Danny Hagedorn's Staging Area

This half marathon exists entirely to raise money for the American Heart Association, so my expectations were adjusted based on that. First and most importantly, this is NOT a race to run if you are looking to PR. It’s just hill after hill after rolling damn hill, with one straight uphill portion around mile 6 that will destroy you for the rest of the run, even if you’ve been running hills for a month in preparation like I’ve been. I still PR’d, but that’s more a testament of my own hard work and training than the course. The Scenery was meh for the first 7-8 miles, it’s just an out and back down a normally busy road, nothing to see really on either side but the number of people running it gets you hyped up (it’s the largest single fundraiser in Cincinnati). Race logistics were mostly smooth, though I found the expo to be lacking in anything really engaging. Swag is good for it being a fundraiser race, their priority is obviously to make money for their cause, so the medal has a cool design but is made of a lower grade metal and the shirt is cotton. I will never run it again because, THOSE DAMN HILLS, but I am glad I did this one time and would recommend everyone do it once!

The race is the same course as last year so it was familiar, but there were more issues this year than the last. More people were running with strollers and there were a LOT of walkers who didn’t start in the walking/stroller pen and were just mingled in with the rest of us. The first 1.5 miles was significantly slower because I had to constantly dodge these people and it was very frustrating. The swag for this race costs extra, the long sleeve 3/4 zip was very nice material but you could only pay with cash or check so I couldn’t purchase one because like most people I don’t carry cash or checks on me. Having a Square for an iPhone or some other way or processing credit card purchases would’ve been nice so that anyone could get the swag. Instead, I was left with the hat that was included with registration, and while the logo is nice it is a very awkward shape and is white with the logo screen printed on so it will last all of a couple months before being too stained to wear out or the logo will scrape off. Still no medal. This race is great to avoid Turkey Day guilt but is not a well-done race in a lot of facets.

This race had so much potential but there were multiple things, some within their control and some outside of their control, that made it not as fun as it could’ve been. First and foremost: the damn heat. The half starts at 8:30AM so the sun is up and in full force when you start. I was on track to PR by over 20 minutes for the first 6 Miles, but the 85 degree weather plus 75% humidity combined with the zero shade on the course knocked me out (not literally, though there were LOTS of people medically pulled from the course), and with hydration stations only every mile and a half it was hard to stay fueled. The shirt is a tech shirt but is the ugliest shade of blue, and the 5K and full marathon shirts are also ugly as sin, only the 10K looks nice. The medal is amazing though. I understand the race takes place partially on an active military base so you can’t just let anyone and their brother in for security purposes, but the lack of crowd support really stunk also, I wouldn’t imagine it would be super difficult to arrange areas outside of the base where folks could be. Crowd support for 6 Miles is better than no crowd support at all.

The expo was run very well and, while there weren’t an exorbitant about of sponsors and booths there, there was enough to keep me interested and get some good stuff as well as the information I needed. Packet pick up was simple and quick. The food at the finish line was amazing, full bottles of water and Gatorade, bananas, chips, and donut holes from Panera, and getting your medal put on you by active Airmen (mostly officers but there were some senior NCOs as well) when you cross the finish line was very nice.

This was the best race I’ve ran so far. 2 free beers and a coney from Skyline Chili when you cross the line. The shirt is also really cool looking, and the medal doubles as a bottle opener! The scenery is cool if you enjoy modern settings, this takes you through the historic Over-the-Rhine area of Cincinnati. This is also the first race in the Run Beer Series, which is sponsored by the Flying Pig. Very well ran, good swag, good beer and food at finish, would recommend.

This course is a trail run, which I didn’t know at the time but I should have. It also rained/snowed the whole night before the race so the course was very slick and muddy, I was lucky I didn’t fall but I saw a lot of folks who did. It was a FunK. There were lots of cool Fall themed activities to do which I’m sure would have been a blast if not for the aforementioned winter chill that went through the area the night before. It was a challenge, and it destroyed the pair of running shoes I was using at the time, but I don’t think I’ll do it again.