Denver was my first 1/2 marathon back in October of 2009. Having run a couple of halves now I think…read moreI can better comment on this one. Denver is an excellent marathon. The scenery is excellent and the aid stations are very close together. The entire city is welcoming and excited about this marathon. There are two reasons this 1/2 marathon looses a star. First, the lack of cheering people along the course. There were a few, but not as many as I expected. Also, they ran out of gel packs for the racers. This was something that I didn't care about until the end when I could have used the kick. I would run Denver again. Just make sure you are ready to run at 5280 feet. It takes your breath away.

'And if you are not familiar with Denver's landscape, the course is essentially flat with little to…read moreno elevation change.' From the Denver marathon website. I found the statement to be misleading. The course was staggered with various hills. I mentally noted several rolling climbs at miles, 9, 10, 13, 16. However, I enjoyed the view of the city. The race was well organized from all aspects. Oct 19th, 2008 the availability of the Sheraton is fantastic for the Denver Marathon. The hotel is less than 5 minute walk from the start/finish line. In fact I was able to see the start-line from my room in the tower. The hotel itself was kind of disappointing. It is in desperate need of a renovation. The grab-to-go breakfast was pathetic... don't bother. Just go across the street to Starbucks or Peet's coffee. As I mentioned, b/c of the proximity to the hotel, I did not leave the hotel until about 6:50. The weather was fantastic. High 40s and basically no winds. Civic Center Park was buzzing with excitement... the starting area was full of runner, supporters, news crew etc. The race started exactly on time at 7:00AM. The first three miles circles the Pepsi center and Coors Field. There are many blocks of revitalized brick buildings that looked to be once industrial but now storefronts and residential flats. I did miss the mile 2 marker but caught the mile 3 marker right in front of Coors field. Miles 4-6. I catch the glimpse of elite runners routing back from across the street. That is always depressing. Man, they are all lean and fast. Miles 6-9. There are plenty of water stations. We run through City Park. This is a huge park. I am thankful for the large tree/bushes. Hey, I am not the only one. Coming out of 9, I made the first mental note of hills... Hey, didn't they advertise this to be a "fast and flat" course? Around Mile 11, I take off my headphones when I see the half marathon split. I want to make sure I do not go the wrong way (like I did in Salt Lake). But the organizers did a good job. Only one split and it was well posted. Mile 13, we split from the half marathoners. I like it. The streets open up for everyone. We climb from 13-14 while watching running circle back across the street on a down hill. This sucked. Mile 16. More hills. Now I am getting kind of pissed. I note that I am off my PR pace. While I did not set out to break my PR, I am certain that this race cannot be labeled "flat and fast." Forward to 17-22. I am holding up very well. Better than my previous race in New Mexico. We've just circled in and out of yet another park (Washington). This park was full of spectators and non-marathon runners. Past mile 19 was the final relay station. It isn't nice to have people gun pass you at mile 20 with fresh legs. Mile 22-25. There are many many water stations between these miles and a couple of Cliff Shot stations. Probably too many in my opinion but nevertheless, I think more is better than not enough. A lot less turns in between these miles and all street running. It gets warm enough to take off my long sleeve shirt. I also notice many spectators. It was a surprise to see how many people were cheering. It always helps to hear encouragement and get high fives from the crowd. Thank you Denver. Mile 25-26. I catch my final wind. I fight off a few runners who attempted to pass me. Its just the mental game I use to keep going. But I know I am close to the finish line. I know I am off PR pace but I am glad nevertheless. Mile 26 marker. One more left turn and I know the finish line is in sight. Back to where I started 4 + hours ago. I feel great. What is next?

This was my fourth Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon…read more Overall, I would say it was okay but I probably wouldn't rush back to do it again. Expo was nice but small compared to others (especially San Diego), but then again the race was smaller. They said around 15,000 people ran the full and the half. Volunteers were nice but I spoke to two people who tried to get info on the relay and were given conflicting information so probably need to work those issues out and make sure volunteers have the correct info. And this was at the information tent on race day! The course had some nice parts, especially running through City Park and Cheesman Park but boy, it's mostly uphill until you peak a little after mile 11. I don't know if it was the altitude or the hills but I had my worst time ever at this race. This was my seventh this year and around my 38th overall and this was a real challenge. The Jamba Juice at the end was great. I'd say overall the race was fairly well organized but I just wasn't a fan of the course. I had more fun in Savannah and San Antonio.

