Paula Rudnik's Staging Area

This is my first time in Fort Worth or Dallas, and I was under the impression it was flat. This race is not flat for this Chicago runner! Don’t laugh at me, Colorado. I was underprepared for the humidity and the unexpected heat when I signed up for an early spring race. Needless to say, this was my worst performance in a half marathon so far. But enough about me, let’s talk about the race.
Expo: fun, lots of booths, but they were sold out of all the race stickers for distances other than the 5K and ultra. This was sad, and there was no opportunity to buy or get these stickers after the race.
Morning of the race: The traffic to the race was unreal. It took a very long time to get to any parking lots. Thankfully, my hubby dropped us off and went to park, but it took an extra 10-15 min just to drop us off. There were not enough bathrooms and the lines were huge.
The race itself: There were a ton of people but it never got too crowded. Water stations every 1.5 miles but not enough people manning them, so they got very congested and didn’t have enough time to fill the water cups. They had stations with pickle slices, m&ms, gatorade, even one place where they handed out wet cool towels. However, I wish these were marked on the course map so I would know where to look! I missed the cool towels completely, just saw a lady throwing one at a runner as I was already past the station. One station didn’t have any water in the cups as I was passing by. The website said they will have filling stations to fill up your own bottle, but maybe this was on the marathon/ultra course? Anyway, it was really hot and humid, and I thought they were a little underprepared for these conditions.
The course, like I mentioned, had small rolling hills. You start downhill and it’s great, but then it’s pretty up and down, with a big hill around mile 9-10. They had fun bands and several places where people cheered. Running through the stockyards was fun too! It never got boring.
The after party: Crowded! Lots of goodies! I had the Gold Pass, which got me into an area with the best and closest bathrooms post race, a hot dog and lots of snacks, and a bloody mary 🙂
Swag: I got a race shirt AND a finisher’s shirt. Nice

This is a very well organized race. The expo is huge, it was easy to pick up my packet, the awesome shirt I’ve been wearing for 2 days, and a bonus hat. Lots of hotels with special rates for the event, close to the start line.
The course itself is so flat! I’m from Chicago, and this was even flatter than my home town. Two negatives were the scenery and the crowds. Running on the track was definitely awesome, but the rest of the course didn’t highlight the city. Wearhouses, sketchy neighborhoods, power plants. Meh. As there were over 20k participants, it was crowded most of the way. The corrals took off in quick succession, which was nice because we didn’t have to wait a long time to start, but this resulted to having to dodge people most of the way. On the upside, there were water, Gatorade, and maple syrup stations evenly spaced. Plenty of bands and local entertainment kept it from being boring. The crowd support was amazing. Plenty of bathrooms. The after party was huge! The medal was awesome. Overall, a fun, flat race.

The expo: easy packet pickup, lots of stuff for sale, got a giant bag of protein powder as a goodie bag. Tshirt was cute! Expo was pretty small. Hubby was able to sign up last minute for the half (at a higher price, of course).
The race: There were 2 corrals that took off about 5 minutes apart. The first couple of miles goes up a hill, where there is a water station, then it’s about 4 miles of downhill, until an aid station at 6.6 miles. Lots of people got lost on this section due to inadequate signage. All paths eventually lead to the correct track, however I definitely gained unnecessary distance here.
There are parts of the trail where you run single file on the side of a canyon. This is the most picturesque part and also a bit scary. I was very self conscious of people wanting to pass me here. There is nowhere to move to let people pass.
The second longer half of the trail is mostly uphill, with at least 2 miles of ankle deep sand towards the end. The sand section is HARD! Basically, rolling hills where I ran the downhills and sunk deep in the sand crawled the uphills. Definitely something to train for! I had no idea how to run this part properly. I was so exhausted, I missed the last water station, and was completely on empty towards the end. Clocked 14.1 miles.
They give you a nice snack box and a banana when you are done. There were 2 food trucks, and you get a coupon to redeem for food. None of the food was very appetizing. The Navajo Taco is just a deep fried mess. I wish they had beer. The medal is very cool, and it’s much bigger for the longer distances.
Overall, a great experience for my first trail race. Looking forward to racing with Vacation Races again!