This is a great little neighborhood park!…read more It's got a little bit of everything. I only live a few miles away, but I am super jealous of the neighbors that surround this park. They have: 2 tennis courts A basketball court A very fun looking play ground A gazebo/ ramada type situation with tables An open field for soccer, ultimate Frisbee, LARPing, other sportz ball games Also, there are walking paths all through the neighborhood What a gem!

Prairie Park is a four acre neighborhood park, located on the north end of the Six Mile Creek…read moresubdivision. The playground equipment is popular with the toddler and elementary school crowd, while the tennis courts and basketball court are frequented by the older neighborhood kids. The park's open space is utilized for youth soccer matches. The park does not offer any bathroom facilities however.

This small neighborhood park in the Maple Bluff neighborhood features a split-rail fence and a…read moresandlot with a backstop. There is no playground equipment and no bathroom facilities, but the green space is well-maintained. While there is no parking lot, there is plenty of street parking available nearby.

Great walking trail tucked away in Waterloo. The trail has a few nice loops throughout the…read morepreserve. It was a bit muddy with the snow thawing but the perfect place to get outside for a long walk. It's very quiet and the trails are well marked. Note, dogs must be leashed here.

Nice local community park! Located in the subdivision and…read morecentered nicely. Nice selection of activities for age groups 2-5 years old. Kept up nicely!

Madison Mini-Marathon is what I wish the Madison Marathon was like…read more It's unfortunately run by a group in Indiana rather than a local organization or chamber of commerce, but it's hard to resist this race regardless. Their race course was so well planned out. It hits all the highlights of Madison and ends with a beer on the terrace. It's by far my favorite half marathon in the Madison neighborhood. The half marathon starts at the Memorial Union terrace, runs up Langdon past Frat Row, cuts over to the Capitol via Wisconsin Ave, gets you a nice view of the Farmer's Market in the summer before sending you down State Street. Southwest bike trail, Picnic point, Lakeshore Path, UW Arboretum, and ending back at the Memorial union are all highlights of this course. I really enjoy that the medal doubles as a bottle opener in true Wisconsin fashion. The course is relatively flat. The race is in August so there's always a danger of hot temperatures but it's been in the 60s at the start the last couple of years. Many things about this race reads like a love letter to Madison. Parking is not so easy. But I live in Madison so I sort of knew the ins and outs. Might be tough for out of towners. There's also a 5k event and I believe they also give out medals for that.

Awhile back, I signed up for the Madison Mini after getting in through being a BibRave Pro. It was…read morea plus for me, since I needed to add Wisconsin to my 50 state list, especially before I move out west. Getting to Madison: if you're flying in, you'll likely go through O'hare in Chicago and in up on a little puddle jumper on a quick 30 ish minute flight to Madison. Rental Car companies are right in the airport after you get out past security to get around Lodging: Main partner hotel was the Double Tree and it was about 1/3 mile from the start. I stayed a few miles away at the Sheraton, but it was a quick 10 minute drive to parking Parking: Madison is a college town so there are parking garages all over the place. I parked a little farther out (by the Double Tree), just so it would be easy to get out. About 4 hrs was $4 Expo: I can't' speak to the expo, as a fellow Pro picked up my bib for me since I got in late. Bonus points for making things easy as to having someone pick up your bib for you. If that's not an option, they do offer race day pick up for $25 when you register. If you didn't get to check out gear, they have gear at the finish off the terrace in the post race party. Race day: race starts at 7 AM. Corrals are pretty easy to get into and visible. Expect hills. There are flat parts to the course, but the last few miles had some hills that I wasn't ready for (I was undertrained to begin with). The course (from what I've been told) changed again this year, but I have nothing to compare it to. You go through the capitol, through UW Madison, Camp Randall, the UW arboretum. You get a good amount of scenery and cheering sections, though I wish more people would have come out since it was a nice day. It did get hot towards the end. In terms of aid stations, at the beginning they were spaced pretty far apart and then closer together for the back half (every mile or so). The last mile or 2 was through campus, how does it have hills in it?!? Not a lot of photographers at this race. I saw one around mile 12 and 1 at the finish Post race: Huge post race party on the Terrace and 1 free beer if that's your cup of tee. Banana, water, granola bar, Wisconsin Pop corn and chocolate milk through the chute as you finish. I wish they'd just bag it up and give it to runners so it's less to carry. Pretty decent bling too. If you due the Rock n Sole in Milwaukee the same year as Madison, you get extra bling! Overall: good race. Wish they'd cut the hills at the back half of the race. Hopefully they'll keep improving the course

Beautiful loop. Needs to add walkway through marsh path to add more managable loop there for…read morekids... also needs to connect into highland to encourage people to walk more.

This park might be a bit basic, but it has some lovely features. Let me tell you about them:…read more Playground- the jungle gym equipment was updated in the last year or so. It has a tiny rock wall, some kind of a spinning death trap, and, my favorite, swings! Basketball court- full size (or pretty close, I don't know anything about sports...) Giant field- I think 2 soccer games can easily be going at the same time. Access point to the capitol city bike trail Lots of trees!- there is a wooded area with paths throughout so you can pretend you are in the forest for a few minuets. Get some fresh air. There you have it! Comes for a visit.