The Rock & Roll 1/2 is a staple of the Denver running circuit. It is a great goal race if this is…read moreyour big race of the year, and it is timed nicely in front of some of the late-autumn out-of-town marathons if you are ramping up to the next level. Unfortunately Rock & Rock stopped hosting a full marathon as part of this event after 2015, but the 10k and 1/2 marathon are well run and consistent over the years. The cost is high but there are good deals if you sign up early. In their defense they do have higher costs as the course takes over much of downtown Denver and they have to pay for all of the police and security, plus all of the road closures. Expo - It is what you would expect from Rock & Roll - a big, busy opportunity to spend money. For this race, it is the reason why I rated the event 4 stars instead of 5. The pickup location at the Stock Show is hard to access (there is a ton of construction going on now, but it wasn't good before the construction started). The Stock Show venue is far from pretty much everything (including the race!), and lacks a whole lot of public transportation. They charge $5 to park. It isn't the nicest place in Denver, either. Pre-Race - The start/finish is at Civic Center Park, and there are lots of places to park (street parking is free on Sundays, too). There are some good hotels nearby, so people who want to make a weekend out of it can stay close by. You can upgrade to VIP status and gain access to the heated tents, food, and private porta-potties. I've never splurged on that, but the mornings in Denver in mid-October are usually cool and dark (the race is early), so come prepared one way or another. The Course - The current 1/2 course may be the best 1/2 course I've run in Denver. It is challenging but fair. The first 6 miles weave through downtown and lower downtown, past the Pepsi Center and Coors Field. The 10k runners split off at roughly the 6 mile point, and the 1/2 runners continue east to City Park. After a couple of miles around the park, the course travels back on the streets and then back to City Park. The last mile or so is slightly downhill, so if you pace yourself early you can gain some speed at the end. The entire 13.1 miles takes you through active neighborhoods, parks, and business districts, so there is lots to see and enjoy along the way. Post-Race - Well supported, with top-notch entertainment. Good support for runners and spectators. Overall - The best way to run this race is to sign up early (save $$$), have a good plan for the expo, and one of the better courses to see and experience running in Denver.

Overall a good race experience, I ran the Saturday 5k at city park, and the Urban 10 miler Sunday…read more The race expo which was at Mile High stadium was easy to navigate through and get to since the 16 bus has a stop near by the stadium. The 5k, Marathon, & half marathon all start and finish at city park while the Urban 10 miler starts at some college near Casa Bonita and finishes at city park. The post race festival is also at city park and has a ton of space for runners and their friends and family that came to support them can hang out. I traveled from LA to run this race pretty much as an excuse to visit other cities, and comparing the prices of most races where I'm from the price of the Denver Colfax marathon is absolutely worth it. The only thing keeping me from giving 5 stars was the road closures updates. The local news and streets had proper notification of street closures. But for some reason Google, Waze, and even Apple Maps had no idea of the street closures. They all gave me the basic directions that I could get to Rockie Mountain college by taking the bus or a taxi down Colfax Ave even though the streets were closed. Even the Uber driver I took couldn't get outside of downtown because the app wouldn't load an alternate to go around. Lucky for me I found a Veo city bike and was able to ride to my start line. Other than the lack of street closures updated to the navigation apps, this is a great overall event.

Participants Perspective - Expo: Exciting and the spacing of…read morevendors made it feel "covid safe." Plus there was plentiful of vendors that commercialized free items to try/ sample. Another thing was bib/ packet pick-up was easily to navigate. - Morning of race aka start line... corral and coordination was seamless - During race... I felt like I saw all the sightseeing highlights of Denver in a 26.2 mile viewpoint. There was plenty of hydration points every 2miles and felt like it was well organized. There was no confusion on where to turn and plenty of volunteers to help the navigation. - Post race... Food from finish to non re-entry of finish line was wonderful. However, I am as not a fun of them offering free "lunch" hard-boiled eggs (vegetarian option) or brats (pork and beef options) with plain lays potato chips. Neither of these sounded appetizing to me after running 26.2 miles. The There was 2 free drinks for runners of all distances which was nice. Spectator Perspective - Expo:My other half has been to several of my race expos and this one felt larger and more exciting - Organization: Other half felt like this is was the best time organized when it comes to expo and actually race event. - Information provided by race committee made it possible for spectators to find runner easily.

