Maddy Crowley's Staging Area

I’m not sure if I’m just jaded since this was half #10 for me, but I thought this was lackluster compared to the online hype and relative size. All of the logistics of the expo parking, start, and finish being centered around the Dickies arena made getting in and out of there a nightmare every time (I ended up having to ride a city bike back downtown to get out after the finish, and taking a bus shuttle in the morning with no dedicated bus lane meant we almost missed the start). The scenery was pretty grim outside of the stockyards and downtown and the aid stations were out of Gatorade far too early on. They also talked about cooling towels for runners but I only saw one small booth with no signage passing them out. In general for 30k runners, I would expect signs visible above a crowd, multiple shuttles picking up runners at a time from downtown, and just more panache in general. I might be biased but I think the Chevron race in Houston is a much more fun, exciting, and well organized experience for your Texas race.

Where to begin-this race was WONDERFUL! I was selected through lottery for the first running of Sydney as a WMM, and it was my first major as well. I PR’ed significantly (the hills are rolling and definitely gave me some boost on the downhill), there were friendly and supportive crowds all along the course, the atmosphere around the city was incredible heading into the race day. Sydney will only continue to boom in popularity and the city itself is 100% worth spending time in and exploring, so enter while you still can before it becomes insane! My only nitpicks were the ASICS booth being crazy on Thursday morning at the expo (and you had to walk through it to escape) and the exits post race needed more ways for pedestrians to leave the Royal Botanic Garden area. I finished at 1 pm and couldn’t get out of downtown until almost 2:30 with the queues to cross Macquarie and no buses/light rail running on time (due to a weekly protest that happens? Seems like one day the city council could cancel it lol). Overall though it was the trip and race of a lifetime, finishing at the Opera House after exploring all the main sights of Sydney along the course was something I’ll never forget!

Pros:
Super flat and lovely fall scenery! The support downtown and in some of the neighborhoods is very strong and you get to see all of Indianapolis. I love the medal and the logistics were extremely streamlined/easy. I had a very easy first marathon and felt like there was plenty of water and sports drinks along the way, even if the mile 18 station ran out of cups!
Cons:
ROUGH roads in some parts and the long stretch from miles 19-23 with no spectators or cheering were really mentally tough. You run along some extremely busy roads where only one lane is blocked off and there were many intersections where cars should have been stopped/turned around and were instead able to pull through in the middle of throngs of people. I was very confused by the road closure system and felt like the traffic control was sketchy once you were out of downtown. Also for Brooks being a sponsor, and this being one of the biggest races in the country, the tech shirts were cheap quality and a bit of a bummer.
OVERALL: I would give this an 8/10! I am biased because it will always be my first marathon and I had a great experience all things considered, but if you have raced a lot around the country some of the nitpicks may bother you. I would love to come back to this race and enjoy the perfect weather and Hoosier hospitality again!

Gosh does anyone in Iowa cheer? Beautiful day, nice flat course, but for the amount of people standing and staring at the runners silently it was giving more Children of the Corn than Chariots of Fire. From what I gathered, the half marathon course changed to run exclusively through several parks. This was somewhat disappointing as the full marathon gets to enjoy more of downtown Des Moines, running on the Drake Relays track, and then looping to the park. We were also a bit cramped on the path for miles 3/8 as they decided to have those run two ways. Otherwise pretty standard race, there was a small outdoor expo and not much free swag ahead of time. I also didn’t get any food afterward, not sure if they ran out of bananas or if I just missed some obvious table in my post run high. Ran this to cross off Iowa, was a fan of Des Moines, but don’t think I would go out of my way to come back.

Super fun, great way to tick off your OK box or an early Thanksgiving race! Loved the course, it’s a great mix of flats and hills and the scenery (beautiful homes, downtown, parks) is lovely. Also the reviews are not joking that this is a PARTY for the homeowners you pass by! I don’t think I have ever or will ever be offered so much alcohol while running. Very cool medal and race jacket for this year as well!
Some cons: The race photography they used was awful. Not that I run just for photos, but I had to go through so many hoops to even access the TWO photos their system tagged of me. Meanwhile when I looked at the full gallery, I could find about 25 more pictures that clearly had my bib in them (I was on the starting line of Corral D for crying out loud!) The finish line was a single line up for the usual bananas, oranges, etc. and by the time I was done I didn’t want to wait in a line on shaky legs.
Overall, would say 8/10-the first 9.5 miles have great crowd support and then be prepared for a total dead zone while running on route 66 into downtown Tulsa. Also the hills are no joke, but I loved the challenge!