This review is for the 2018 Cellcom Green Bay Marathon and half. I ran the half and Hot Wife ran…read morethe full. The expo: Great variety of vendors that featured quite a few running shops in the area. I got a great deal on some Balega socks from one at just about half off. There were a few chiropractors in the expo which I would have stopped into but we aren't local and had no desire to do any last minute tweaking. The Expo was held at Lambeau field in the glass covered concessions area. There is ample free parking for the expo and marathon. Packet pickup was on a different level. One complaint is the almost complete lack of swag in the packet bags. Like none. We haven't been to a marathon or half where there literally was 0 swag. So off comes a star for that reason. Other than that the expo was great. The half: Very well organized into corrals based on anticipated finish times. The marathon started an hour earlier then the half. It was a bit chilly for us, but equipment drop off was great. They had several waves which were separated by a few minutes which helped to prevent congestion on the course or at the water/aid stations. I appreciated that. The course itself is mostly flat, though there are quite a few turns through neighborhoods and scenic areas with a good amount of people out to cheer you on. Lots of signs, my favorite was a little kid's that read "Run faster......I just farted". Haha that was unique. You run through and around Lambeau towards the end which can get crowded in terms of being reduced into a narrower space. However it's not overly crowded at least in my case, and when I went back into the stadium to cheer on Hot Wife. The post race party: I got water, bananas and some juices as well as a fairly small medal (based on other 1/2's and fulls we've run before) and corralled through the equipment check to pick up anything you checked pre race. The whole area is runners/volunteers only which was nice as you don't have to navigate families reuniting on sore legs that are adapting to walking again. Proceeding on I listened a little to the band that was playing and considered the food options. Here again is an issue, if you are plant based theres pretty much nothing for you besides bananas and pretzels. Brats were the only thing served and obviously that's not something either of us wanted. Gross. However your race bib has a few free beer tickets which is nice. Overall the race is very well organized. People at home can track your progress through the race website which is nice. Bathrooms were plentiful and even at high use times (pre race) waiting time was minimal. I enjoyed the course and the people cheering you on, the bands along the route, and the water/aid stations were easy to run through. However no swag in the packet bags? Definite draw back, and no real vegetarian options for food (pizza at least?) was a major bummer. Hot Wife likes the T-shirts and she normally doesn't like race t's.

State #4 on my 50 state marathon journey was Wisconsin and as a loyal Packer fan I was SO excited…read morefor this marathon. How could I not be? You end the marathon with a lap around Lambeau field and running through Packer tunnel before heading to the finish line. Sweeeet! Go Pack go! (Had to get it in!) The event itself is very well organized and supported! We went to the expo the day before the race and although I thought it was weird that the packet pick up and T-shirt pick up were on different floors the expo was still good and held within the Lambeau field atrium. That same day we got the chance to separately take a tour of Lambeau field which was AWESOME. If you are a Packers fan and traveling from outside the area this was a good event to do alongside the marathon. Just do it - it will be worth it. Anyways - the marathon itself offered shuttles from runners from nearby hotels - this was a huge plus and something we took advantage of. Runners and family members were allowed on. The course itself is nice... Fast, flat and beautiful. A bit curvy but still great. And with a lap around city stadium and Lambeau field what else could you ask for? Even with it being at the end and knowing how badly you want to finish at that point Lambeau was without a doubt a highlight of the race! Add stations were spot on throughout the course with port potties, plenty of water and Gatorade, GU, popsicle stations, root beer stations, chocolate stations (Which I skipped the last 3 but still way cool). Crowd support was awesome! We also lucked out and had perfect running weather... Chilly 45ish at the start but ended in the mid 60s. Beautiful medals for 2014! All in all a wonderful event!! I'd do it again and would recommend it without a doubt!