We went to the 40th anniversary of the blossom of light exhibits at the botanical gardens…read more The gardens are set up beautifully and the path and signage is wonderful and clear. The ambience is awesome and artistic. This is worth the trouble to get in and out of the parking lot. Tickets are hard to come by, but if we had planned a bit in advance I think we could have gone when we wanted to. However we did enjoy our time in the gardens and viewing all the light displays.

We love the Blossoms of Light at the Botanical Garden! We've probably gone there the last 4 years…read more This last time we went on the last day of 2025 and it was definitely a nice evening. One of the years we went it was -3F.... Hit or miss on the weather. Definitely worth going at least once if you've never been.... The last few years there was always something new to see. This last one was their 40th anniversary. Very nice and the tickets revenue goes back to the botanical garden, helping local!

This year was my first Furry Scurry and I sure hope it wont be my last! It was tons of fun, and I…read moreeven got to support a fabulous cause (The Denver Dumb Friends League)! There were so many different vendors ranging from pet related, pet sitting/boarding, grooming, treats, apparel, and refreshments just to name a few! Joyful Bling had the cutest little hats for our furry friends. There was even another vendor that had little bow ties that you could hook on to your furry friends collar for those formal outings. ;) I even got to swing by a table for a brewery that I have never been to and chat for a few about their brews and left with a couple shirts and a tin sign for my kitchen! I think that they did a great job organizing all the vendors and the turnout was massive! I definitely recommend Furry Scurry to anyone for a good outing and socialization with your furry friend or even for those of us who love furry friends but don't have one! See you next year!

Great Dog Walk!!!!…read more The host of this dog walk was the Dumb Friends League. If you decided to register for the $50 you could participate in the 2 mile walk. $50 seemed a bit much for us so we opted to just walk all the booths which felt like 2 miles! There were a hundred or two booths of pet services, doggy day care, organic dog treats, doggy swimming lessons and soo much more. We walked away with tons of free samples and dog treats to do as well as a dog tummy full of dog treats and ICE CREAM!!! My pup was tired and happy, two things a dog owner really enjoys. Thousands of dogs appeared with great danes, schnauzers, poodles, goldies, and everything else in between. I highly recommend this dog walk for next year. It was a wonderful experience.

I dragged my girlfriend to the Arts Festival on Sunday, midmorning. It was warm, but not scorching,…read moreand the crowd was manageable, but not overwhelming. This year (2026) is the 35th anniversary of the show and there were 265 participating artists. Going to 265 booths is a marathon, particularly on a hot day, but we were energized by the quality of the work and made it to every single location. Major categories on display included ceramics, digital art, drawing, fiber, glass, jewelry, metalwork, mixed media, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, and wood. Five early-career artists received grants to further their practice and were included in the show. The displays mostly ran down 2nd Avenue in Cherry Creek North from Clayton to Adams with branches going up to 3rd Avenue along Detroit, St. Paul, and Steele (down to 1st Avenue also). We gamely marched the 20 blocks this entailed, alrhough my girlfriend got a little wobbly by the time we made it back to 2nd and Clayton. I parked her in a shady spot and went to retrieve the car and collect her. Despite being tired out by the scope of the show, we were both glad we went. The quality of the art was very high and many displays were quite impressive.

The Cherry Creek Arts Festival is a juried art show with many media being represented…read more We arrived shortly before the show officially opened at 10 AM. It was already crowded with art lovers. The crowds made it somewhat difficult to see the various booths. The artists are friendly and will talk to you about their techniques and inspirations. We saw some familiar as well as new emerging artists. Porta potties and food courts are available. There is also a children's art area to keep the young tykes busy. Food, beverages and stores are also in the area when you need a break. There are plenty of benches for a rest. The show is absolutely free to enter. The amount of people decreased as the day wore on. The streets are closed to automobile traffic. You will find many different lots to park in with a fee.

I'll be at kind of chaotic and crowded, if you are looking for the first Friday type experience…read morethat many cities have, then this is a good pic. There was many different booths and areas with artists and clothing and jewelry for purchase, as well as tarot card and poem writing tables, lots of food trucks and bars to stop off at...a fun little night out.

Definitely more of a neighborhood party than an art focus. The sidewalks are narrow and crowded…read more The galleries are concentrated between 5th through 10th. The city should consider close of street traffic to allow free flow of pedestrians and create a food court with the numerous food trucks on the scene.