Kathryn Lucht's Staging Area

I heard good things about this race and I was not disappointed. The race had a huge party at packet pickup to celebrate it’s 40th birthday. The course was well supported, scenic and had only a few (all be them huge) hills. The course had a good variety of entertainment including bands and an Elvis. My favorite part was running thru historic Fort Worth at miles 6/7. Lastly, what gave this race 5 stars was the swag; pre-race t-shirt, finisher t-shirt, “warming” jacket, huge medal, bag of food and beer or wine. An extremely well organized race. A must for Texas!!

Race had some pretty scenic moments, but I am glad I only did the half marathon. Towards the begining of the race you ran on the highway – cloverleafs and all. We had extra fans (annoyed motorists). Then you ran on the boardwalk which was lovely, but felt long. The course takes you past the finish at mile 8 for an out and back and you need to run around tourists.

Final stretch offers half price races at the start of the year. This was a lovely- extremely affordable race. Race starts in the streets but quickly switches to the running trails. Medal and shirt were both nice. Weather was wet allowing for a cooler August temperature in Minnesota.

The race started out rocky. A few minutes before the race was set to start the race director had to announce the buses weren’t coming. Thanks to some quick thinking and some very generous locals the race was able to start. The course was fast like the title and almost all downhill.

After years of seeing the ridiculous race bling I had to sign up. I heard many wonderful things about this race. The race was fine with a good indoor brunch post-race. I will say that 2017 was a very wet year so my experience might have been worse than most years. The bling was huge, the theme was fun, but I was not a fan of the race shirt. The shirts at the expo were adorable…what’s with that?

Packet pickup was easy and the expo was of medium size. The course wasn’t super rememberable (review a year later), but I agree with other reviews that the race was well branded. I loved getting them snack box. Also the medal was a cute Lincoln bottle opener.

This course was brutal, beautiful and fun! I love hilly courses, but this was ridiculous. The background of this race was truly picturesque with rural country farms and mountains. I was even lucky enough to run thru the fog which made up for the steep inclines and declines. Temperature was cool which was treat since the race is in July.
I would highly recommend!!

First off this race had the best pre-race communication I have ever received. They sent me a free mileage pod so I could train virtually and they had weekly challenges leveraging the miles run using those pods. Very cool and unique.
The course was deceptively challenging. There are a number of bridges with long low grade inclines that just killed my legs. The true hills of Pittsburgh can be seen when the marathon and half split (marathon runs up a huge hill). Race also had one of the most organized finish areas with an alphabetic family relocation area.
Swag was good.
Exceptional well planned event!!

This half was on my bucket list…and it turned out to be a huge disappointment. Rock’n’Roll races are great for their additional pre or post race entertainment. Their actual races leave much to be desired. The parts of the course on strip were pretty. The mile in the dark by the airfield was terrifying. The last two water stations without water due to wind was disappointing. Overall, overrated.

There was very little course entertainment, the race temperature was ridiculously hot and humid and the aid station were a disaster. This is one race I would not recommend and my least favorite of my 40+ half marathons.
The medal, shirt and expo were all awesome. The actual race was subpar and could have been so much better.

The race starts and finishes in the Fargo dome. Easy parking and a great way to stay warm. The race course is pancake flat, but due to the amazing crowd support it is not boring. Literally ever block had fans or locals cheering you on. Such a fun race!!