1. It was a near-perfect morning for running in Northwest Indiana, and a field of close to 500 turned up for the inaugural half marathon.

2. The race leaders made an early break from the field, led by John Ngigi from Indianapolis (#10), Shadrack Kimeli (who lives in Kansas but registered a Homewood, IL address) and Dave Halferty from Topeka, KS (#7).

3. The chase group was composed of Chicago-area racers, including Jeremy Borling of Chicago (#5), Mark Reed of Orland Park (#16), Tim Karpoff of Chicago (#15) and Mike Egle of Glenview.

4. Shadrack Kimeli was the first runner across the line, clocking 1:08:31 for the rolling 13.1-mile course.

5. After finishing seventh the previous weekend at Chicago's LaSalle Bank Shamrock Shuffle, Indianapolis's Collette Liss came to Valpo and won the women's title in 1:19:30.

6. Members of the Purdue University Running Club made the trek from West Lafayette and had a strong presence at the race, including Jenn Robb's (#287) time of 1:40:47.

7. Chicago Athlete's Tracy Collings made a fine return to competitive racing after the arrival of her first child last fall.

8. Many runners stuck around for the post-race food and festivities in downtown Valparaiso to enjoy the weather, live music, pizza and cupcakes.