I got to chat with a lot of friendly people while volunteering at the Expo the day before the race. I picked up some good tips from people who had run it before. On race morning, I caught the shuttle bus from the ICC downtown to the Grafton high school. It was great to be able to stay warm inside the school while waiting for the race to start. There were also plenty of port-o-potty's in the parking lot.

The weather was just about perfect once the rains cleared out just as the race was starting. I mostly ran between pace groups, but did find the pacers for the 4:30 to be just a tad fast. The course was pretty and it was cool to run through areas where I'd grown up. Also, it was super convenient to have friends and family meet me through the race along the course since they could easily bike or drive and park in different areas along the route.

I wish there had been a few additional GU flavors handed out, but felt like the aid stations were all well staffed and as often as I needed them to be. It was great to get a little bag of treats at the finish line. I had volunteered here previous years and was disappointed this year to NOT have pretzels!! Also, it was a total mud-pit. Rains had come the week before the race and they had tried to lay hay down, but it was really a pig-sty. There also wasn't a ton of seating available in the area where spectators were allowed, but this may have been due to the mud fest. Was great to get a brat and beer after my hard work!

A side note on the race shirt - nice to get a long sleeve tech shirt, but wasn't a fan of the style/ color scheme. Nothing's going to make everyone happy though! The medal was pretty sweet.

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