I was warned by several people that this race is not easy due to the heat and hills. There was 80 degree heat, humidity, very little shade on the course, and another hill appeared every time you recovered from the last one. For the first time ever in a race, I stopped to WALK for a few seconds. Twice. And I was beyond thirsty. Run with water! The scenery was beautiful-grass in sight the whole time-but I was too miserable to enjoy it. I literally wanted to walk off the course, grab my bag at gear-check, and call it a day. This race made me a tougher runner, and now I know that I can handle less than ideal race conditions (brutal race conditions, honestly). This is a good race if you really want to test yourself and see what you're made of.
On another note, Megabuses were supposed to pick us up in the city to take us to the starting line. Forty minutes before the race, about one hundred of us (more or less) were informed that the buses were not coming, and that we had to find our own transportation. Everyone was scrambling for cabs and putting in Uber requests, and it was a total shitshow. I got lucky and got in a cab relatively quickly. It was super stressful to get to the race (they did reimburse us for the buses). As a result, the race started half an hour late so there was enough time for all runners to arrive. And you know what that means: it's hotter outside!
Afterwards, I sat around for about twenty to thirty minutes and saw at least two people taken away in stretchers by the paramedics for what I assume was heat exhaustion/dehydration. Considering that this is a smaller race, those stats aren't so good!
If this race was in the fall, it would be great. Assuming the buses come...
Oh, and don't expect to PR (unless you've been training very hard with lots of hill work). Most people's times are significantly slower than usual (It's a slow race in general). Don't let it be a buzzkill. Just finishing this race (without medical complications?) is a feat!