Kansas City Marathon - Race Reviews

My first marathon & overall a wonderful experience! Expo & packet pick up was good - local running store booths, pacer tent, free airbrush tattoos, lots of booths for upcoming races. Parking for expo was free in downtown KC at Union station. Race day parking was also free but be prepared for a bit of a walk to the start (nice warm up!) there were a lot of porta pots at the start but even so the lines were long. No corrals but pacers had people grouped around them. I started with 4:40 pace group - my pacer was VERY Enthusiastic & fun but a bit after halfway point he handed off to another pacer & slowed down (though he did tell us all he was planning to do that). I ended with the 4:50 pacer who offered great words of encouragement! The course was new this year & everyone said much improved - still lots of hills but more strategically located along the course compared to years past. I'm from KC & train regularly on real steep grades & didn't mind the hills at all. Spectators were AMAZING! saw lots of great signs & they were wonderful cheering us on. Aid stations were well stocked & it was clear when you wanted water then sports drink, volunteers very friendly. Later aid stations also had Gu & bananas & even had a pickle juice & chicken broth station at Mile 24. Finish line was amazing though I didn't stay for the food (I was wanting brunch - recommend First Watch if you like breakfast after marathon). My only issue with this race was first few aid stations had a line of porta pots but only 1 actually open (?!?!) and so lines were long - that REALLY slowed me down! I hope they fix that next year otherwise really awesome race!

You will earn your finishers medal.

Kansas City plays a great host to the marathon. The town was fun to explore. I took part in the I-35 Challenge, running on Saturday in KC and Sunday in Des Moines earning a 3rd medal and a chance to see 2 great cities. I stayed at the Home 2 Suites hotel which was a block to the Start/Finish and the Expo at Union Station. I highly recommend this hotel as it took great care of the runners and set out breakfast early for us. Race day was pouring out and most runners waited till the last minute to head to the starting chute to avoid the downpour. The race organizers seriously misjudged the length of the chute to accommodate the self seeded crowd and did not have openings in the fence to get into the corral. It was a hot mess. Runners pushing and shoving all along the outside of the fences being seriously rude and shoving and bumping into each other. Slow runners and walkers need to go to the back but they always want to line up in front for some reason. This could be improved upon. Anyhow, the rain didn't really dampen my spirits. I like running hills, & I don't mind rain so that was a plus. The spectators and volunteers who braved the weather were VERY energetic. There were water stations every mile, I recall. That was so awesome. I really liked the scenery. We went through a lot of neighborhoods and they held a contest for best water station. If you are a fast marathoner, be prepared to have to deal with slow half runners who will be all over the course in the last few miles. The last 3/4 mile is downhill and fast which was nice. I was pumped to see the finish line in the distance in front of the veterans memorial. Didn't stop at the BBQ finish line party. The park was waaaaaay too overcrowded to even think of waiting in such a long line for food. We left and headed to Des Moines to do it all again the next day. I would recommend this race and someday may do it again as we all had a nice time.

Really great race. Course gives a great overview of the City,(only downside was a lot of turns to get through some of the neighborhoods and could have been a bit better marked but not anything that would cause a problem) organization was top notch and even in a BBQ city, post race they had a vegetarian sandwich option that was really pretty good. And let's talk about fan and volunteer support. Absolutely great under any circumstances, but throw in the fact that it rained most of the race (and pretty hard at times) this was just an amazing statement about this race, organization and city. A tip of the hat and thank you to organizers, volunteers and spectators.

This is a well-developed, well supported race on a rolling course that displays Kansas City's scenic jewels and best neighborhoods, with a fun and exhilarating downhill finish A corps of smiling, enthusiastic volunteers staff the race expo and the course itself, with an abundance of well-organized aid stations (even the PowerAide was well mixed, tho sometimes a bit on the weak side), and no shortage of porta-potties. The race medal is attractive and heavy, and the race swag is as nice as the tech race shirt was un-inspiring. Despite running the first half in a light rain, I enjoyed the event and would recommend it. Now that the nice stuff is out of the way, there is room for improvement. The self-seeded start was a mess, with pace groups (a runner's best indication of where to queue up) too close together. As a result, there wasn't enough room for the runners on the course, so, runners stayed on the side, and moved into the course through a porous start fence once the race was underway. The result was chaotic, dangerous, and slow. A race with the experience of this one SHOULD know how much room to allot, and expand the length of the start area accordingly. On-course, some of the timing was non-functional, including that for the Garmin Quarter Mile challenge. (If organizers knew the challenge wasn't able to be timed, letting the runners know would have been appropriate, since I and others compromised our overall time to hit that challenge distance hard.) Following the race, there was a pronounced shortage of food. I was slightly ahead of mid-pack as a marathon finisher, and found fruit and water at the finish line, and beer beyond, but nothing else I could eat. I saw others with chocolate milk but was told that it was gone, and the chit for a BBQ sandwich is of little use to this runner who cannot eat pork. I did get a card for Chic-Fil-A. but the card itself was inedible and I found no place to redeem it. There were NO other food alternatives, either in the post-race area of the park, nor in the VIP room. Travel expenses were quite reasonable, including airfare, other hotel accommodations, free race-day parking, and rental car rates that were a relative bargain.

