Chris Staunton's Staging Area

I enjoyed running Myrtle Beach. It is about as flat of a course as you can find. Probably the only flatter course I have ran was Key West.

The race is on Saturday, so I had to plan accordingly. Early packet pickup was Friday. Pickup was nothing special. Some vendors around. Pickup was easy enough. I stayed at a hotel near packet pickup and the start/finish area (about 1 mile away).

The day of the race was beautiful. Extremely humid! Again, I’ve ran some pretty humid races, but this one tops them all. 100% humidity equals fog, which made it fun for me, I love foggy mornings.

The swag was top notch. Race shirt was a nice long sleeve, not heavy or gaudy. Finisher medal is a very cool clam shell that opens to a nice image of Myrtle Beach. We also got a finisher beach blanket, which was on point for Myrtle Beach.

Overall, I enjoyed running Myrtle Beach. I would recommend it if you need a South Carolina race or are in the area when it takes place.

This journey was a year in the making. After trying to get into one of the premier events via the lottery the last couple years, I finally got into Chicago and it did NOT disappoint!

Prep: The moment I got the email notifying me that I was in, I grabbed a hotel downtown. I knew I didn’t want to have to deal with trying to travel in from further out. Hotel prices even at that point were quite high. I stayed at the Meridian Essex, right on Michigan ave. It was across from the finish area. Perfect!

Travel to Chicago: I arrived in Chicago on Thursday morning. I wanted to get there early in case there were flight problems or delays. No issues traveling at all. I highly recommend arriving early if you can to then take in the city. Flight was no issue, Uber to hotel was no issue. Downtown Chicago is highly walkable or has great mass transit. But don’t over do it!

Expo: I thought the expo was outstanding! Huge event hall, lots of vendors, lots of stuff you can buy, try, or check out. Getting checked in and the packet was easy and quick. No issues at all on Thursday afternoon. I went with a Medium size shirt, probably should have went one size bigger. Couldn’t exchange because there were no extra large sizes available (knew better, but that’s on me). If you are looking for specific swag, you’ll find it! I had a specific list of things I was looking for and got them all. Some booths like the Nike one were really high priced, but I found what I wanted elsewhere. Again Expo, top notch.

Friday/Saturday: There was a Brooks pop up store, long line so I didn’t go. Wish I had though! There were lots of other places to check out, Nike store, Hoka, Fleet Feet, etc. Of course Chicago has non-race stuff to do as well. I’ve been to Chicago many times, so we did some low-key activities and kept off our feet as much as possible.

Pre-Race Carb Loading: WARNING AND STRONG ADVICE!!! There are 53,000 people running the event + HUGE numbers of support people. MAKE RESERVERATIONS FOR MEALS WEEKS IN ADVANCE!! Everybody will be looking for pasta (Italian). Seriously, if you want it, make reservations 4-6 weeks out. We went to The Village on Friday and La Bella Trattoria on Saturday. Highly recommend The Village. Great vibe!

Race Day: So much to cover here! Since I stayed downtown, getting to the event was simple. Recommendation for my corral was to arrive by 6:30am for an 8:35am start. Getting thru security was quick and easy though. I got to security about 7am and breezed through. Took a banana with me as a light snack ahead of time. Lines for the toilets at 7:15am weren’t bad, but growing. I went through quickly, but had to hit one again around 7:55am. HINT: The lines for the toilets between Columbus and Michigan have crazy long lines at this point. There are more to the EAST of Columbus that had NO lines at that point! Our corral started right as advertised. No issues.

There are alot of people running! You are definitely bunched up and crowded for at least the first 6 miles. Just be prepared to dodge runners, people stopping mid-run, the crowds closing in, and people running across the course in front of you!!

The crowds were the best I’ve seen! They were cheering us on right from the start and didn’t let up the entire way. All the neighborhoods we ran through brought the excitement and kept us going. There were times where the cheering was so loud I couldn’t hear the music in my earbuds. The only issue I had with the crowds were the idiot people running across the course to the other side. I saw more than one runner collide with someone. ANNOYING!!!

Course is outstanding. I believe 29 different neighborhoods. Flat course, with some dips and rises in places. I did not like the bridges, the grates were uncomfortable running for me. They did have red carpets in places, would have liked to see more of those! Watch your footing in places, there are pot holes and other hazards along the way. That final 400 meter push up the incline and then coming across the finish was worth it. Victory!

