First off, this race was cancelled for 2016
I don't blame the race management for cancelling. I'm not upset in the least There were undoubtably a lot of people coming in from the suburbs and the forecast wasn't that great. They had to be conscious of those who were driving in to run, volunteer, and work. Considering parking and road conditions it would have been a nightmare. I was planning on leaving my house at 7am for a 9am race that would normally take me 20 minutes to get to. I believe the majority of this race runs on the inner path too, which isn't a priority for snow clearance and often gets iced over.

The course was similar to the years past on a map. Nothing special, mainly lakefront. I cannot comment on the condition of the course / mud / ice / salt.

Aid stations were set up with water and Nuun like all RAM Races. I prefer Nuun at my races over other sport drink. Also, it is a nice touch to have Nuun in a 5k the majority that I have ran only have water. I grab something 50% off the time and would 90% of the time prefer a sport drink in a 5k.

Packet pick up at Fleet Feet was easy. I was able to pick up someone else's packet. Although I am getting annoyed with RAM's corral system. I have been put into B for the last two races and they mentioned that they look at previous RAM races on my account and with a SF10 pace of 7:47 I should in theory be placed into A, I ran into the same thing with Mag Mile 5k. If I was trying to PR I would have complained. I had been sick all week with a sinus infection, so wasn't planning on PR.

Swag isn't a driver for me to do races, however when the swag was initially announced and I had signed up, it was a pair of sweatpants. sweet! I can always use more, plus they are useful. About a month before the race they started posting this okay looking Red Beanie. Which ended up being horrible quality, and mine was already pilling out of the packaging. If I had paid for the race because of the sweatpants and not received an entry through BibRave I would have felt even more deceived and like a bait and switch.

Another con is it was downgraded to a 5k from an 8k. I read the reasoning was the weather causes them to change it to a 5k often.

On the plus side, free donut from Do Rite with your bib for a week and a discount for a future RAM Race.

Honestly, had the race taken place I probably still wouldn't run it next year. Hate to write not the best review, but these are my honest thoughts!