Great race. Not the best course to try for a PB due to the hills and sharp turns, but cool stuff to look at. Great organization. I have never seen this many water/poweraid points in a race. It was like every mile. There were lots of pacers as well. The bag drop was easy and food beer at the end were nice additions. Spectators were fantastic. Almost no one was out in the first 10 miles or so, but that was probably because it was ~50F and raining. The second half there were lots of folks out with candy and stuff. I would do this race again and recommend it to someone if your in town this time next year.

I ran this race as part of the I-35 challenge. It was a little hillier than I expected, but I think that made for better variety on the course. Great course support and volunteers (although one aid station around mile 25 seemed mostly interested in talking among themselves). Finish line festivities sounded fun, but I didn't get to partake in much due to needing to get to the Des Moines expo (3 hour drive). The bbq sandwich was awesome though, fantastic flavor w/o any sauce. The main host hotel (Westin Crown Center) was perfect for race logistics, right at the start and finish line. Ask for late checkout when you make your reservation though, an email right before the race said no late checkouts, but they gave us ours that we asked for when making the reservation. I would highly recommend this to 50 staters, particularly if I-35 continues to run both races on the same weekend.

Great scenic course through beautiful KC neighborhoods, a lot of hills, perfect running weather in 2018: slight breeze clear blue skies. Great expo, great pre & post race. A lot of fan support. One to do again!

This is a hilly course but it wasn't as bad as I expected after reading reviews. That being said, be ready for the last few miles to really challenge you; I wish I had been mentally prepared for those-though the last 3/4 mile down hill was fun. The course also takes you through some fantastic neighborhoods and past some of the city's landmarks, which was really nice. Overall, this is a well-run marathon and I love that the sponsor hotel is RIGHT next to the start and finish. The finish festival, however, needs some work. It seemed so geared for the half marathoners. I am a slightly above-average marathoner (3:45) and there was very little food and beer choices left when I got there. I can't imagine what was there an hour later. I also felt bad for my two daughters who waited patiently with their mother for me to finish before getting to play on the bounce houses only to have all the bounce houses taken down right as we got to them. Again, I finished in under 4 hours! What's the point of having an after party if you are going to start tearing down the party with most of the full marathoners still on the course? It's a good race and I would do it again if I ever get off my 50 states kick, but it's definitely geared toward the half marathoners so keep that in mind.

The race itself was fantastic! Great Course and Great live music. However, the virtual goodie bags were a complete bust and the finish line celebration was subpar. To receive any one of the 'virtual' goodies, which were just slight discounts, you had to purchase a fairly expensive item. So in reality, the only way to receive ANY benefit from the $120 race beyond the run itself was to go online and spend even MORE money in order to receive a slight discount. After spending a good deal of time sifting through the offers, I settled on the only one I could afford, a tasting wine package from Tasting Room NY. Unfortunately, this $7 purchase never arrived, and I was then charged $168 for a 'membership' that I had never actually joined. To be clear, the company never shipped me any wine, and charged me over $175. After learning about the charges I called Tasting Room NY to ask about the charges and was met with rude and vulgar resistance. After being told several times that I would be charged the $175 no matter what I did at that point, I asked the male employee to please cancel my 'membership,' at which time he hung up on me. Overall, I was very impressed with the race course, but the virtual goodie bag was a bust and had an incredibly poor experience with this particular sponsor.

