This is the largest timed Ultra in the United States. You begin at 7 AM and see how many miles you can run until 3PM. The course is a 3.29 mile loop, a trail terrain in a county park. There is one large hill toward the end of the loop that is paved, which most people walk. There are three areas on the loop with Gatorade, ice cold water and an amazing spread of food! There are two places on the loop to use the bathroom as well.
As you come into the end of the loop the trail is lined with tents of running groups and family members so you can stop to grab your fuel, change clothes, etc.. and there are plenty of people to cheer you on.
At the end of the race there is fried chicken, soup, chips, beans, salad cookies, plenty of beer, water etc..They provide medals to age group winners. After the award ceremony they provide entertainment in the evening for people who camp at the park or want to hangout after the race.
There are hotels about 20 mins from the start or you can camp in the park. You can also pick up your bib the day before or race day and they is no expo, but the shirts are nice that they provide. Parking is easy and it easy to get in and out of the park.
This is such a fun race I do every summer with friends. It is SO well supported for an Ultra. The only negative is... You never know how hot it will be in August:-)!!!

If you are looking for a half marathon outside of Chicago in the Fox River Valley this is a good choice. The race is part residential and part on the path along the Fox River. In the residential areas there were fans, but it was very quite along the path. There are a few hills to be prepared for, but it is mostly a flat terrain. I am not sure how often the water and aid stations were, but I felt there were plenty and spaced out evenly. The only problem is there were a few spots when running on the path where there were no race volunteers or fans. This became a problem as I saw someone become injured and it was at least 3/4 of a mile to find someone to help her. When the aid went to get her they had to run instead of having a bike or some other vehicle to access her quicker.
Each finisher received a nice medal at the finish and there was plenty of post race food and beverages.
The one suggestion would be to make sure you arrive early enough to find parking!

The expo, start and finish all take place at the Green Bay Packers stadium. When we arrived on Saturday, I was very impressed on how well organized and easily accessible the expo and pasta dinner were. There was plenty of parking with a short walk to the expo. Inside there were barely any lines to pick up our bib and VERY nice race shirt! There were a decent amount of vendors and if you wanted you could shop in the Green Bay Packer shop. The pasta dinner, which I usually don't attend was also well organized with many stations of food, beverages and plenty of seating. The food was okay if you want salad, pasta, bread, cookies, beer, water etc..When finished with dinner we were able to sit in the stadium to take pictures and hangout.
The next morning, there were school buses that provided transportation from the hotel to the start. At the start there were also other school buses organized by your bib or last name to check your gear. The half and full marathon started together and there were many pace groups to join.
To my memory the first 9 or so miles were in a residential neighborhood lined with many screaming fans. Once the half marathon split off, the course from the full felt very lonely until maybe mile 17 or 18. The course was boring running by businesses etc.. and there were no fans until we reached the path. Once you hit the path, until the end of the race there are many screaming fans and even a tunnel with music and other festivities to motivate you. The course ends with a loop in the stadium, which is a cool experience.
During the race I was impressed with the water stations every mile. I don't recall how many aid stations and port a potties there were, but I remember feeling the race was well supported. The year I raced it was warm so they even brought out cold towels to keep us cool.
After the race, there were brats, beer and other food accessible to us. It was easy to meet up with friends and was a fun after race party!!
A few negatives.... When the full split from the half the course route became confusing and wasn't well marked. In addition, the pacers didn't keep to their time. Also, I don't believe there were many clocks and you had to depend on your watch for accuracy.
If you are looking for a small feel, no fuss, inexpensive, spring marathon that is well supported this could be good fit for you as long as you can do without an exciting scenery like Chicago!

What a FUN Spring Marathon! The race was on a Saturday and we flew in from Chicago on Friday morning. Once we landed, it was a quick drive to our hotel in the downtown area. The nice thing about Nashville is there are plenty of hotels, reasonably priced, in walking distance to the expo, race start/finish, concert after and restaurants/bars etc.. So if you are
not from the area it is very easy to get around on foot!
The expo on Friday was well organized and had plenty of vendors. Due to the large size of the race ( it is both a half and full) there are so many people in town that it took awhile to find a place to eat the day before the race. I would encourage making reservations.
The morning of the race was well organized with plenty of port a potties and clearly marked corrals, however they weren't strict in enforcing if you were in the correct corral.
The course took you through the downtown area, neighborhoods, industrial area, and the last few miles were in a park. The course is hilly, but if you train appropriately you will be okay. I didn't like that in two spots it was essentially an out and back or a loop. I prefer not seeing the same things again so it became mentally challenging the last six miles when the course route was this way.
I did love all of the energy from the crowds, cheerleaders and bands a long the way!! It was very entertaining and helped carry me through the race. It was a warm day so plenty of people were out with their hoses, sprinklers etc.. to cool us down. The race volunteers also provided cold wet sponges to cool us off.
I felt that there was plenty of water, Gatorade and GU provided. I did think at a few stops the volunteers were very slow to hand off the cup as I was running in. I felt their were also plenty of medical tents, volunteers and police officers on the way to make sure it was a safe and ran smoothly.
After crossing the finish line there was plenty of food, beverages etc.. The medical tent was amazing and very helpful also. The post-race party was so much fun. They had a free 2 hour concert for the runners with country stars from the TV show Nashville! All in all it was one of the most fun, yet challenging, destination marathons I have ran!