The half marathon was a great idea for a local alternative to running the more popular 5k event. It was $30 so the price couldn't have been beaten.

Because the start of the race had not been sectioned off by the police and race management, there was a lot of confusion on where to start. My warmup was looking around for the start line. Runners were just grouping up in places because someone else had, without instruction, and there were confused 5k runners who were standing where the half marathon runners thought the start was.

The race began near the square of town and headed out of city limits eventually with runners on the sides of the streets in places. After making a lap around the Board of Education and the Marty Snook Park, runners headed back toward the square, diverting to run around Hagerstown City Park. The race only held back traffic on the course as long as it took the last runner and as a back of pack runner, it was stressful to be ahead of the race cutoff but the race coordinators telling police they could open up the roads.

The race volunteers were super nice and there were people cheering around mile 10 at the hardest elevation climb. The aid stations were placed consistently through the course which was well thought out.

The medal was what you would expect for the entry fee. I recieved a cotton tshirt and a cheaply made medal that must have cost 2 cents to make.

I wouldn't run this race again because of the confusion and stress. The race organizers are much more experienced in the 5k distance and this distance felt like an afterthought. The 2018 run has a course limit of 2 hours and I don't believe this will encourage more people to sign up for the distance than the small number in 2017. There are countless other spring half-marathons and I will focus on a better run race in the future.