Rock 'n' Roll Washington DC

Rock 'n' Roll Washington DC

Rock 'n' Roll Washington DC

( 58 reviews )
89% of reviewers recommend this race
  • Washington,
    District of Columbia,
    United States
  • March
  • 3 miles/5K, 13.1 miles/Half Marathon, 26.2 miles/Marathon
  • Road Race
  • Event Website

Logan

Washington, District of Columbia, United States
3 3
2013
"Rock N Roll USA Half Marathon"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
Logan 's thoughts:

The starting line is in the middle of the National Mall and is easily accessible by metro (Smithsonian is probably the closest). There were TONS of people and the bathroom lines were incredibly long. I heard stories of people just going in dark corners near the museums, instead. I also heard that bag drop was a mess and people waited in line FOREVER and missed the start of the race. I didn't check anything, so I didn't have that problem.

It seemed like there were a LOT of turns in the beginning until we set off on the Arlington Memorial Bridge and turned around back onto Rock Creek Parkway. This race was not a hilly course by any means, but the one hill you do have to run up is a killer.

Until we got to the hill, I would say that the course support (in terms of cheering people) was pretty limited. I think the major problem was that not a lot of people live near the Mall or along Rock Creek Parkways until you get to Woodley Park.

The hill, however, ROCKED. The support was incredible. People had awesome signs, were cheering loudly, and lined the hill the ENTIRE way up! I saw a sign that said “make this hill your bitch” and I did just that.

There were lots of people all the way through until Howard University and then it kind of petered off a little bit again. At Howard was also the BEST band of the entire event – the drum line!! It was awesome. Totally pumped me up. They should totally put the drum line at the hill to help motivate you up (I should note that there was NO music on/near the hill…except for people blasting boom boxes, which was greatly appreciated).

Thoughts about the race:

1) There was definitely a lack of cheerers for the first 5-6 miles of the course. The ones who were out there were GREAT, but it was definitely sparse. I’m not sure why they moved the course onto Rock Creek Park, because when you ran up Connecticut, you got a lot more support because it was easily accessible from people’s apartments. This was clear once we got back up onto Calvert St. after the hill because there were a LOT more fans.

2) They could not fill up the water fast enough at the aid stations. The first few tables were totally over run and they were literally filling up cups that racers pulled out of the dixie bags themselves. The tables towards the end seemed to be a little better.

3) Put a band on the hill. Enough said.

4) I was actually really disappointed in the “Rock and Roll” part of this race. I think this race series is really expensive, but there were only a few bands that I really thought pumped me up – for instance, there was an incredibly talented acapella group, but they weren’t really making me want to jam out, if ya know what I mean? There were also not that many bands and I would have loved to have more…or at least speakers playing radio music or something!? I really appreciated it when I would run by groups who were blasting music for us – it helped a ton!

5) The after race food options were AWESOME. I snagged the usually chocolate milk, bananas and bagels, but they also had power bars (protein plus line), the squeezable applesauce/fruit packs, apples, chips, Jamba Juice mini smoothies and even tote bags to throw them all in! I grabbed like 2-4 of everything (yeah, I’m that person…like Ross when he tries to make up all the money he pays at hotels…).

6) After race party – I didn’t stay, so I have no idea what it was like..(sorry!)

Overall, I LOVE running through DC. The people who did show up to support the runners were great and made me laugh and smile throughout the entire race. I would sign up for this race again in a heartbeat, but not because it’s a Rock and Roll race…because it’s a great course that runs through DC.

You can read my full race report, complete with photos, here: http://www.mtnsandmiles.com/2013/03/rock-and-roll-usa-half-marathon-crushed-it/

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