Hawai'i Bird Conservation Marathon

I chose this race for my 50 state journey based on the comments before me. All of the comments are spot on. The organization of this race was great. Packet pickup was easy to get to, shuttle pick up was exactly on-time, and water stations were sufficient. I stayed at the Naniloa hotel which was incredibly convenient as the shuttle pick-up was a 5-6 minute walk. The course is really fast with most of it downhill. Near the end there was a decent incline that I had to power through. Personally, I hit a PR with this course and it was the first time I ran a sub four hour marathon which was a personal milestone for me. I gave a 3 star for spectators since it was a small race with only ~110 ish runners. The spectators that were there though gave me plenty of motivation. Also, Hilo is a great place to visit. Good food, some nice places to grab a drink, and friendly people. Race is in December though so it might be raining so plan accordingly, helicopter tour got cancelled :(. Think you can spend a couple days here but I would recommend spending some time in Kona as well (def go see the Manta Rays at night!). 10/10 would run again!