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

Kathy

Hampton, Virginia, United States
10 8
2015
"Rain, Monuments, and a PR!!!"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
Kathy 's thoughts:

A 1/2 marathon in my home town - hell yeah!

I loved this race. I loved it for so many reasons despite the drizzling rain and that massive uphill that was not very nice course organizers... The excitement of lining up on Constitution Ave in our corrals, running past the monuments on the mall and across the Potomac, running the downgrade of Rock Creek Parkway, then back up through Adams Morgan, and through Howard University, though the neighborhoods of DC with so many spectators made this one of my favorite race experiences. All the distances ran on Saturday - I assume because it is so hard to get streets shut down in DC. It would have been nice to have a remix challenge but I understand why we didn't have one.

Everything at the start was organized and bag drop was simple. The course didn't loop back to the start so the trusty UPS drivers delivered our bags to the finish line. There were plenty of porta-johns too.

I cant say enough about the course - I loved it and I grew up in the area. I think you go to see some of the best parts of the District. There were plenty of photo opportunities if you are into that - you could even get your picture taken with some of the Presidential mascots from the Washington Nationals Baseball team. The course was clearly marked for the 1/2 marathoners and the full marathoners.

Water stops were well staffed and there was plenty of water and Gatorade on the course. The local on course support came in the 2nd half of the race - probably just when you need it. The locals brought out the usual - bars, beer, candy, and signs. Everyone seemed to be having a ball - despite the rain.

I'm not a fan of ending the race in an entirely different location than the start. This can make for some serious transportation issues at the end. This is my real negative about this 1/2. We ended at the Armory and the subway was choked with people by the time we wanted to leave. It probably took us another hour to get back to the hotel - it was only made more miserable that we had to climb a lot of stairs to get out of the party parking lot location and that we were wet and cold. We tried to get an Uber but the car couldn't even get to our location. I'd prefer to have a hotel near the finish line to avoid this and cab it to the start in the am - but this location wasn't conducive to that plan.

The after party in the parking lot is not really a lot of fun if you want to sit down and relax after the 1/2 or the full. I don't even know if there was a band playing - the party was so spread out and seemed just like a random assortment of tents.

The medal was a postage stamp theme - which I liked.

Most importantly it was my best 1/2 to date.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Latest reviews

Loading Reviews...