So, when I ran this race it was my first marathon in 8 years. I had trained the previous fall and injured myself. It was before a lottery was needed to get in, I know two years later they added an lottery. The year I ran it was a pretty good price point, it was $75 dollars cheaper then the Chicago Marathon, which made the 11 hour drive worth it in my mind.
What I liked :
Scenery, awesome so pretty, my favorite part was right before and after George town where there were a few smaller hills, a river and trees. I even saw a joggler, a person running with juggling. People kept telling me it was hilly, I am from Chicago where there are zero hills, and I remember a few hills but nothing to stress out about.
I loved all the Marines cheering you on. It was so inspiring and added to the atmosphere It was on Halloween and many spectators handed me candy. I am not an expo person,and I remember really enjoying the expo.I even purchased t-shirt at it.
FYI no one can come to the starting line with you, you need to get there pretty early and you will be id'ed since it starts at the pentagon.
What I didn't love,running through the mall area there were a lot of spectators,and it got crowded, Then around mile 20 you enter this bridge with no shade or aid stations. I gave up on the bridge, I had been under my pace goal. I stopped sat on the bridge for a while and contemplated life. Everything up until that point in the race had been great but getting on the bridge, the lack of shade, the lack of crowd support right around mile 19 or 20 broke me a little.
At the end it seemed like I walked forever to gear check, bonus part or creepy part because it was Halloween when I passed the med tent walking to meet my family near gear check it looked like crime scene with melting clowns, and pandas and all kinds of injured people in costumes.
Overall I really enjoyed the experience, It was my first time to D.C. I found that walking 10 miles the day before so I could see the zoo a bad idea, but enjoyed walking around the day after. As a bonus DC has several great bakeries that are great for recovery.