One of the flaws to this race was the packet pick-up. The store pick-up option was out in Baltimore County, and with traffic that was not convenient. I did like that they offered race morning pick-up, however that was only offered on the website from 5-6 am when the race started at 7. It would have been nice to have had until 6:30, so I didn't have to sit in my car for so long.

There were plenty of clean porta johns at the start, which is always a good thing. The start was very organized and went smoothly. The course was as flat as it could be for Baltimore, with just a couple of short inclines. It was an out and back course, with a beautiful finish along the Promenade in Canton. It was a great tour of some of the best parts of Baltimore for someone who was visiting - you even got to run around the Under Armor Headquarters. A flaw of the course is that some areas were in public areas with pedestrians walking around, but honestly it didn't bother me all that much.

There were plentiful aid stations that were spaced well around the course. They were staffed with great volunteers and some had entertainment (including a drum band!). Only water and gatorade were available, but I feel most runners can/do bring their own gels/chews anyways.

The finish area was great, with space blankets and bagels and pastries from Panera. I didn't stay long, and when I left is when the race became flawed for me. We were recommended to park in a parking lot near the start/finish. This lot took well over an HOUR to get out of. It was horrible. Not only that, but the machine malfunctioned and I paid $50 to park instead of $15. Not cool. While this isn't exactly the race's fault, it would have been nice to share more parking options. While this won't keep me from coming back, it would be a factor in my decision to run again.

Disclaimer: I won an entry to this race on Twitter through a raffle, but all thoughts are my own.

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