Post-race: As you are coming down the finishers chute, they have all kinds of stuff for you: water, food, beer, snacks, your finisher medal, etc. One thing they do at Dallas is give you a reusable grocery bag, that would have been great! I had a hard time trying to pocket everything being handed out while you have to keep moving.

Meeting my party at the post-race meetup was impossible. It’s a half to three-quarters of a mile at least from the finish. Thankfully we were able to call and switch to meeting up on Michigan ave, which btw is shut down in front of Grant park during the race, which was great.

All-in-all, I had the best experience and would highly recommend Chicago to anyone wanting to complete a marathon!!

Overall, I thought this was an exciting race and enjoyed it a lot.

Packet pickup was a breeze. It was a great pre-party on the pier as well. Lots of people, bands, activities, and sights. The shirt included was a performance shirt, which is much better than simple cotton.

Race day was crazy. Weather pretty much everything. Super humid, wind, rain, sun, heat. There was TONS of people at the race, I heard upwards of 28,000 people.

I enjoyed the course. First several miles are through Prospect park. From there its down a wide, straight street and finally onto the boardwalk at Coney Island.

The crowds were great at the end and the after party was a blast. I would definitely consider doing this race again!

This was a great race and overall I would highly recommend it if you find an opportunity to run it. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

There are plenty of hotels in the downtown Nashville area. Finding a hotel is a breeze. Travel into and out of Nashville was easy. Nashville has a very nice airport. Much better than some locales I have been too actually. Nashville is a destination in and of itself. Downtown has lots of places to visit, especially if you like live music. Just be careful not to overdo it ahead of the race!

Pack pickup was a breeze, which is typical of a Rock n Roll race. The fitness expo was about what you’d expect. It had the typical booths and gear. Rock n Roll Races always have specialized gear available, but pricey. The line to get a bracelet for drinking at the after party was long, but went fast.

Weather the day of the race was extremely humid. It was high 60s and 90% humidity, very similar to my Key West race. So while it felt cool, I knew the humidity would be rough. Several participants were impacted along the course and afterwards. Humidity is no joke and you need to ensure you know how to handle it!

Pre-race was no problem. Gear drop was easy to find and process. Corral line up was fine, though a little jumbled. There were 2 runners in front of me that had moved up by 5 corrals. The rolling wave release worked fine. Took a while to really get going as they let alot of time pass between the first few ways, then started releasing faster.

The course was outstanding. You start off going straight down through downtown. Wonderful to see all the venues (wonder what this would be like running at night, similar to Vegas!). From there the course winds its way through downtown and out. Some of the highlights include running down the length of 12th street, which was a cool place outside of the downtown area. Through a college campus, around several museums and open spaces, and finally finish at the stadium where the Titans play.

One of the downsides was the finish line. As soon as I crossed I ran into the back of the person in front of me. The exit between the finish line and the onlooker crowd was very short with tons of people trying to meet their runners. The race crew should extend this so its not so congested.

There is definitely hills on this course as well! It was probably the 2nd hilliest course I’ve ran after Baltimore. Hills and humidity got some runners. I took it low and slow up the hills and was able to keep chugging along.

Overall, this was a great race. Rock n Roll races didn’t disappoint, especially for a 25th anniversary. Highly recommend this race if you need a race in Tennessee!

This race was easily one of my top 3 races. I really enjoyed all aspects of the race and would definitely consider doing it again!

Starting with packet pickup and the Health Expo. Packet pickup was simple and easy. I got there not long after the expo opened on Friday. It was definitely a mad house, but the workers did a great job of helping people and getting them their bibs and extras. Lots of booths and vendors to check out. It was certainly one of the better expos I’ve been too, on par with Dallas and Baltimore. The race shirt included was a nice performance long sleeve shirt, fits well and looks nice!

Race day went off extremely well. Security was tight, but I would expect it at a bigger race. There were shuttles from many hotels to the race location. I hopped a shuttle to get there. Oh my goodness! The driver had the heat cranked up to the max, we were sweating before we even got to the site! Philly was cold and chilly on Saturday morning. The ground was very soggy from the rain the last few days. The race had a warming tent onsite, which was nice. However, one of my complaints would be there was no light in the huge tent. Everyone had to use their phone lights to see. Lights in the tent the next time around would be great! Otherwise, everything else was great, bag check was smooth, lining up for the race was easy, the start was smooth, though the delays between waves was wearying.

