Never judge a book by it’s cover. That’s what this race is all about, it’s a small race and I didn’t really expect much from it. But as they day drew closer and they reveled more details about it the more excited I became. This race was held at Fair Park this year and they offered race day packet pick up which was exactly what I needed with my busy schedule. Holy Swag! I love bags and the “packet” coming in the reusable Skechers bag was awesome. It had the race shirt, coupons for bread (Mrs. Bairds is a sponsor), coupon to the Shake Shack, and a snack bar all bundled in a perfect little package. As with most races in Fair Park the parking is ample and close to the start lines. The course was the typical 5k course you get with every race ran here except for the double loop around the Cotton Bowl, which was a welcomed change of scenery. With this being in Fair Park, it’s a pretty flat course with minimal scenery, which is fine because the finish line is where the great stuff is. Post race was pretty snazzy, Bourbon Diesel (a local band) was there playing live music (there wasn’t any bourbon) and Skechers had their tent set up with shoes and snacks. I love snacks. No race is complete without having an ice cold chocolate milk, Nesquick was there to dish out the goods, and Kona Ice was there as well selling snow cones, so bring cash.

But the absolute grooviest part was the giant tie-dye station they had for your race shirt. Since parking was super close I was able to walk back to the car to pick up my shirt to tie-dye it without feeling any additional effort on my body.

At the end of the day, I would do this race again. It was a simple 5k and the post race activities were plentiful for such a small race. I would recommend this race for anyone who is looking to keep up with their training during the summer months, or just wants a family and pet friendly race.

This a local race, in which everyone knows the race director by name and you can easily spot her on race day. I love The Active Joe races, the crowd that Libby, the director, is able to draw is unique. If you really want to know what a runners community feels like, run one of her races. Everyone is awesome, and I'm not just talking about the runners but the community. People where at the end of their driveways, driving around holding up signs. There were two houses that really stood out to me on the course, one has snacks (trail mix and water) just set at the end of their driveway for runners. The other, the owner sat out front and took pictures of every single runner and uploaded it to the facebook page the next day, you're not going to find that at any other race. Yes the hills suck at times, but the llamas rules and you get a big race medal and bundt cakes. Just run one of the races. Please. You will not be disappointed. They have the very popular new years double which sells out every single year in every distance AND is consistently listed in a Runners World list for coolest race bling.

First let me say that I love how everything was color coordinated. Each race had different colored bibs and the distance signs for each race were respective of the bib color. Since all the races ran the same course and just turned around at different spots I loved knowing exactly which signs represented the half marathon distance.
This was an out and back course that started and ended at the Irving Convention Center and down onto the Campion Trails (for the half and the full). There were plenty of aid stations and someone constantly in an off-road vehicle monitoring all areas of the trails to make sure runners were okay and on track. The trees provided nice shade and it was relatively flat throughout the trails. The beginning and ending parts of the courses (all distances), had rolling hills. If you any hill you went up, you would run down on the way back in and vice versa.
Parking as super close, but you did have to pay $5 to park in the grass lot. I really don't like paying for parking in general, but for a race I've already paid for and to just park in a field, I wasn't very thrilled about that. But it is what it is, I was just happy it was close.
The medal was absolutely gorgeous and there were a few vendors after the race, but just your typical ones. A chiropractor, church, running store and a local fitness program. Nothing worth really sticking around for. Overall, I would do this race again pending there is a new medal out that is equally as beautiful as the 2015 one. The scenery is just gorgeous, even if it is an out and back course.

Once again, this race delivered. The course was different from 2014 and provided beautiful scenery from Margaret Hunthill Bridge and some pretty big hills thrown in at the end. I love Rock n Roll races and will continue to run Dallas. I highly recommend the VIP package to take off a lot of the pressure race day brings for big races like this one, I did not have to worry about parking, port potties, long gear check lines, food (before and after), or any of the minor details racing brings about. The expo was top notch and once again I overspent but hey, YOLO!
I love completing this race as a part of Rock N Roll's Remix challenge and look forward to doing more races. But seriously, though hills...