Gwen Westerling's Staging Area

This was a nice race. There was a small-moderate sized expo where you could grab race merch and any other things that you forgot. Production and communication were well done. Course was fine, not as much ocean view as you might expect. Very minimal crowd support. After party was ok, no beer and they ran out of bottled water. The heat and humidity are no joke make sure you carry water. Waikiki Beach is a great place with lots to do. Lots of hotels and vacation rentals near the start. Swag was a tech shirt with a cute design and finisher medal.

BMW Dallas was #11/50 1/2 marathon races for me. It has easily tied Flying Pig as my favorite. Communication from the race directors was the best I’ve ever had so I felt very informed going into the race. The expo was good sized, so we were able to shop for extra merch and pick up any last-minute things from vendors that we needed. I did the weekend series with a 5K on Saturday and the 1/2 marathon on Sunday. The Weekend Series swag was amazing, and I loved it. The finisher jacket is beautiful, and I’ve been already wearing it around. Not super crazy about the T-shirts but I need another T-shirt like I need a hole in my head so no big deal. The production for these races was top-notch with great organization. Wonderful volunteers. They did an awesome job hyping up the runners at the start and even had fireworks.
The course for the 1/2 marathon went through some beautiful neighborhoods with the homeowners coming out to cheer you on. There were many “extra” stations from the neighbors. I saw whisky, beer, jello shots, and much more. The spectators were phenomenal. Very few parts of the course were empty of support. It was very motivating. One house even had a giant inflatable snowman with fake snow shooting all over. There are quite a lot of hills but for the most part they were gentle rolling. I trained moderate hills, so they didn’t feel like anything much to me.
The after party and post-race had 2 free beers, plenty of snacks and even a warm breakfast burrito that was delicious. Lots of space for people to hang around and watch the finish line with a huge screen.
We also managed to somehow be invited into the BMW VIP tent which was absolutely amazing. The runner’s lounge was very similar, and I would highly recommend spending the extra money. They have food and a warm tent. Love. My only con for this race was that it was sold out and kind of crowded. Most races thin out after a few miles but here I found myself navigating around people for the entire race. I found that annoying.
Dallas itself is a wonderful little downtown with lots of things you can wander around and do for the weekend. Unfortunately, they have quite a large homeless population which made walking around at night feel uncomfortable. It gets dark t 5:20 so it made for early nights, but we were so tired it wasn’t big deal.

I would highly recommend this race!

This was a fun race to do for Indiana. Getting to run through the speedway was pretty unique.
PROS: Crowd support was great, lots of porta-potties on the course, great expo, very well-run and organized race. Indianapolis is a fun town with lots of hotels right at the start/finish, great restaurants, and the medal was really nice. I also loved the “Golden Mile” which honored fallen soldiers. I wore a soldier’s name on my back (which they were handing out at the expo) and their family member found me on the course and thanked me. That was the highlight of my race for sure.
CONS: I didn’t love the post race party. The free beer was VERY small and they ran out of chocolate milk. There were food trucks with food available for purchase. Other than the speedway, the race ran through neighborhoods which weren’t very exciting, so that was a little disappointing. I would much rather have gotten to run through downtown. There is A LOT of people at this race (>20,000) so it was also quite congested.

Wow. This race was a lot of fun. I did the Dolphin challenge which included an 8K on Saturday and the 1/2 on Sunday and then you get an extra medal. The 8K was very congested the whole time because there were a lot of walkers. I found it very annoying to navigate around people the entire race. The 1/2 marathon was great. The race was exceptionally run by J&A and I had a blast. The course was interesting and there was plenty to look at the entire course, so you didn’t get bored. Bonus that it was nearly entirely flat. I hate hills. The swag at the end was the best I’ve ever received at a race by far. The medals were great also. I will say I absolutely hated the shirts but I have plenty of shirts, so I just bought one that I liked and called it good. The expo was nice size and there were plenty of vendors to purchase any last-minute things you may have forgotten. The post-race party was absolutely epic with live band, stew and plenty of beer. It was my favorite part for sure. The only thing I was really disappointed about was the crappy weather, but that is out of anyone’s control. Dress in layers!

I did enjoy this race, but it was not my favorite, and I probably wouldn’t do it again. Unfortunately, it was VERY hot the day of the race, which one should expect in July (87 degrees by the time we finished). The course was hilly and of course the worse hill was in the last mile. I didn’t see anyone running up that hill.

There was no expo, which isn’t a big deal as long as you aren’t expecting that. Just a spot to pick up your bib and T-shirt and not really much extra swag to buy.

The race was well organized and well put together. Not much community spectating and no live music or bands on the course. I always really appreciate that support. Much of the course was shaded which was nice.

The town of Madison was fun and there are some fun things to do while you are there so be sure to explore.