I run this race every year. It's a course you can only run on race day (pedestrians are not normally allowed on the bridge), so this makes the course very unique, and it's really cool to see the Chesapeake Bay from this angle.

This is the third year the Bay Bridge Run has been run by Corrigan Sports Enterprises and my first year not doing the VIP package. There were lots of lines. Packet pickup went smoothly. I didn't want to buy anything, so I didn't really shop at the expo, but I was able to get my bib and shirt pretty quickly and check a bag with a hoodie and joggers so that I wouldn't be cold after the race.

The race is already pricey for a 10K, and unless you get dropped off, you also have to buy a parking pass for $15 or $20. I ended up purchasing a $15 parking pass and parked at Anne Arundel Community College. Once I arrived at the start, the lines for the porta-potties were awful, and I waited about 30 minutes, missing the wave I hoped to start in as well as the wave after that -- I started at 8 a.m. instead of 7:30 a.m. (waves are every 15 minutes).

There are a lot of walkers at this event, which I totally support, but since the waves are not time-based, you will likely have to do some weaving, especially if you don't start in the first wave.

Because the majority of the race is on the Bay Bridge, it starts out with an incline heading up the bridge, and then has a decline as you head down. Then, there are about 1.5 miles after the bridge, which does include an incline.

There was an aid station around the midway point. I brought water, so I did not use the aid station. This is a cupless event (which makes sense, since the cups could end up in the bay). There were short-sleeve tech shirts and a puzzle-piece medal.

I rated parking/access a "1" and race management as a "3" because I know a lot must go into this race, and for the most part, it went well, but the lines for the buses to get back to the parking lots at the end of the race were a mess. Nobody knew what line they were supposed to be in, and there were two long lines. I wouldn't have minded the line as much if the lines had been clearly separated as to which line was going to what color-coded parking lot. Hopefully this can be improved for next year.

If you have a large enough team, you are able to set up a social team tent at the finish line. My club was able to do this, and it was a lot of fun and made it easy to find each other.