I loved this marathon! For me, it was just the right size, festive in some sections, peaceful in a few. The crowd was fun and supportive. The marathon runs from downtown to Liberty Memorial, Westport, the Plaza, the Nelson-Atkins, Loose Park, Ward Parkway, Waldo, Brookside, Paseo, and back to downtown. I'm from Kansas City, but was still struck by the beautiful path we were taking through the city. Overall, you are climbing gradually the first half (to 75th Street), and then head downhill for the second half. There are also some rolling hills throughout the course. The biggest climb is Sunset Drive, but that's also one of the prettiest streets on the course. I appreciated the downhill finish, which lasts for several miles. I hope to run this many more times!

Moderately hilly course that runs through the pretty parts of the city that keeps your interest. Only moderate amount of spectators but those that came out were very vocal. Well aided run with gatorade and gu stations every 1-2 miles. Nice hooded race shirt. Good food and drink at the finish with beer, hamburgers, chick a filet, chocolate milk and more. Really enjoyed this race. The medal went over the line in size and gaugyness. Prefer smaller and interesting local designs. Parking was extremely convenient for the race start and free. Plenty of porta potties at the start and on the course Would do it again.

I registered last minute because another race was cancelled. I stayed at the Sheraton which was very nice (but got bed bugs on my neck) so beware. Westin was right there too at the start/finish. Expo was organized but small. Shirt is a thin hoodie which was different. Course was hilly so challenging for me but was a tour of the city. They ran you thru the most gorgeous parts of town, homes were incredible, parks all green. Aid stations were adequate with great volunteers...thank you. Spectators were intermittent, but where they were located was full of enthusiasm. I thought it was very organized. Hotels at the start/finish were perfect. I really enjoyed this

This marathon is well organized and has a beautiful course. I did not know much about Kansas City before I arrived and I did not know what to expect. Someone told me Kansas City is big into fountains and you will see plenty throughout the course. Also look for the giant shuttlecocks at about six miles. There are some hills on the course but nothing a New Englander could complain about. The expo was fun but not overwhelming. If you need cheering spectators on the entire course, you might want to find another race but if you need some gentle motivation like I did, the pacers were awesome.

The course is hilly. It also lets you experience many of KCMOs varied neighborhood and scenery. The pace groups that my family experienced worked perfectly for us. They lay out their plan on the website; the pacers we used understood it; and they made it work for their runners.

I really enjoyed this marathon. This is a great way to see some of the most beautiful parts of the city. The course is very hilly so I would recommend incorporating hills into your training if you sign up for this race. The medal is awesome. Overall, this is a very nice race.

This was my 4th marathon and my goal was to qualify for Boston 2016. I did it, finished in 3:37. So freaking excited about that!!!! The weather was fantastic, very well organized expo, beautiful medal, and awesome tech shirt. The food after was delicious with BBQ sandwiches and chocolate milk. Even Chick Fil A was walking around giving out chicken sandwiches. I think this was an added bonus. The course was challenging at times. Train on lots of hills and you will be fine. I loved that the Crown Center was open early morning hours before the race with some shops open inside and the bathrooms too. Awesome! For the first time I ran with a pace group. This grop was from Smart Pacing and they are phenomenal. I high recommend doing this. Since this was my first time running this particular marathon and I didn't know the course they knew exactly how to pace the group. My family was able to cheer me on in several locations which really was an energy boost. The spectator support was fantastic. Well done Kansas City!! I look forward to coming back in 2015!!

The KC Marathon is an excellent race that shows off the best, most scenic and historic districts and neighborhoods of Kansas City. Both packet pickup and the Start/Finish line are in Crown Center, which is a great place to accomodate both; just be sure to arrive with a good 20-30 minutes to spare as the port-a-john lines can be long (but move fast) and the starting corral starts filling up with 15 or so minutes to go. The course has some challenging hills; the first mile warms your legs up with a gradual 100 foot climb before it goes back down that same 100 the next mile. One of the two big, long climbs is just before the 2.5 mile mark, just past historic Union Station, where you'll climb 140 ft. to Liberty Memorial, then climb another 60 ft. a quarter mile later. There are also notable ascents around mile 11 and mile 21, but once you've reached the peak around mile 23, the final 5K is all downhill by about 150 ft. to the finish line. As a whole this is a hilly marathon by most standards, but a PR or something close can be earned here with smart pacing and patience. As menacing as a few of the climbs can be, the downhills can be equally as generous, and though there are very few flat parts (if any), valuable seconds and minutes can be made up on the rolling downhills if you are prepared and adept at doing so. Course support is more than ample, water and Gatorade at all stations with GU and fruit at some of the final stations in the last 10 miles. The beautiful parkways and boulevards throughout the route are one of the best parts of the course, and KC residents do a good job of coming out to support and enthusiastically cheer on the runners. The finish line festival is a good time, lots of action and excitement around Crown Center and a good spread of food and KC's own Boulevard beer to celebrate your accomplishment with. The finish medal is one worth showing off with pride; full color and tastefully big but not oversized. The finishers tech shirt is also very nice, with different sizing/styles for men and women. All things considered this is an outstanding race that makes me proud to call this area home; it has fast grown into one of the best marathons in the Midwest. For KC-area runners like myself it is a staple of the season schedule, for out-of-towners I would strongly recommend making the trip to come run KC, you will not be disappointed!

