It is a bizarre race.  It is also GIGANTIC... not quite JFK, but big.

The reputation is "half road race, half trail race".  With an aid station situated just-so such that you can do the shoe/costume change.

Really, it is 19-20 miles on a super-wide asphalt bike path.  Basically flat.  Then, bah-boom, it becomes a trail marathon that's mostly single track.  The single track piece isn't particularly technical.  Very roly poly, but fun roly poly.  That aid station turns out not to be situated "just so", but that's ok because I didn't think trail shoes were really super important.

And then, after the 20 paved miles and 27ish traily trail miles... you hit the hill.  This is road.  And the profile don't lie.  Up up up you go to the finish.

In 2011, the aid station at the bottom of the hill was manned (literally in this case) by a small group of thin 20-something guys with Krupicka beards and Krupicka shorts-no-shirts.

The views in the traily trail piece are AWESOME.

Thumbs up for this race.  But it is a strange one.

You get a shirt and a jacket.  And in 2011, we got a weird moeben thing that I believe is supposed to be a buff... but it is huge.  Whereas some of the gals on Survivor wear buffs as tube tops, this thing would make a tube dress.