The race itself was amazing! Beautiful scenery almost the entire length of the course. We first ran through town, down Market street and past Independence Hall and many major historical sites. Wow! From there we dropped down to the riverfront. Oh! I forgot to mention, the wind that day was brutal. After you leave the water front, you run through some amazing neighborhoods. They were great, I particularly loved running up South St. then you are back to downtown. the crowd support at this point was AMAZING! It was a great vibe and really pumped up the runners. After that you run across the river through Drexel University and into the park. The park area was fine, crowd support was thinner, but expected. Finally back into town for the final finish. Again crowd support the final push was amazing!

The race medal was great, everyone was wearing them around town all day. You could easily tell the runners from the Liberty bells ringing around our necks. Overall this was easily a top 3 destination run for me. I would highly recommend this race for anyone. Great scenery, great crowds support, great race prep and execution. Well done!!

Great local race in the Frisco area!

Packet pickup was at Frisco running company. Easy to get to and pick up.
I’ve ran this race every year since 2019. The race continues to improve its operations. One of the prior years I ran, there was a lot of confusion on course route with not enough staff manning direction changes. This year was a lot better, there were volunteers at the right places and it made it easy to know which direction to go. New course this year! Different start/finish, it was in Kaleidoscope park, otherwise a lot of the course is the same from prior years. The new start/finish is a lot better in my opinion.

Parts of the course are on sidewalks or paths, which does make it hard to pass at times, particularly if you have people who run/walk next to each other. You have to call out in advance you are coming.

The best part of this race is all the different artists you have along the course. There is everything from choir groups to painters to performers. It’s great to see the community support the arts and a little variety in our runs.

I happened to be in the Denver area this weekend for a wedding and decided to go out for this half. I didn’t arrive in time for early packet pickup so I can’t comment there.

Overall the race was nice. The course ran along the East Plum Creek trail. It’s a paved trail and paces the creek most of the way. The first mile and a half had quite a few hills, which made it quite interesting on the last mile and a half! The area we ran thru was a nice change of pace.

Everyone at the wedding had me worried about running a race at elevation (6,000 ft.), but it didn’t seem to bother me during the race.

Overall, this was a nice race for the area. However, I thought with the name and backing of Garmin there would significantly more to it. I was a bit disappointed because of that. Otherwise the race was similar to mid-level races we run in Dallas all the time.

I was not able to make the health expo and early packet pickup due to travel complications, so I can’t speak to that part of the experience.

Race day, I arrived early since I had to do day of packet pickup. Arriving that early, parking was easy. There were volunteers flagging us into the parking structure, simple and easy. Early packet pickup was equally easy. They were ready to go ahead of the 6am on the website which was appreciated!

Weather was chilly the morning of. The wind is what made it a bit biting, I wore my normal winter race gear which included hat & gloves. It warmed up a bit as the race went along, but the wind was still biting, even in the last half mile! Otherwise, it was great weather, beautiful blue skies.

Again, race wasn’t that much. We lined up right next to the parking structure, not a lot of big fanfare. They did staggered wave stage, which was fine, didn’t really bother me much. Website said no music, but we all had our headphones, didn’t change anything.

Race course was mostly thru neighborhoods and wooded, paved trails. The paved trails were nice. There’s not much to see on the course otherwise, standard long run fare in my opinion. Finish was okay, nothing terribly special. Limited/Standard after race fare and some a couple vendor booths.

Regarding the swag, the finishers medal is very cool. Can’t complain about that. Shirt is a standard finishers shirt, again nothing to get too excited about.

In summary, I think I was more underwhelmed than anything for a race that has the backing of Garmin. I expected…more.

I finally had a chance to run the Cowtown and it didn’t disappoint.

Packet pickup and the Health expo were great. Very quick and easy. Lots of vendors as well. The location was easy to get in and out off and gave us a chance to scope the area for race day.

It was the perfect day for racing! Nice and cool in the morning, a bit of a breeze from the South but nothing that made it difficult. Not a cloud in the sky. The race started just as the sun rose. Definitely needed the sunglasses today!

Parking was very easy on race day. I arrived early to make sure I got a spot in the parking lot I wanted to park in. Again, simple and easy. They opened the Will Rogers Memorial Center for runners and had an early morning band playing to entertain. Corrals and entry were simple. Lots of toilets. TONS of people! This is definitely one of the most popular races in Texas.