The highlight was having Bill Rodgers as announcer at the starting line. The course in general was OK but nothing spectacular. One major issue with the course was about 1-2 miles of the course was on unpaved roads around the 16 mile mark of the marathon. I never received my t-shirt (registered at the expo) - despite asking about it over email after the race. I placed in my age group and never received age group award. I was initially placed in the wrong age group. In my contact with the organizers about all these issues, they seemed to not care much. Definitely a contrast with other races I've participated in. Before the race, there was a lot of controversy over the organizers deciding not to provide finishers shirts. They had done this in the past and the website included this as a promise until shortly before the race. Won't be running the race again...

An exceptionally well organized race. Hilly but scenic course, with lots of variety. Nice downhill finish. Beautiful medal, nice shirt. Enjoyed the free beer, but the thimble-sized BBQ sample was a little silly. The highlight for me was the Smart Pacing team. A very course specific plan, with a nice easy start, strong middle, and even effort up and down the hills was well-planned and brilliantly executed. I wish I could run with them every time. Thanks again to Brad and Ron.

KC really rolled out the red carpet for this race - and the results were fantastic. The weather was perfect. The course is challenging, but this is a well publicized fact. While challenging the course is absolutely incredible - winding through beautiful parts of Kansas City (The Plaza, Westport, Power and Light District, Scenic Neighborhoods). The race was also very well organized, and had fantastic volunteer support at each and every aid station. The aid stations even had signs in advance of the station to let you know what to expect at the station (water, gatorade, GU, fruit, vasoline, etc.). The specator support was also strong - although there were a few miles on the back half without bands or overwhelming support. The only downside was the fact that finisher's shirts were originally promised, but not delivered. However, the marathon medals were very nice - and the post-race festivities were a blast. Great Job KC - I'll be back for sure.

I really enjoyed this race, the course was challenging but not brutal, the event was well organized,and the smartpacing team was amazing! I wish there were more bands along the full marathon course as it got a bit lonely after the half split off, but the fans were enthusiastic and had fun signs! The medals were gorgeous!

My first marathon, although I've run several half marathons and other races. It was a beautiful day in Kansas City with perfect temperatures and no noticeable wind. Beautiful course gave a fantastic tour of a great city. Great aid stations with plenty of water, gatorade, GU, and various snacks along the way. A couple of disappointing aspects: Runners were told 2 days prior to the event that there would be a small unpaved portion of the marathon. This occurred at mile 17 and in my opinion it was pretty terrible. It felt like running on a concrete egg crate, and it lasted for a mile. I thought it was never going to end. At mile 17, the body is already hurting, but this definitely slowed me down and caused more pain in my feet. I understand that all construction can't be controlled, but I feel the organizers did a disservice to the runners in letting them know only 2 days in advance about this issue and that they would not be changing the course, after everyone had already paid and registered. The course is already challenging, and to me, this added another unecessary hurdle that I wasn't prepared for. I got through it, but there was definitely some grumbling and a feeling of relief when that section was completed. When we registered, the website stated we would be receiving the event tech shirt and a finisher's shirt. A month before the race, it was released that the finisher's shirts would only be avail for purchase. These were not pre-made shirts (they were being screen printed upon purchase), and the booth lines were long at both the expo and after the race when I tried to get one. Also a disservice in my opinion to promise two shirts and only give one. This caused a lot of negative feedback various social networking sites. A discounted registration for next year was offered in exchange, but only for a very limited time and I don't plan a year in advance for an out of town race. I finished my first marathon in a little over four hours, but my time has still not been posted online. My chip did not work so no one could track me, which of course was disappointing, but the people in charge of the timing are supposed to be working on it. They have my official time but no info regarding my splits. Crowd support was sparse at times but those that did roll out had funny signs and some great treats and support. Pacing teams were well organized and helped a lot. Host hotel was flawless. Expo was average, really the only swag you got was virtual coupons. The course gives a good challenge. The hills are certainly doable if you train for them (and drive them first to know what to expect) and don't start out too fast. I don't know if my legs were numb, but that third hill around mile 21 was much easier than I had expected. Despite the disappointments, I'd do it again. Had a great weekend in Kansas City afterwards and left to drive home with a new sense of pride.

