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Overall
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It felt great to be a part of a race that is a tradition of so many NC State students. Although not a student myself, I got to tag along with my friends who used to go there. The atmosphere is fun with lots of people in costume and non-serious runners abound. I love a challenge type race because I don't do those usually, but if you expect the donuts to be "hot and fresh" prepare to be disappointed. I almost broke a tooth on a rock hard cold piece of glaze haha! The mood for the second half of the race is definitely a lot more depressing than the first half with so many dreams crushed by those donuts.

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T-Shirts/SWAG
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The shirts are okay. Nothing special. The medal you have to purchase but the proceeds go toward the charity. I already gave my shirt away so I don't have a picture... oops!

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Aid Stations
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So there is only one aid station and that is where the donuts are. This is where dreams go to die! It's definitely the most interesting part of the course, but unfortunately there was not enough water for participants. They ran out very quickly. But, all of the volunteers were very nice. I was there to help my boyfriend get through eating all the donuts and they were encouraging even though we were the last people to leave the station.

I highly recommend buying gloves ahead of time so you can smash the donuts with your hands without them getting sticky because there isn't a place to wash your hands at the aid station.

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Course Scenery
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The course goes through the area of Raleigh near NC State's campus, so you see lots of campus buildings but also some pretty Victorian homes.

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Expo Quality
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We were too late to get to the expo so no comment here.

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Elevation Difficulty
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Pretty flat. Maybe one gradual hill but nothing to write home about.

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Parking/Access
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I lucked out because I went with some friends who have done the race every year so they knew the good spots to park, but I can say there was no communication about where to park. If there was, I missed it and it might've been at the expo.

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Race Management
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I was kind of disappointed in how quickly the aid stations ran out of water. Also, I paid for a medal and there was a lot of confusion about where to pick that up. I didn't get an email about it until the day of the race (which I didn't check my email until the next day), and it basically was saying they weren't mailling medals. I was kinda sad because I was going to give it to my boyfriend for being a challenger but I don't mind since the money at least goes to charity.

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Conclusion
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I would recommend this race to a friend mainly because it's a tradition and a fun/interesting challenge. There's some improvements that could be made, but I had a fun time and that's the most important thing. There's so much crowd support, it's hard not to feel like a winner!