Ian Spafford's Staging Area

Great swag, incredibly well-produced race. The expo was really solid (though the lines to pay get long, so get there early), the crowd support was beyond amazing (I’ve never seen so many people come out for every part of a race), everything down to the fact that it starts on “Race St” and had perfectly ripe bananas that weren’t dried out from being in a fridge, like most races do, at the end of the race, was perfect.

That being said, the hills by the museum are decently brutal, and running this with an injured knee, I had to walk a few times.

The one and only thing to look out for here is phone reception by the start and finish is a problem, since there’s so many people in one place, so it’s hard contact people you’re trying to meet up with. Other than that, the race is legitimately perfect, and Cincinnati was surprisingly a pretty cool city.

Also note it can be a bit humid (especially on rainy days like this year).

Really well-produced/run (pun semi-intended) race! Nothing super-fancy, but beautiful small town, loved that the race started and ended on boardwalk, bib/packet pickup was easy, loved the beer glass at pickup and the Finisher hat at the end, really nice medal, just a really well-done race. The two things to note are this race has a large portion of it on trails rather than roads, and GETTING AN UBER TO THE START LINE IS VERY DIFFICULT, SO PLAN AHEAD TO DRIVE, GET A RIDE, OR LEAVE AN HOUR FOR THE UBER TO GET TO YOU.

Solid course, cool views of a lot of the big DC landmarks, cool that it finished with a view of the capitol, the hill at mile 7 was brutal (THANK YOU to the army guy screaming for everyone to get up the hill, you rock), and a bit humid despite being in the high-40’s to low-50’s, which is rough for anyone who gets killed by humidity, like myself.

The humidity was brutal, but the course was really cool and essentially goes on Duval St and along the coast, I just wish it hadn’t been a cup-free race (though a couple water stations thankfully had a few cups). Also the race people screwed up the bathroom lines by splitting one big line into a bunch of lines 10 mins before the race so everyone who’d been waiting and was near the front of the line lost their spot. Otherwise really cool race!

Great race, fairly cool course (though there’s not a ton to see in Indy, but it hits the big sites), super-flat, very well-run, though more urinals would have been great. I love that they give a cool-looking winter hat, that’s one of my favorite race swags I’ve gotten.

The course was fine, nothing too difficult, expo was fairly small, the race itself honestly felt fairly small, it goes around the city and was cool that it ran by Nissan Stadium and started at their minor league baseball stadium, but nothing too extraordinary. Some small hills but nothing major.

The course was great, some small hills but nothing too brutal, amazing ocean views, and a well-produced race. Race morning bib pickup went well and was surprisingly well-coordinated for a race of this size.

It’s a solid course with good views of the Charles River along the Esplanade, as well as a cool run down Newbury St, with moderate hills, but high humidity given the time of year in Boston.

Really well-run race, it goes through Honolulu which isn’t necessarily the nicest to look at, but also goes through some incredible spots, and the loop around Diamond Head is amazing (it’s an inactive volcano), but that mile-long uphill fairly late in the race was absolutely brutal. Cool afterparty, well-produced race.

Really well-run race, cool course through town and by the ocean, but the hills really sneak up on you. Great after-party and I really appreciated the race-morning bib pickup. Really well-run event.

The course was fine, expo was fairly typical Rock ‘n’ Roll, some small hills but nothing too brutal, some cool views of the desert, the only annoyance was it was a hassle to get off of the ASU campus after the race to get back to my hotel (it wasn’t clear how to leave the campus), as well as the heavy rain during the race.

Solid course, really cool boardwalk ending, not very hilly, not a ton of scenery along a lot of the course, but the last mile or so on the boardwalk was great. Well-produced event.

Central Connecticut is boring but the race is cool, goes through downtown Hartford and goes through West Hartford, running near both of West Hartford’s two Whole Foods, which are obviously the most important landmarks in central CT, and going through Elizabeth Park and finishing under the arch in Bushnell Park. Not too hilly, but also not totally flat.