Let me start with this: charity events are important and are more about community than racing. As a charity event, this was pretty good. Participants and volunteers were friendly and I came away with a better understanding of brain cancer in my own community. As a 5k, though, this was a disappointing event.

The event website indicated that my friends and I could register as a team and save money on the registration fee. When one friend tried to register us, the registration could not go through, despite being well within the deadline. Registration the morning of went smoothly but it meant we had one more thing to worry about that morning.

The race started and finished in a small parking lot in town. With a couple other events going on in town and street parking therefore at a premium, it was tricky to find somewhere to park.

Those small snafus paled in comparison to my main grievance: the course was not marked. 3 of a dozen turns had volunteers pointing the way. I made sure to keep someone who must have memorized the route in my sight so I would know where to turn. The course relied on sidewalks, not even coning off bike lanes or one lane of light traffic roads. The course went through active traffic lights. I pity someone trying to PR who had to stop for a traffic light. I almost lost the person I was following due to lack of course markers when I didn't make the light he did.

The course ended up winding around downtown Columbia and through the Mizzou campus.

Near the finish line there was a sudden rash of volunteers. I think they were almost all stationed in the last quarter-mile. They were friendly and encouraging, though!

Overall, skip this event if you want a race or fun road event.

This is a 12/24 hour event with a community 5k at midnight. The course is a ~1 mile loop around a park. It's well-lit at night. The 24 hour event is 7pm to 7pm with two options for the 12 hour run. This review is for the nighttime (7pm-7am) 12 hour run. The event is VERY well-run. Before the race, I had a few questions, and got an e-mail reply the same day. Packet pick-up was smooth. There was plenty of parking.

As for the event itself, it's obvious what a community the Howard Aslinger Foundation creates. Everyone (everyone!) was friendly, congenial, and encouraged each other. There was a LOT of food, plenty of beverages, and enthusiastic volunteers to keep it organized. Overall, a fantastic event and I will definitely go back next year.

First, this race isn't just a half marathon. There's also a 5k, 10k, and special challenge for running both the 5k and 10k.

Running in Florida in February is great. The races started early enough (7 ish for the 10k) that it wasn't too hot. Even the tail end of the half marathon in the late morning was still comfortable. The course is on local roads and through a local park. Except for a couple miles in a residential neighborhood, you can see ocean almost the entire time. It was well-marked with plenty of friendly volunteers. The closest thing the course has to a hill is a couple very gradual inclines.

The aid stations ran out of gels by the time the 2:30 half marathoners got to them. The Gatorade was super sugary, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing and could always be diluted with water. Aid station volunteers were really friendly.

The race had some logistical difficulty this year and all the race times were delayed. It was difficult to hear the announcer at the beginning try to explain what was going on, plus, most of what she was saying was shilling for upcoming races. Parking was a mess. We got there early and had trouble finding a spot.

The expo the day before the race was outdoors at the race start/finish. It was nice to be able to see the start/finish area ahead of time so we knew where to go in the morning. There wasn't much to the expo and no one was inclined to hang out at it because of the rainy weather that day.

Big thumbs up for the half marathon medals with the spinning sail and the post-race beer.

2014 was the first year for the R.O.C. 7k. It's run at Cosmo Park mostly on the Rhett's Run mountain bike trail. The course was very well marked with signs, flagging, and volunteers at key turns. The tread of the trail is rocky (pointy midwestern rock), mostly single-track, in the woods, and, since it's January, had a couple icy and muddy patches. Registration was easy and packet pick-up was the morning of. The awards ceremony started about an hour after the starting gun. Something different they did here was counting overall winners as age group winners, too.

Overall, this was a fun race with a low-key atmosphere. It's friendly for beginners and the sharp as/decents are a challenge.