Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon

Well, not my first rodeo, but one of the worst. I know the organizers were not in charge of the weather, but holy cow, it was cold and wet! The problem began when there was not a rolling start, it was a random held group start. The organizers need to learn from a larger race like Spokane’s Bloomsday where there are over 50,000 runners and it is a perfect flow at the starting line.
By the time the race started I was wet and cold. The course was cool at the beginning where you ran past the National Monument. But then it wasn’t a terribly interesting course. I think I bought in when it was described as in the heart of the nation’s capital. Really, there was very precious little that was in the heart. How cool would it be to start and end in the Mall? To run by the memorials? Nope, just on to neighborhoods…
Apparently, even though my splits were good at the start, I am still running. Timing system never counted me at the finish line. However, I certainly did finish! I also signed up for athlete tracking so I could see where my husband and son finished. The time was correct for my husband, but not at all right for my son!
Crossing the finish line was confusing as they had an arch 500 yards from the end. You looked like you were done, but alas… still 500 yards more.
Food at finish line was cool. Too bad it was raining so hard that all I wanted to do was get warm. At that point I didn’t care about beer, I just wanted to get on the Metro and get warm.
The Metro was a MESS! Lined up ¼ mile back. No organization to let folks off and have a clear path out so that cold runners could get on. Didn’t seem like a good plan in case of in-​climate weather.
I did like the crowds that came out to watch despite bad weather. The medal is cool. The shirt okay. The expo had no freebies, only stuff to buy.
Overall, organizers should go to Bloomsday and pattern this race after that. Change the course to really highlight the area. Do that, and I maybe would return. No changes, not returning.

RnR-​DC Half Marathon was my first race ever and also I have lived in DC for my whole life. These two facts may skew my review in some ways, but maybe not.
All in all, I had a great time running this race and thought that logistically things went very smoothly. Check-​in process was a lot easier than I had anticipated and the morning of the race went just as I was told/​I had planned for. I will say, that I thought the race was a little bit expensive (but I decided to run it pretty last minute so that may have been part of the problem). I also signed up for text message alerts so my family could see my split times and that worked as they said it would. Now to talk about the fun/​interesting component… the COURSE!
I was told by my friends who ran the full marathon, that there were parts of the course that got a little industrial/​isolated/​boring, BUT I can’t think of a better route for the half-​marathon. Again, as a native Washingtonian, I really felt like the route hit a lot of the great streets in DC – starting out downtown by the landmarks, getting to run through rock creek park (where I’m sure so many of the DC runners did their training runs), having the chance to run through a few neighborhoods and then down north capital with The Capitol in view for the entirety of the stretch – runners taking over a street that is usually so heavily trafficked was a really cool thing to see. I also love that the race was entirely within city limits. Sucks for people trying to drive the morning of the race, but great to stay true to the «real» Washington DC.
There was one major memorable hill during the half – as you leave Rock Creek Park and make your way into the neighborhood of Woodley/​Adams Morgan (around mile six) there is about a quarter-​mile climb – as the elevation climbs so to does the incline, but although its a decent length and pretty steep, once you get over it, it’s pretty flat. To be honest, mentally one of the most challenging parts of the race was the stretch down north cap. Perhaps it was because it was around mile 11 of the race (and I didn’t eat and probably should have) and I was feeling it a little, but I felt like the straightaway for what seemed like several miles was really mentally challenging. I kept finding myself wanting to take a turn. Overall, the energy was fun and runners of all levels. It was fun to have bands. Even though around mile 11 I told myself I never really needed to run a full, I somehow decided two days later that I should sign up for the Marine Corps Marathon. Thanks for introducing this long-​time-​runner-​but-​not-​racer to the world of races RnR – you’ll always be my first!

…Those hills though!
I’m a little ashamed to admit that I got serious stitches running the RnR DC because I come from the land of the hills (San Diego) and should have known better. So no PR for me. :(I am blaming the last couple of FLAT races I’ve run in DC that have blinded me to the hills of SE and Georgetown… and, to be completely honest, my own personal failure to incorporate any hills into my training. The hills are nothing to worry about if you’ve trained properly.
A March race is also odd because it comes in the heels of innumerable snow storms that forced you to run on treadmills or clump your training days together for the few days of warmth and sun. I originally signed up for the marathon but had to switch to the half because I was out with an injury for a month. Now I do think the half is a better race to run this time around in light of the crazy weather and the difficulty of training for a full through it.
That said, there was no problem switching to a half, you just get a different corral number at the expo and run on race day with your full bib.
There was little communication prior to the expo. I didn’t receive any notifications to print my confirmation number and bring it to the expo like I would for other races. So keep that in mind and remember to bring it.
Compared to the RnR San Diego, there was less music along the course, which was a little disappointing since this race is supposed to be rock and roll. Similarly, there was less fanfare at the finish and no bagels or bananas! :O (but we got beer and chocolate milk). Nonetheless, I really enjoyed the musicians who were performing as well as the taiko team!
I also loved running through Capitol Hill because none of the other races take the runners through that part of DC. Miles of beautiful row houses keep you plenty entertained.
This was also the first half I’ve run that gave out space blankets, which was AWESOME because the sun refused to come out at the finish and I was shivering all over.
Water stations every 1.5−2 miles, gu at mile 9-​ish, and the marathoners split off at mile 12. The start is on Constitution Avenue and 14^th Street and the finish is at DC Armory (both very accessible by metro).
One last awesome thing is that there were more than 20 corrals for this race! Brownie points for not tripping over other runners.
Thank you to the volunteers and spectators!