I have been wanting to do this race for 5 years, once I really started running and heard about it. Since it sells out really quick, and most of it is a lottery, my only option was to upfront the cost of a full team, or join a team needing an additional runner.
Since it sold out so quickly, I ended up joining a team with 11 other people I had never met, and the group isn't active on FB so we really didn't do much getting to know you before the race. I took the train down to Portland from Seattle where one of my team mates picked me up and we went to the captains house, packed up the van and took off to exchange 6 to start our legs.

First set of legs were great. The scenery was beautiful and the communities we ran through we very supportive. It was quite hot out and so many of the houses had sprinklers out, or were outside with hoses to cool you down. At exchange 12 you could order dinner (ahead of time) so you had a nice hot meal to eat. We were lucky in that our captain lived close and we went to his place to catch a few hours of shut eye. The volunteers were some of the best I've seen out of all the relays I've done. The medal was simple and very pretty. The shirts are gender specific, and although I didn't like them as much as the previous years, they are still pretty cool.

Cons: Unfortunately, nothing about the cons really can be controlled by the race organizers.
First TRAFFIC. After the first set of legs, traffic was a nightmare. For each runner, when we got about a mile to the exchange we hit a line of traffic. The next runner and a companion had to get out of the car and walk to the exchange. In some cases the runner passed us and beat us to the exchange point. Once the runner started, the companion and the last runner walk back to the van, which has moved maybe half a mile. At least at this point we can completely by-pass the exchange and do it again at the next one. There are so many vans and the road is narrow, that having the vans wait for runners to pass, then take turns leaving and entering just backed everyone up.
Second, cell coverage. There is no coverage for the last 2 legs, until you are practically at the finish line. The issue this cause is when switching off the vans at the major exchange points. No clue where the other van was, if they were ahead or behind or if something happened. Again, there's really nothing the organizers can do about this. Might be good to bring walkie-talkies next time, now that I know.

Overall the race was fantastic. I ended up with a great team and had a ton of fun.