Cheri Damitio's Staging Area

This was a well managed race with plenty of extra touches. They had free coffee, hot chocolate and tea at the beginning of the race. The course was well marked and went through interesting sections of town that I want to return to visit. There were some small, undulating hills that felt good to switch up the muscles. The volunteers on the course were enthusiastic and friendly. There was a Run to Remember mile that wound through a pretty neighborhood and displayed images of fallen servicemen and women. It was followed by volunteers who were holding flags and cheering us on. The finish line went up into a baseball stadium where they had a very lively runners village with free sandwiches, pizza, and drinks.

A point-to-point course with all the hills in the first three miles. After that, it’s a pretty run, albeit next to a highway, all the way to the heart of old town Hill City. They shut down the main street for the finish line party. I always appreciate that.
It was a cool morning and I was nervous about having to kill an hour at the start line, but we were allowed inside the Crazy Horse Visitor Center. It was warm inside and had flush toilets. Plus, an hour isn’t even enough time to see everything on display.
The gentle downgrade on the rail trail was an improvement over running on pavement, but be aware the gypsum that covers the trail will turn your shoes white! I was wearing black shoes and they looked like ghost shoes when I finished! Fortunately, most of it washed off.
The medals are unique, and the age group awards are pretty awesome: small dream catchers! So get out there and place in your age group!

I saw a beautiful canyon photo on the website and some images of past medals in the shape of local petroglyphs, so I was really looking forward to this one. Apparently, this year was a transition year to a new race management group and the medal was . . . an hourglass? The canyon image was the highlight of the scenery, so it seems like they should have had the photographer there instead of taking pictures of all the aid stations and the backlit finishers at the finish line.
The shirt design was awesome! You also receive a free visit to the nearby Fremont museum. Definitely go to that and hike the trail on the grounds to see the amazing petroglyphs. Worth it!

There were almost 100(!) great musical acts along the course! You hardly got out of earshot of one and there’d be another. WAY more than any other music-themed race I’ve ran. Running around the Indy Speedway was so much more interesting than I imagined, and I’m not even a NASCAR fan. The immense size of it all, the surface of the track, the view from down on the course, and the brick finish line were very out-of-the-ordinary half marathon experiences. The event organizers managed the huge crowds well. The expo was efficient and had a nice selection of themed merch. I like the race shirt and the medal was uniquely Indy. On top of all that, it raises money for a good cause.

Hilariously wet and cold! It rained cartoonishly hard, sideways. And I’m from Oregon, I *really* know rain! The bummer was that we were bussed to the start, and there weren’t enough pop-up awnings to huddle under so we got soaked while waiting to start. If I had swam to the start line, I could not have been wetter. Then we ran in non-stop, hard rain though the forest. I would have given higher marks for organization, but the food line when I finished was way too long, and there should have been somewhere for runners to stay dry, at least until we started or after we finished. Otherwise, the expo was great, and the busses were on schedule. The race intro speakers were too long winded, except for the ceremonial starter who was given the mic and said, “READY, GO!!” Thanks for that, sir.

My idea of a fun half marathon is one that is out of the ordinary. This race delivered perfectly. I’m from the west coast, so running on a towpath was a new and fun experience, although the amazing part of this race was actually running through a Civil War battlefield! We ran along the auto tour road for the battlefield, then we plunged off the road and down onto a trail through the battlefield. I didn’t know what to expect, so I was surprised to be running along a wide trail through dense brush and suddenly come upon a towering memorial. The trail keeps going up and down through the area and pops back out miles later onto the road again. It was sobering to think of the soldiers who fought a battle in this terrain. The race organizers proudly advertise it as the only race that goes through a battlefield, which does seem disrespectful, but there it is. Lots of hills (I walked), but that also means lots of downhills, which I enjoy. The organization was superb. I liked the long sleeve shirt; the medal was a small, simple wood cookie with a burned-in logo. In a sea of large, colorful medals from other races, it’s become one of my favorites.

I signed up for this at the last minute and was lucky to get in. I love the medal and t-shirt design by artist Alison Bremner! The course was a scenic tour of the Elliot Bay waterfront with one challenging hill and a killer view of the Seattle skyline. Make the effort to visit that area at night, you will be rewarded with a colorful cityscape.

Even if the course was terrible (it isn’t), this is one of the few races I’d do again just for the artsy orca medal.