The weather was ideal and the course moderately challenging. What could be better than this for a properly trained marathoner? More properly trained runners in the field would be better. There were four significant hills apparent on the elevation chart. The first hill at the start was unnoticeable. The second hill near three miles was a half mile, strong one which could be managed so early in the race. The third hill near miles eleven to twelve was long and persistent. I felt that one. From then on we ran simple rolling hills, flat elevation and long downhills to mile twenty one. If your quads were strong enough then you could run rapidly even on the rutted surface from miles sixteen to seventeen. I was concerned about the miles 21 to 23 hill before the race. Running this incline felt surprisingly stress free. The incline was marginally visible it seemed. Maybe that was because I was focused on not running into the walkers, walking three and four across from mile twenty one to the finish. Marathoners run tangent lines from turn to turn to travel the shortest distance from point to point. I found walkers in this line because they were executing the same strategy. I still ran my lines passing through whatever space was available. I clipped one woman accidentally and my watch setting changed. Twice, I yelled for a pathway and no one even turned around or moved aside. I powered through them. Other times, the walkers did create a pathway. This was not a good situation for any of us. Many marathons have this arrangement. What would be the effect if the race course organizers chalked a colorful line on the most efficient line? The walkers would be instructed to avoid this line or turn around if they cross it for safety sake. I appreciate the walker's participation but we essentially share the same space at the same time. A reserved body width pathway for the marathoners is reasonable and a clear safety standard for everyone. We all finished safely this day. Thank you Kansas City.

From start to finish this race was spectacularly organized. The course was great, lots to see along the way. A great balance of hills and flats, the volunteers were perfectly placed along the route, cold water and fresh fruit the entire way, couldn't have been done any better. Congratulations to everyone who worked to make such a terrific race possible.

This was my second marathon in 2011 and I was warned about the hills. But I trained for them, so they weren't bad at all. An energy packed expo and great organization. There weren't very many fans along the route which was the one downer of the race. Miles 22-26 rather lonely. But it was a great day and the course does a great job of rolling through a lot of different parts of town. The pacers were great too.

Last 5 yrs the ttemps have been great, it's a Saturday start, 7:00a.m., course is hilly the first 4 miles but flat if not downhill until mile 21. Great marathon.

The race course is interesting and the aid stations were plentiful and well stocked. HOWEVER, half-marathon age group awards were 'not availabe' for pick up after the race and 'would be mailed!' FOUR monthes later, two phone calls and two emails - still no age group awards 'in the mail,' or anywhere else. Tacky!!The course does NOT finish on a long downhill - a flat to slight UP-hill is more accurate!

Expo: Very well done Course: Challenging hills, but very pretty Organization: Very well done. I especially appreciate the fact that the expo, the start line, and the finish line were all at the same hotel. That made it easy for us out-of-towners. Weather: Perfect cool temps Lagniappe: The 'Smartpacing' teams were phenomenal. Despite the hills, they helped me get a PR

Ran the half in 2010, and the full in 2011. Organization was great and the water stations were always prepared. I found the best part was the pacers. This was my first 26.2, and the pacer took us out slow for the first few miles, went slow up the hills, but made up time on the downhills.

If you are trying for a BQ, but think you might struggle to make it, this is NOT the marathon for you! But if you want a good, honest challenge, this marathon will give it to you. Organisation is excellent. I believe the congestion early in the race is excessive, and could possibly be alleviated by not running the section approaching, hairpin-turning, and then away from the Liberty Memorial. The hills are great - any complaints are coming from wimps.

This was my very first marathon but I've run a couple of halfs and many other large short distance races and the KC Marathon was truely an amazing experience. It is a challenging but fair course with lots of pleasant scenery. The pacers were lots of fun and when I fell of pace the plentiful spectators and awesome volunteers were there every step of the way to keep my spirits up. The aid stations were great, however, they stopped offering vaseline early in the race, so if you think you might need it get it early on the course or use easy glide before you start. The finish approach was a little narrow but still ok. Nice finisher shirt and medal, plenty of traditional runner food at the end. My only complaint for this race was the start. It was really difficult to get in place where I needed to be with my pace group and I didn't hear any kind of instruction from the staging area at Crown Center. This is getting to be a pretty large event and I think assigning corrals or having a staggered start would help alleviate the congestion. October mornings in KC are perfect for distance running. This is a great marathon choice for beginners and elite runners alike.

