared to the other races I've done in the same region.