BDR is always a good time and this year was my fifth year running the series, although my first year running the half. In previous years, all three race distances were on the same day which meant you had to choose between running the half, 10k, 5k or 10k/5k challenge. Since I love challenges, I've always run the challenge previously. This year though they moved the half marathon to Sunday which enabled runners to register for all three and earn even more bling!

Packet Pick Up/Swag: Packet pick up has several options which is great for the runners. Thursday at Dick's Sporting Goods in Westshore area, or Friday and Saturday at the race venue. I opted for race morning pick up because I wasn't able to get to the other areas to pick up my packet. It's nice when there's a race morning option available for runners as many people work late these days and can't always make it out to the packet pick up locations. Honestly this year I felt the swag was a little lacking compared to last year. I remember getting a t shirt for each race I did last year; this year there was just one t shirt for the entire series. I love the t shirts for this race, they are a soft cotton/poly blend which feels nice and it's a shirt I actually wear throughout the year. Also last year we got pint glasses. This year it was just the t shirt. But that's not the most important thing so, ehh.

EXPO QUALITY: Honestly I didn't walk around the expo that much because Saturday it was raining and Sunday it was cold. There were a couple other races and vendors on site offering free samples and there was one tent that had gear for the runners along with the official BDR merchandise. It's definitely not the same quality as Disney or Gasparilla, but those races are considerably larger than BDR.

Parking/Access: Parking is the only thing about this race that's a little lacking. Downtown Safety Harbor is not the easiest spot to find legal parking. Lots of people park on the side streets but those fill up quickly if you don't get there early enough. This year we stayed on site at the Safety Harbor resort which meant we could park in the resort parking lot so that was nice. But previously it's been tough to find somewhere to park.

COURSE: The half course is one of the more beautiful half marathon courses I've run in the Tampa Bay area. It takes you from the marina at Safety Harbor through the neighborhoods to Phillippe Park which has a gorgeous view of the bay and a canopy of oak trees to run through. It was really cool and perfect weather this year but even if it's hot outside, there's plenty of shade on a majority of this course with all the trees. Then after the park you get to run along Bayshore, the main road in SH and through a neighborhood to turn into the Ream Wilson trail, a beautiful trail that runs throughout Clearwater and is a haven for cyclists and runners. That part of the course was new this year and I loved being able to run on the trail. I've done some training runs there and always enjoy it. It does have inclines though so if you aren't used to that beware! For those coming from up north it'll be nothing, but to Floridians any type of incline is tough since we are used to running mostly on flat roads. Mile 9 was pretty much an incline the entire race and mile 11 had the biggest bridge which was tough to have towards the end when you are getting tired already. Overall though this has to be one of my favorite courses I've run in this area in half marathons.

AID STATIONS: They had plenty of aid stations. I always forget to bring water with me for half marathons but I didn't feel like I needed extra water. They had water and gatorade almost every mile in the half marathon, port o potties and 2 of the aid stations (I believe mile 3 and mile 8) were handing out Cliff Shots and Gu gels.

POST RACE PARTY: One of the best in the bay area. Hot food (breakfast after the half, Dunkin Donuts, pizza) and all the free beer and vodka drink mixes you want. Also had free massages, Norma Tec recovery and plenty of fun going on in the post race party area. Definitely wins for best post race party, hands down!

OVERALL: This race is definitely an excellent race and I highly recommend a BDR race if you haven't done one. I've done this weekend in Safety Harbor for 5 years now and I love it. Next year I think I'm going to branch out and do a different city just for a change of scenery but I can't say enough good things about Best Damn Race! The name says it all!

Rock n Roll New Orleans was my second rock n roll race. Originally I was registered for the full marathon, but after having a bit of a challenge mentally with my training I opted to drop down to the half marathon because I wasn't in the mood to train for a full. The weather was gorgeous on race morning and it was a rockin' good time!

EXPO QUALITY: For such a big race, Rock n Roll expos have always left me a little underwhelmed. They have some vendors, but not many. And many of them don't offer that good of a discount. I picked up a few things here but nothing to write home about. I don't have an opinion on parking or access because we stayed in a hotel in the Central Business District and were able to walk to the expo (and everywhere in New Orleans honestly) which was really nice. Everything in that area is within walking distance of most of the major hotels.

I do enjoy that they moved the race date. In 2018 and previously it was the same weekend as Mardi Gras, which I'm sure caused one heck of a cluster in terms of how many people were flooding the city. Since they moved it to early February there is nothing conflicting so its easier to find hotels and food without having a long wait or really hefty prices in my opinion.

SWAG: I don't remember there being that much swag from this race, which again, for a bigger race was kind of disappointing. The full marathoners received a jacket, but it was a lightweight rain jacket which honestly I'd have no use for. The t-shirts are grey and tech material which I never wear so it literally sits in my closet unused. Other than that I don't remember getting much else from Rock n Roll races.

COURSE: I loved the course, I thought it was a nice tour through New Orleans, showcasing much of the city's charm. The most notable parts for me were miles 4-6 which went through some gorgeous tree lined streets with beautiful huge southern homes on them. This was also the stretch where spectators set up aid stations of their own with shots and King Cake so that was a fun part. Also around mile 9 as you're going through the market area they had a huge float and someone dressed up as an alligator so that was fun. Lots of cobblestone on the course so you have to watch your footing but that's the old south. Many southern races have cobblestone as many southern states have an abundance of cobblestone streets.

ELEVATION: I think it was a negative elevation gain haha, New Orleans is actually below sea level so it's super flat. I only remember one mini hill and that was at mile 9 as we went up to the market area.

Rock n Roll is a solid company that puts on good races. The course entertainment is on point and the races are usually a really good event. There are things that could of course be improved upon, most notably the expo and swag (the medals are cool though, although a bit small for what I'm used to in half marathon medals). But the city is charming and it was really nice to be able to get a tour of it on foot! I'd do this one again.