Peter Wrobel's Staging Area

This is a small half and full (and quarter) marathon race that starts at Hayden Lake. The full runs around the Lake and is very hilly. The half runs along the Lake and then through residential areas. Very well organized for such a small race with a nice shirt and medal. The course was very scenic even though we ran through light rain most of the race. Recommended.

This was a very nice and small (2000 runner) race. The race was more difficult than I expected with rolling hills. The scenery was very nice. Although this was not really a problem, it does seem odd that they do not have an expo (I needed to buy a forgotten armband) the day before. The bibs are given out at the start of the race and you get your t shirt at the finish line.

The race was very hilly and the temperature was in the 20s. The shuttles worked really well. I picked up the shut up at the Academy sports store. They were nice enough to open up at 6 AM for the runners. The finish line was at the college track, which was nice. It was also nice that the gym was open for the runners before and after the race and it was warm. I enjoyed the run through the old part of liberty.

The elevated part of the run was mostly over by mile 5. The run through the Army base was an added bonus. Very nicely done and well organized race. The medal was also nice.

This is a relatively large race, but it was easy to get to and the expo and after party were well organized and fun. The course is relatively flat but you get to see much of the city including Churchill Downs.

Fantastic course, mostly on road but some trail. Small number of runners. Signup on Friday was either at a race store 25 miles from Belle Island, or for two hours Friday night. I am not sure what they had at the store, but there was no expo or anything like that at the signup on Friday or, for that matter, after the race. On the other hand, it was a beautiful flat course and well organized.

Nicely organized small town marathon. Course went through town and the local state park. It was cold and windy, but the afterparty was very nice.

For some reason the 5K race was at 7am and the half/full marathons were at 8am. This resulted in very heavy traffic around the start lines. Other than that, the course was scenic and went through the St. Jude’s hospital grounds. The post-race party was excellent and held at the local AAA baseball stadium which was also the finish line.

This is really challenging half marathon course with three steep hills between miles 3 and 6. However the course runs through the Antietam Battlefields which made it worthwhile – absolutely beautiful and historic course. There were under 1500 runners for the half and the full which was also very nice and made parking very easy. Only problems noted: 1. lack of water bottles at the finish line (you were given a water bottle and had to fill it up using only 8 cisterns – very inefficient and it resulting in long lines before you could get a drink of water), 2. there was not a starting mat – all timing was off the gun – and it was unclear exactly where the start line was. Use start and finish mats next time, 3. I was not particularly impressed with the medal.

Nice local race, was tougher than expected (the race organizers should have provided an elevation map). I understand how GPS watches do not actually measure the official distance, but mile 11 – 12 really seemed truncated. But a nice race experience and a nice destination for out-of-state runners.

Very nice race – very scenic and very fast. The 20K is running all four of the public 5K races (because of the train schedule, the races are staggered every 1+ hour). They have a lounge area for the 20K participants and you get a special medal. Only problem was they ran out of water in the lounge area and they did not bother to cut up the oranges. The outdoor women’s 5K world record was almost set this year – Genzebe Dibaba missed her own record by 2 seconds.

Small race; actually also had a roller blade half marathon. The expo had one vendor! Swag was underwhelming. Scenery was interesting and nice on the river.

A few hills, but nice run through the historic area of Fredericksberg, CA. Nice use of local Marines at the end of the race. Expo and swag were ok. Would do it again.