Tom Nagelmeyer's Staging Area

After 11 years out of the Marathon game, I decided to jump back in and run this race with a friend. Overall, I found it an enjoyable race but the finish left a bad taste in my mouth. I would do it again but need to revise my plan to leave the finish line.
I signed up for this race months ahead of time and had a good train up, following the Hal Higdon Novice 2 program to the letter. The organizers did a great job communicating and sent out a 30+ page race guide a week prior, which answered all of my questions.
The Expo was well organized and efficient, although traffic getting there was awful (go early and on Friday if possible!). The number of vendors seemed low given the size of the race, but I normally don’t buy anything.
On the morning of, getting to the race was well organized – the bus pick up at Union Station ran exactly as they said it would and was quick.
After waiting 45 minutes to use the restroom (I’d say that’s pretty normal for most races I’ve participated in), the line up in the corrals was well organized. For a race of 20k plus participants, they had me across the line 4 minutes after gun time, which was very fast.
The course is challenging – the first I’ve run with so many ups and downs. My legs definitely felt it! I knew it going in but still was a bit of a surprise.
There were plenty of water and electrolyte stations on the course, although I personally don’t care for the electrolyte they had on course. They only had two Gus on course, which is basically pointless (to be fair, most marathons only have two) – you have to bring your own energy if you’re going to last 3+ hours during the race.
Crowd support was hit or miss for the first 18 miles – if you like a crowd from start to finish, that could be disappointing. It really picks up at the end though, when you need it most.
Lots of people complain about the turnaround – be mentally ready and it won’t seem as bad.
With the increase in crowds, there was a marked increase in the number of bandits, which when they are on bikes can be frustrating and a little dangerous. I wish they had better control of the crowds.
Mile 25 and on is a gradual uphill, which is just cruel, but I still was able to finish with a PR on this course.
There were two issues at the end which made this race feel disorganized and unfortunate given how the rest seemed well run.
1) It was recommended to park near the finish line at a nearby mall. My wife and I got lunch at the mall and then planned to leave. An hour after we hopped in the car, we’d moved about 100 ft, gave up and reparked. I spend another two hours at a bar and by that time traffic was flowing. So if you plan on parking at the finish line, be prepared to be a mall rat all day.
2) I ran this race with a friend, and 72 hours later, his race time still hasn’t been posted. I’ve participated in much smaller races that have results near instantly, so this is inexcusable.