The race itself went off without a hitch, each corral went smoothly and we were off on the course quickly. The course was great. You get to run through many historic or popular neighborhoods. The course takes you all the way out to the Forth Worth Stockyards and right down main street. Maybe my only complaint was running on the bricks, I much prefer asphalt or concrete, even packed trail!

The hill at Mile 9 is no joke. That is a long way to climb, but once you make it to the top you get to go straight down main street. The split point for the Half vs. Marathon/Ultra was easy to navigate. Then a few more ups and downs until you get back to the finish line.

The after party was great. Lots of volunteers handing out water, food and medals. Lots of vendors handing out samples and other goodies.

This race does not disappoint and I highly recommend the Cowtown if you need a Texas race!

I needed to run a half in Louisiana so I chose this race.

In summary, this was a great local race. The producers did a very good job of setting up for the event, coordinating it, and executing on it. You have to go into it expecting a small local race. This is not a marquee race in a major city, but it was well put on an exceeded my expectations.

Packet pickup was simple and easy. Got a free pair of performance socks as well! Race day pre-race was well organized.

The race course was very nice. Flat for the first 3 miles, then we got into hills as we ran through beautiful neighborhoods. The hills kept coming for the middle half of the race, then as the course turned back towards the finish it flattened out again for an easy roll to the finish.

Post-race was very good as well. Lots of post-race nutrition and extras! Along with the finishers medal we received another finishers shirt as well.

Overall I would recommend this race if you are looking for a small local race in the Shreveport area!

This was a fairly standard local race in the DFW area. Running a 10k in Dallas in August is no joke, you definitely need to be prepared and bring hydration with you.

The race production was good. Bodies Race Company always puts on quality races. I did not a point off though because there was no pre-race packet pickup. I prefer to get my stuff ahead of time so I don’t have to lug it back to the car the day of the race.

The course was very flat. I thought it was going to be great that the course was shaded most of the way. The shade was nice, but it was stifling hot in the wooded sections, not a wisp of breeze.

Overall a nice way to spend a Saturday. Seeing many familiar faces and chatting before/after the race!

I don’t normally review local 5k or 10k races. Brutal is the word though. It’s spring in Texas so we expect the weather to be variable. Today was warm and humid. However, the hosts only provided 1 water station along the route… at Mile 1! Thankfully I brought my standard running water bottle with me. I shared some of my water with a fellow runner who was struggling. Course was not marked well at all. People were all over the place at the beginning and end. IF I went the proper way, it was poorly measured. My Garmin said 6.53 miles when I cross the finish. I think Lace Up Running company could have done a lot better in making the race a better experience.

I had an open Sunday and wanted to run a race in Virginia. I love history and running this race really appealed to me. I did packet pickup the morning of the race, no problem at all. There was plenty of parking around the start/finish area. The course was great, beautiful run through the woods. I turned off my earbuds and just listened to nature. Running through the battlefield site was a great experience for me, I found myself slowing quite often to read historical markers and signs.

This was my first destination half marathon. I was really looking forward to running the Chicago Half. I signed up months ago and had my trip completely planned out. First, let me talk about packet pickup and the fitness expo. Packet pickup was at the Willis Tower. Enjoyed the locale. Pickup itself was fine, there was a very long line that ran outside and around the building. Thankfully it was a beautiful day out! I was less than impressed with the fitness expo. It was very small and cramped in what felt like a small corner of a giant building. It could have been better. Race was great! Loved the course, great scenery, crowd was awesome. HOWEVER, the race was half a mile short! Why!?!? My watch and those of everybody I talked to had the race at 12.6 miles. Somewhere around mile 9 or 10, somebody messed up. This was the most disappointing part of the race and why I docked Race Production in my review. I would certainly do the race again, but would expect the distance to be accurate, the fitness expo I can overlook, but not distance.

This was the best Half Marathon that I have ran so far. The preparation, the fitness expo, and race day was outstanding. I would definitely recommend to anyone that they run this race at least once.

The town of Cottonwood, AZ was a great little town. Nice downtown area. The race producers put on a good event, I enjoyed it. Now… it is HOT in Arizona in June. Do not kid yourself and take hydration with you. I hate carrying things in my hands when I run, but I took a bottle of water and drained it before the race was over. The race is also a partial road course and a partial trail run up a dry creek bed. So be prepared for both in 110 degree heat!