Course: for both the marathon and half marathon, the course is beyond amazing! Hills are a challenge, but they don't kill you, nothing is out and back, and you get do see KC's best features. Varied in hills, flat, residential, city streets, et cetera. Perfect route. Organization: I have never had an issue with organization, the chute, finish line, bag check, expo, et al. The most stress-free run; I keep going back. Spectators: Having run both the half and the full for KC, the full has better crowd support, but it's good either run. Anticipate ample hi-fives, children, passer-byes, families to cheer you on through either route and along the whole course! If I could only run one city, I'd run KC.

I just have a few comments about this years race, the support from the fans was tremendous with some very funny uplifting signs. However this was the first marathon I ran without an Elvis impersonator present. We were told the course was going to be hilly...it was! Host hotel was great and a very inviting community.

Moved to suburban KC, KS a year ago so decided to run the biggest 'local' race. It was nice to run by so many landmarks but not sure that would mean much to people unfamiliar with the area. The course is hilly. Start is chaotic; need to stagger half and full marathoners (at least 5K'ers were culled from the pool, starting 15 minutes later). Timing was by Ultramax and they did their usual outstanding job. Have never received results faster. Post-race food extremely disappointing: yogurt, fruit, tiny bags of pretzels or peanuts, and dry/plain bread rolls. I realize a lot of runners ARE nutrition Nazis but some of us run TO eat. Had run the Wichita marathon 6 days earlier and much better chow there. Thankfully, there was a Panera adjacent to the race staging area here that we (and a lot of other runners) hit. Orange scones never tasted so good. If you don't stay on site, carry a $5 bill in your race belt. Expo is ok. Some vendors gave stuff away (lip balm, pens, stress balls) which helped make up for the absolute lack of swag in the 'virtual' goodie bag. Seriously, they email you some coupons beforehand and that's your swag. At check in, you get a white cotton, forgettable T-shirt, bib number, and timing chip. That's it. Ok, safety pins are available, too. The 'pasta dinner' is excellent but do NOT pre-order! They charge $20 through the race organizers but if you just show up at the restaurant, it's less than $10, drink included. And the children's price is even less. It's a buffet at a Crown Center restaurant (5-10 minute walk by skyway from Expo). You can get your Hyatt parking garage ticket validated for eating there, which almost pays for the meal. The organizers claim the dinner is 530-730 but the restaurant keeps it open as long as people show up (we ate at 830). No program, no speakers, you're completely integrated with regular customers... which was fine. My 10 year old signed up to do the 5K at 720 and the Kids' 'Marathon' (1.2 mile after having done 25 in the preceding weeks at home) at 1100. They make it sound like your kid has to sign up well in advance and submit a log for 'verification' but we signed up at the Expo, filled the log out there, and they printed his Certificate on the spot. The post-race food for the kids was even *more* politically correct. Bags of sweet potato chips. Really? The most 'decadent' offering was a mini-box of plain Cheerios. We actually stayed at the Hyatt rather than drive in 25 minutes from home so my son could go back to the room between his 2 races. They had a good rate and it was still available at the last minute (2 days before the race). Hot tub was available til 10 PM and reopened at 530 AM, which was a nice way to relax before and after the race.

This is my third year running in this marathon. Every year there is something wrong organization-wise. This year I ran the half marathon and I finished without a medal. In itself, the fact that they ran out of medals was frustrating. But it doesn't stop there. They don't even have an organized way to deal with this problem. They had some guy gather everyone around a tent and started shouting out directions (without a microphone). He told us to write an email address down on a piece of paper and to email them. As if we all carried pen and paper on us while we ran. After being told many differing stories about why they didn't have medals for everyone on race day, I still have no medal two months later. The course is beautiful and the bands were amazing, but there needs to be some serious revamping of the organization of this race.

This was my first half marathon, and given that I finished (albeit slowly), I had always had a picture in my head of someone hanging a medal around my neck at the end. This didn't happen, and it really sucked. Otherwise, the crowd support was good, and the pacers were fabulous for the hilly course. The post-race food was a little disorganized, but they did have Boulevard beer, which is excellent.