A really fun spring run. Half course is straight / extremely flat and run on crushed gravel…read more(except for beginning and end). If it were not for the time of year (and area of the country), I would suggest this is a PR course. Race volunteers are extremely enthusiastic (I think most have a passion for the charity affiliated with the event.) Nice goodies at the end of race (beer and pizza). Course support and finisher medals just OK, but I give a pass as the race raises a good amount of money for a great cause. Note: Comments based on 2014 race.

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

Well organized marathon and half this weekend!…read more Pros: The packet pickup was smooth and entertaining thanks to a bunch of booths set up in the Convention Center where we were picking them up. There was plenty of room to run, since "the administration" made sure we had a lot of lanes in the road coned-off at the start. There were boatloads of aide stations. Refreshments and post-run party atmosphere was great. Minor Cons: Wish the race had started closer to 8am instead of 7am. Would have appreciated poppin' bass music at the aide stations. $100 to sign up for the half marathan any time less than 43 days before race day.

Green Lake Area Half Marathon is a local half marathon (and 5K) run on labor day weekend every…read moreyear. I have run it the last couple of years as I have been in the area for the long weekend. Really pretty lake and town and area in general is definitely worth visiting. If you are already going to be in Green Lake for the weekend, you might consider running this race, but be prepared for a very hilly course. Add in the risk of it being hot on labor day weekend (like it was in 2015) and this can be a tough race to really enjoy. Race is fairly expensive for what you get, pretty bare bones support on the course (from enthusiastic volunteers). Long sleeve cotton t-shirt comes with entry fee (along with another item if you register early enough (I believe)). Finisher medal is nothing to write home about. There is beer for finishers.

Woo Hoo! My 600th review! And I'm pleased to present one of the most fun things I've done this…read moresummer so far. Dirty Girl is a ladies only obstacle mud run. 5K, 12 obstacles. A non-timed event and meant to be a fun run that you can take at your own pace. It was my first obstacle run and I loved that it was girls only--I ran with a team. I definitely think running this with at least one friend is the way to go. I've done regular 5K's by myself, but it's great having someone supporting you as you climb, crawl and slide. And who else is going to tell you that you still have mud on your face when you're still trying to clean up after the run? The obstacles were not hard physically. But once the day gets started the obstacles get muddier and more slippery. So the hardest one for me was the high cargo net climb, just because of my fear of falling onto hard gravel. Other than that, they were just fun climbs and crawls. Other than running, I trained for this by following my toddler through several playground equipment obstacles and I was just fine. Hahaha. This event was held at the Lake County Fairgrounds and although a few of us on our team tried to run as much as we could to challenge ourselves, some of the areas were not easy to run opon. The grassy areas were fine, but there was some gravel-twist-your-ankle-type areas. So walking was inevitable. They suggest arriving there 90 minutes before your start time. Check in was a breeze and we had a lot of down time before hand. But it was nice to get pics done in our clean team shirts before we got all messy. I loved my swag--t shirt and bracelet with a running girl charm. There was a secure bag check and a "shower area' for us afterward. I use shower loosely as it's just a bunch of hoses and cold water--but the tent is huge and although by the afternoon the ground is full of puddles, but I appreciated the astro turf they did lay down to prevent muddy puddles. Some of my observations: I don't know how full the heats get, but I'm glad we got there early because we got to start 20 min earlier than our team start time. Bring some water in a gallon jug and check it in with your bag. It was nice to have some clean water immediately after the race to clean my hands and wash my face since I was getting mud in my eyes. Don't wear anything you are worried about ruining. Even though we wore matching T-shirts, I knew they'd get muddy so we made sure the shirts were not too expensive. Budget some time for the after party. Paul Mitchell was one of the sponsors and they were fixing hair afterward. Have Fun!

Amazing track. Sad they had to sell. Loved coming here as a kid to watch the outlaws race. Amazing…read moreracing every time, and always a fun experience. Never ONCE has the track not been perfect for race conditions. Whether it's the outlaws, IRAs or badger midgets, it will always be the best track in Wisconsin. (Alongside angels park of course)

Great facility. Concessions for food and drinks, decent bathrooms, seating and even ice cream for…read morethe kids. I would've given a five star rating but the track crew wasn't able to get the track watered enough for good racing until the last race, the feature for the IRA 410 winged sprints. Three classes of open wheel cars and we watched follow the leader on the bottom of the track with the winner coming from the front row for 15 races or more. Fastest qualifier was the very first car with the track drying up and becoming a slip and slide and a slow one groove track all night. I have never seen a dirt track watered on the top and bottom with nothing put in the middle. The top was not working until the last race. Four of us drove 5 hours to see the show only to wonder why are they not getting this track fixed/watered. NOT ACCEPTABLE!! Probably will never come back...

This is the third triathlon I've experienced and it was the best! It was pretty small (but not the…read moresmallest triathlon), casual, and just gosh darn beautiful! The entire race is in Bigfoot Park. Swimmers swim in clear waters where they can see fish near the bottom. They bike on a closed off road that skirts the park and the lake. Lastly, they enjoy a scenic run in the woods to finish. Oh - and the transition area was really well organized. Everyone was assigned a particular spot in transition and (what's more) everyone abided by their placement. Spectators have an easy view of all three events and move around without disrupting the race. There are even picnic tables for them to sit at while waiting. Additionally, there's a ton of portapotties and other bathroom facilities scattered throughout. Besides, there weren't THAT many spectators. It seemed as if many racers came solo just to enjoy the race and not to be cheered on by fans. Since it's a small race, the scores are posted on paper immediately after the race. However, because it's a small race, there also aren't a lot of bells and whistles. Unless you placed in your age group or something I don't think you got any type of award or participation ribbon. The swag bag only contained race related necessities (timing chip and bib) and a Running Away Multisport sweatshirt. No granola bars or chapstick or anything else. At the end, racers received a bag of food (that's where you could get a Silk drink, banana, bagel, and granola bar).

This was an awesome race, great course, and a whole lot of fun…read more Lake Geneva is crystal clear and it was a fun course to swim. The bike course took you out in the country of the best state in the USA. The run was a fantastic trail run with great spectator participation. This was probably my favorite course I've done so far and would do it again in a heartbeat!