Megan Fischbach's Staging Area

My favorite things about this race: The fall scenery, the beautiful medal, and the amazing photography (and photos are free, wow!)

I chose this race as part of my quest to complete a half marathon in every state and I am mixing up my selections between trail/road, big cities, small towns, beaches, mountains, etc. This was absolutely the perfect small town race during fall, and I highly recommend it! The course was beautiful, as you run through trees displaying their fall color, with the sound of crunching leaves on some of the quieter spots on the trail. I deducted one “shoe” since the course is a straight out and back, which sometimes felt like I was running on a treadmill with the same beautiful picture ahead of me. However, since it was an out and back, and the race ran in waves with many other long distances, you also had the chance to pass by a lot of other runners and cheer each other on! The course was also entirely flat FYI.

I chose to do packet pick-up the morning of the race and everything was simple and easy. We started out with a pre-race meeting and then boarded a school bus to the start line. When we got dropped off, we were allowed to just start whenever ready! I liked this aspect because it created start waves and spaced runners out.

After the race, there was a very nice spread of breakfast items, including pancakes. I also ventured into town and had breakfast, which added to my enjoyment of the day because they were having a Halloween trick- or-treat street for kids. It was adorable and added to the fall festive feeling of the morning.

I really enjoyed the atmosphere of this race. There were so many people supporting along the route with hilarious signs! It was a fun distraction for me, as my training wasn’t as where I like it to be and my only goal was to have fun and finish. I typically run smaller races and trails, so I’ve also never seen pacers in a race. That was a fun attribute and a helpful goal for me to work toward. I appreciated the fact there were plentiful aid stations and restrooms along the course. The scenery was also lovely – the course winds through some beautiful neighborhoods, there is a long stretch along the Arkansas River, and a small portion of the race runs on the actual route 66. I enjoyed the rolling hills and the beautiful fall colors still hanging around (the fall color display here in Colorado is well over by now!).

Half marathon runners were given a half zip long sleeve tech shirt and another major perk was the free professional photos with tons of photographers along the route! The only disappointments for me was that our race packet was sealed and I assumed there were bib pins in there and when I got back to the hotel there were none. I also didn’t see any at the expo and had to frantically borrow some from other runners at the hotel (I’ll just make sure to bring my own next time, so this is a lesson learned and I’ll take some responsibility here). COVID delays also meant the medals were not ready to hand out, which is sort of a bummer because I love taking pictures at the finish line with my prize! I’m trying to run all 50 states so I actually really enjoy keeping the medals to display – I believe they are shipping them though? And one more picky thing: I was excited to see Lululemon was a sponsor but no swag or a discount at the store? C’mon!

This was my first time visiting the state of Alabama and we stayed at The Lodge at Gulf State Park, which I highly recommend! We got a discount for the race and it was in a perfect location, in the park and on the beach, perfect for cooling down tired feet in the cool gulf water. We wanted to play it as safe as possible with COVID, so decided to dine mostly here as well and really enjoyed the restaurant’s food (although a bit expensive but understandable at a Hilton). The staff here was fantastic. We also enjoyed renting the free bikes and touring the park a little more!

It’s tough to comment on the race party/production due to COVID. This is the 3rd race I have run during the pandemic and they are all pretty similar with social distancing, little/no expo, etc. I did enjoy the corrals. They gave out full water bottles at aid stations and no sports drinks (is this normal?) and I didn’t like that they only offered GU energy gels – I prefer more natural brands such as Honey Stinger. However, with the flat course and humidity, I didn’t feel like I needed much supplementation during the race.

I loved running through the park – it was beautiful! I heard a few people comment that this course was not flat but I think that is relative to your individual training. Being from Colorado, this is the flattest course I have ever run to be honest. There were some minor elevation increases but not what I would call a hill, and I ran one of my fastest times at this race despite having some foot pain at mile 8-10.

The medal was gorgeous and I love my long sleeve tech shirt! I would run this race again!

I ran this race to kick off my 50 states quest (have only run halves in my home state up until this one) and I loved the scenery of running up Mitchell pass and around the Scottsbluff national monument. Course support was excellent with many aid stations and toilets, and very organized waves and social-distancing for COVID, with the Western State Basketball team leading each corral and cheering us on! I loved the neck gaiter they handed out, which I have now used while running and in other races too. Much better than trying to handle a mask. This was my first race back since the start of the pandemic and I was super grateful to be racing! The swag bag included a bag of white beans for chili, a cotton t-shirt (I would always prefer tech so that I can run and play tennis in it) and the finisher medal was a nice cut-out of the state. I plan on making a display for them all. Being from Colorado, I love changes in elevation and scenery, so I highly recommend this Nebraska race for that reason. I loved that it was also some trail and some road. Toward the end you run through a stunning tree-lined and American flag-lined road! The only thing I would change about this race is that there were no professional photographers on course, and I always love to buy or download race photos.