Earl Brammer's Staging Area

The host hotel was Ballys so thats where we stayed. The hotel it’s self is a little old and the casino are was smoky. Our room was pretty nice though. My wife had done research and found the Balley Tower was supposed to be the best in the hotel. And from hearing from other runners it was. They said their room looked like it was still 1988. Packet pick up was super easy. right in the hotel on the 6th floor. expo was pretty small though. race day was pretty easy as well. starts and finishes right outside Ballys so i was at the start line literally 4 minutes from the time i left my room. The course was pretty nice as well. mile 1 was on the board walk then we ran though the city and neighborhoods for about 6- 7 miles or so. last 4-5 were on the board walk as well. Overall everything to do with the race was enjoyable. Honestly wasn’t impressed with the hotel for the price or the boardwalk area, it’s pretty run down. not 100 percent sure i would do or go to AC again, but if i did i would stay at Caesar’s Palace

Great Race. Lots of runners, lots of fan support on course. Nice views of the University of Nebraska and the surrounding neighborhoods. Average sized expo with plenty of stuff to pick up if you happened to have forgotten something. Course seemed pretty flat with a good sized hill around mile 10. Only small complaint was the water stops were space out a little far apart. First one wasn’t till around mile 4. be But all the water stops were well stocked. Was able to grab 3-4 drinks every stop and didn’t need to stop running to get it. It was warmer than usual so thinking maybe that’s why there weren’t all that many stops. Other than that, great time and great race

Awesome race and would recommend for sure. Good sized expo that seemed to have a little of everything if you forgot something or just looking for some deals. Pre race area had a great atmosphere and lots of music Course had a couple of hills but nothing crazy and was lined with spectators more than I thought there was going to be. Only small complaint about the whole day was the water spots were a little more spread out than usual it seemed and they weren’t very big imo. Other than that, no complaints at all.

Expo and corals were very well organized. The whole pre-race reminded me of a mini Indy Mini. The course was pretty hilly for a flat lander like myself. The first six miles were pretty much all up and down. A couple of the hills were pretty good climbs and was mostly run through neighborhoods and a park (I think). After that it was pretty flat run mostly along a river path that had some nice views. Somewhere around mile 11 or 12 you finally get to run on Route 66 for a little bit. Only bad thing was a lack of porta potties and water stations were spaced out pretty far apart. There were tons of people along the course handing out water and lots of alcohol though. Lots of crowd support. Was a fun race for sure and would do again if the chance was there after I finish my 50 states. The jacket was ok, not a fan of white. The relay people got a nice blue hoodie that I wish I could have gotten instead :).

This was a tough race due to the weather. June in the midwest is brutal. There is a 50k, 50 miler, 100k and 100 miler. They have a 6 am start and an 8 pm start time. I started at 8 pm and it was still 83 degrees at the start and around 65 at the finish. I couldn’t imagine doing the 6 am start as I’m not a warm weather runner at all. The course overall was decent. Was a 3.5 out and back through the Indiana State Park area of Indianapolis. Lots of food and beverage options set up at the start/finish line and you can set up camp in the same area.

All in all the course was pretty flat, one small hill around mile 5-6. Views of the ocean were amazing. Temps were warm (mid 70s) and very humid, but there is always a breeze to help cool you down a little. no expo, just packet pick up and can buy a few race items. there are no running stores on the island so if you need fuel or gear you might be out of luck