Kristie Brush's Staging Area

This race is absolutely beautiful!!! The huge mossy oak trees are very enchanting.
Overall the race was a great experience. Just beware there is a section of the course (about 2-2.5 miles, double that if your running the full, it’s a repeat course) that is sand. No hard packed, but fluffy sand. It will impact your performance.
Two main cons: the wait to get back to the mainland after the race was 2 hours long! Not enough ferries.
The after party shutdown the tab wayyyy to early being that it started at 5 and we got back off the ferry at 4:45 due to waiting 2 hours.

It was a great tour of the city, race population appropriate for city size. Plenty to see and do in and around Austin. Expo was well organized and efficiently ran, only down side was having to pay to park to go in and get my packet.

Course was kind of boring, it got warmer, quicker than expected. The run though Lambeau field was the highlight. Overall, city of Green Bay is kind of small, but easy to get around and sight see.

Grandma’s marathon has a huge reputation. I don’t know what I was expecting exactly, but I was left feeling like I missed the allure.
The expo was a hot mess. Traffic everywhere, construction impeding the flow to and from the packet pickup. I eventually jumped out the car while my husband drove circles while I grabbed my packet and left.
It’s known to have their accommodations in the area fill up quickly. We were lucky enough the find a room at an Bed and Breakfast. It was fine.
Shuttle to and from the start and finish was ok.
The finish line was hard to access due to traffic and the lack of parking and space, so my husband couldn’t get to the finish line to meet me. He had to just meet me back at the shuttle locations.
I feel like the event is too big for the town. It might be a great event but the over whelming logistics makes is more of a headache. I’m sure if you are from the area, you probably know backroads and tricks, but those traveling in, unfamiliar with the area find themselves more overwhelmed, ready for the even to be over.

Marshall was a great little town to visit in the fall. It started off pretty chilly, but warmed up nicely.
It is a double loop course for the marathon distance. You start outside of the football stadium and finish inside the stadium. It was a mostly flat course giving you a good tour of the town.