Florian Basier's Staging Area

Very well-organized race on a scenic, flat course. Lots of races claim to be flat, this one definitively is.
Only issue is with the aid stations: there are very few of them, under-staffed, and the cups are filled all the way making it hard to “pinch and drink”. Very nice otherwise!

You have to be ready for these rolling hills: there are three in the first half, and only one in the second, but it is at the worst place: a 4.5mi continuous climb with up to 11% gradient between miles 20 and 25.

Well marked course with a lot of animation, either official ones (rock bands on scenes, faces of the fallen) or just random mariachi bands and cheering spectators (a lot of them!).

My main concerns are with the distribution and location of porta potties, which had only 2-3 at a time before the half/full split, creating long lines. Sometimes they had groups of them close to each other, sometimes they were miles apart, with no indication, creating useless lines as there were empty ones 200-300yds further. Sometimes the porta potties were very close to the course (so the lines were blocking the runners), other times (on Fort Sam Houston), they were 200 yards off course !

Another issue was the non-enforcement of corrals. There were at least 16 corrals which is great, but there were a lot of people in corrals 12+ who snuck into 1-7 corrals, leading to 1-overcrowded porta-potties in the corrals and 2- out of pace runners crowding the first 5-6 miles. It’s really disappointing that such an easy-to-do enforcement of corrals was not done.

Quick, 2-loops race. What you’d expect from a 10 miler in the burbs. Nothing more, nothing less.
Pretty large spread of levels, from sub-50 10 milers to very slow 5 milers, which on a two-loops course means some slaloming on loop 2 but nothing too critical either.
I was only running it as a gear test before an upcoming marathon and got exactly what I was expecting from it!

A very well organized race (World Athletics Gold Label).
Lots of animation along the course, from the giant American flag mile 2 to the multiple bands and of course lots of supporters cheering.
It is a flat, fast course with only two obstacles: the Westpark bridge at mile 13 and the Allen parkway underpasses towards the end.
Corrals are checked so there is limited slaloming needed in the first miles even if the half marathoners crowd the road as the pace groups are consistent.