The Craft Classic Atlanta Half and 5k is a new race series put on by Road Runner Sports. It's nice to see more half marathon options popping up in Atlanta. Also, starting in Grant Park allowed for a course a bit different than most other courses in the city. It was certainly a nice change of scenery, if not quite a bit hilly (it's Atlanta so that's pretty much to be expected). This race has the makings of a high quality race but needs some help in the area of race management. This is to be expected for an inaugural race. If the management is improved I will probably run this race again and recommend to others.

Pros:
- Unique course through some of Atlanta's historic neighborhoods
- Swag: pint glass, cool tanks/t-shirts for women and men respectively, sunglasses, road runners sports discounts, nice big medal with bottle opener on back
- Parking: very easy parking right at the start
- Bag check: I didn't use it but it was nice to have a bag check area so people could change if they wanted for after party
- aid stations: located every 1.5-2 miles and offered water and Nuun. Nuun is a really high quality product, much better than Powerade normally found at these events

Cons:
- start area was extremely difficult to find in the dark; you had to walk through unlit paths from parking in order to find it and the area itself was not well lit
- my friend needed medical after falling on a pre-race run.It took forever to find someone who knew where to find medical supplies. Once we found supplies, they were pretty sparse
- All the pre-race information made it clear there is NO race morning packet pickup. THey only offered 2 pickup days during the work week at the Road Runner sports in Buckhead. Buckhead is literally the worst place to drive during the week. It took me over an hour to get there and an hour to get home. When we arrived at the start, they actually had race morning packet pickup! I would have loved to avoid sitting in my car for hours on a Friday. Also, they could have done packet pickup the weekend before the race so people could get there easier.
- Post race party: it was not clear from race documentation that we would have to carry our ID in order to partake in the post race beer. The whole post race party area was actually roped off and you couldn't enter without an ID. I've done several other races, including one that ended at a brewery, where carrying ID was not necessary. We had to show ID at packet pickup; that should have made our bib "verified". The whole point of the race was to "run for beer" and my friends and I didn't get to do that.
- Communication: while there was a lot of social media action from the craft classic account, we received zero pre-race information until Tuesday before the race. Packet pickup started 2 days later. This is unacceptable.
- Race start was a bit hectic. There weren't clear announcements and there was 1 big corral. Everyone piled in, regardless of expected pace, so the first mile or so was quite crowded.

Final Verdict: lots of potential, needs improvement. The improvements are easy to implement and I expect next year will be much better. So, I recommend this race, but with reservation.