John Burdick's Staging Area

This race is a Boston Qualifier and is growing into a well attended race growing from 800 last year to 3000 participants this year.
Sign up early and get your hotel early the rooms go fast!
Packet pick up is until 8 the night before (if this was until 9 it would be better for those driving in)
Race Day
Parking is around town and not too hard to find. There is no gear check but I was able to park close enough to get to the car and get anything I needed.
The start was a bit disorganized we moved over to where the corrals were but had to search for the entrance to the course. We heard the National Anthem but never heard a start, just everyone started moving. There was no big pump up or announcer getting everyone excited.
There are pacers on the course for the full and the half.
The course is mostly flat but there are some rolling hills and one very steep not terribly long hill (it’s a bit of a thigh burner).
The course is not all on paved roads you do go on a trail for a while (this was a bit of a surprise for me) it’s a gravel road and probably a mile or more. (I didn’t pay attention at that point as I was nursing a knee injury and a wee bit distracted) your shoes will get dirty but for our race it was more dust than anything.
The course runs through several parks, by farmland, industrial areas and some more urban areas as well. There are a few turn arounds and tighter areas as runners are taking up both sides of a sidewalk or road.
The course has water stops every couple of miles and and are well staffed. Most of the stops had snacks (pretzels, bananas, and M&Ms) and energy gels (Gu).
I saw 2-3 DJ’s on the course and a few people supporting the runners. The runners themselves are busy supporting each other and encouraging one another. The turn to the finish line where you run through the old downtown area of Salina is pretty great. As you get closer to the finish people are cheering and you can hear the music. There is a photographer at the finish but I didn’t see any photographers on the course ( I never saw a link to get pics but I did find my finish line pics on athlinks. I should also say I didn’t know there was a photographer at the end).
The full marathon goes around again for a second lap.
Once the race is over you get your medal a bottle of water and an amazing slice of Edwards’s chocolate pie! The after party has a live band performing a few shops and several groups providing snacks (sliders, bananas, chocolate milk) there was one where you could purchase pastries and you could purchase beer. There are physical trainers working on people and a rehydration station that was giving B vitamin shots and/or IV rehydration.
The weather was great for a run it started off cool (40’s) but warmed up. In the after party are they did bring in portable heaters.
During packet pick up there is a page of local restaurants serving pasta. I am a big fan of supporting local businesses (we went to Martinelli’s, and it was just fantastic. Great atmosphere, food and service!)
The Swag
A quality medal (nice big heavy, cool design) a soft T-shirt and memories!
As previously mentioned I was nursing a knee injury so my performance was not what I had hoped by my running buddy missed a PR by just a little bit and many others from my running group did PR. I can see this run becoming bigger and bigger.