Kayla Billadeau's Staging Area

This will always be one of my favorite races, however this years weather was something to toughen you up! This was my 2nd half this year, and tougher since I am 14 weeks pregnant. It was still a positive experience, and even though it was raining, the support on the course was great. Flat with a few underpasses to go under.
The only downfall that I had for this years race was that part way through the course, the half and full “swapped” sides of the course, and this wasn’t well signed. The rest of the course was, but it was a bit frustrating for the lead marathoner to have to run through the cups from the half marathon.

I got to packet pickup the night before, in a tent that was serving the pasta feed, live music playing, and a small area to buy Whistlestop gear.
It went really quick, the staff was super helpful discussing the rain and the course conditions because of that (Its a 6′ wide gravel trail)
The map that they gave didn’t have a North Arrow on it, and was actually upsidedown, which for an out of towner was a bit confusing, but it was actually really easy to navigate once i realized where to go! I thought parking would be more of a problem, but I got there pretty early and parked on the south side of the community center.
The bus to the start line was nice, and there were buildings to stand in for the 31degree start. The course was absolutely beautiful, not very many people cheering, but i hardly noticed because i was staring at all the fall foliage. The bridges that you ran across were frosty and caught me a little off guard for being a bit slick, but i should have been paying attention at those temps a bit more.
The spectators that were on the course were awesome. There were ample stations with water and powerade….they had bananas, gu, and pretzels (Which are my new fav race snack).
The showers were in the ice rink and for those familiar with “hockey locker rooms” thats exactly what it was. Perfect for post race.
The finisher shirt was a nice 1/4 zip tech shirt. The medal was cute with a little train on it. I’d run this again,but totally book a hotel much earlier than I did.

Disclaimer: ND is wicked flat, and to get hills, I run over the overpasses on the interstate.
That being said, I’m not sure how the race director did it, but he managed to have the wind in our face for every hill. That’s some major skill! 😉
The packet pickup was really quick, and the vendors there were really nice. I had a hard time navigating the Sanford center to find the bag drop, there were only signs from the main enterance, but I managed to find it before the gun went off.
The course was really pretty. Google Falls Park. It’s beautiful. The paths were nice and tree lined. The weather was cooler and perfect for me running. I did cramp a little today, but I didn’t get much stretching in so I was a little tight all race.

I took an early start to this race due to heat, and loved it. They were rolling hills that seemed to go on forever. An out and back along farmland and in the distance some mountains. It was beautiful, and a great second of 3 race.
Director makes sure everyone has a good, safe race and finishes. Aid stations were great with bug spray and water.

I undertrained for this race… that being said, There was a snafu with getting runners via bus to the Battleship for the start due to the ferry being out of commission the year I was there. They started late to make sure people were all there, which was very nice of them. The course was beautiful going over the water multiple times and through a residential area and park.
I carry my own water, so the aid stations weren’t used by me.

This is one of my favorite races. The people are awesome, its easy to get to the start line via bus. The crowd was great. The scenery was wonderful!

This was my first half marathon ever, and as tough as that is, I loved it. It was a small race, with amazing people and volunteers. The Aid stations were adequate and nice, it was a loop course and beautiful for a ND girl in December!
This was a pretty relaxed race on mostly sidewalks.