Kayla Nargang's Staging Area

I absolutely loved the location for this race. You literally start right on Waikiki beach. But honestly- after that the views are underwhelming. Most of the time you were surrounded by stores and buildings and the ocean was just out of view. Then around mile 9 there is a huge hill as you run up towards Diamond Head. But you never see anything except a good view of the ocean for about 20 seconds. My mom finished about 30 minutes after me and they had NO WATER left at the finish.

A few other things that aren’t deal breakers but worth noting! Race photos took almost 2 weeks to come in and then were $18 a piece. Also- Women’s tshirts with all the female participants names on the back were sold out by the second day of the expo (when we went), so if this is important to you make sure to go the first day of the expo!

Those are my nit-picky thoughts, but overall I loved the island of Oahu and that made the race worth it. Plus hot and fresh malasadas and pineapple juice at the finish were awesome.

This was state #11 for me and my favorite so far. Such a fun group of people and community involvement was top notch. Plus if you love history you can spend top at the Hatfield and McCoy historical sites. Or if you love hiking there is a lot of that too! Definitely will try and make it back again!

Everything about marathon weekend is perfect- except maybe the 230 AM wake-ups! The Dopey Challenge was just that… a Challenge! But I would do it again in a heartbeat!!

Local to the area and love being a part of this race weekend (even years I haven’t ran). Flat course (except for some on-ramps) that takes you from Illinois into Iowa and back into Illinois. Extremely well organized with a great after party. Large expo too!!

I ran this as my Indiana half marathon because I loved the swag and theme. Very nice sweater shirt for a small up-charge and a cute reindeer medal that doubles as a cookie cutter. The course was a loop you ran twice. During one portion you ran next to a well kept homeless camp that locals have since told me is well maintained. Since it’s a smaller race I ran much of it alone. Not much of an after party but they did have mimosas! My mom is 65+ and by the time she finished the awards ceremony was over and she had to ask the director for her age group winner medal. (She was still well below the cutoff time). I think the 5k would have been a lot more fun.

Absolutely beautiful run around the national park. The town of Townsend is so cute and quiet- and this made for a perfect relaxing couples weekend. As always, Vacation Races are the best!