I've done the KDF Half Marathon the last three years and each year has been a great experience. The city of Louisville really comes out to support this race. It's scenic and flat (for the half marathon) so it lends itself to a fast race. Louisville is about 5 hours from Chicago, so the drive isn't that bad to make the day before. There is also a ton of things to do around town after the race that day.

The Hot Cider Hustle was a great race. It's held in the forest preserve trails on the south side of Wheaton. The parking was very well managed and easy to find. The course was easy to follow and well marked. If you don't like running on crushed limestone, don't do this race. Otherwise it was a great run. The course felt fast and the downhills came at the right time. The course was not congested at any moment during the race. I was toward the front, but I didn't feel it was ever over-crowded. I enjoyed this race and I'll be doing it again next year.