Packet Pickup:
I wasn't able to pick up the packets because I'm out of town for school, so I left that to my husband. The packet pickup takes place at the Armory near the RFK Stadium. Husband reported that packet pickup was smooth... DC traffic (which never really ceases) was the only bad part of packet pickup. 
The Goods:
You get a long sleeve technical shirt and a challenge coin.
The Race:
Weather reports were not good for the race. Rain was expected and the humidy was really high. I made a call to just take it easy and enjoy the race, with an intent to keep my HR below 165 for the race. kept my pace pretty slow and even with the weather, I genuinely enjoyed this race! I'm usually pushing so hard that I don't take the time to actually look around and enjoy the monuments... But I was able to this time and it made the race so much more enjoyable. 

As mentioned before, the weather was terrible for this race. It was in the 70s with extremely high humidity. It started to rain a little during the beginning of the race, but it quickly passed (and added to the already terrible humidity). There were times when it felt like I was suffocating, not because I was exerting myself, but because the humidity was so terrible. There were water points every couple miles, which helped... but I feel like the volunteers should have spread the tables and waters out to every mile once the weather started to turn. After around 10:15 or 10:20am, I overheard another runner saying that the course was downgraded and would be a "fun run" without official times for runners on the shortened course. There were several heat injuries, seemingly a lot more than usual... 
But... other than the weather, I really enjoyed the race and will run it again next year. 

The Great Sedro-Woolley Footrace (and yes, there is a hyphen in there… it’s legit, I promise!) is held every year on the 4th of July in Sedro-Woolley, Washington. It is a small town and this race is part of a festival called “Logger-Rodeo.” The race features a 5.17 mile race and a 2 mile fun run/walk. I chose to do the 2 mile fun run as a practice race for the Army Physical Fitness Test that I would be taking a couple weeks later. The race is only $25.00, regardless of what distance you run. This is the bare bones cost… if you want a t shirt, it will cost you another $10.00. I opted to forgo the shirt (I have plenty already!) and thing that the race is quite a steal.
The packet pickup takes place the day of the race, in the parking lot of the local high school. Check in started at 07:30, and the volunteers made this a very smooth process. It is a relatively small race, so that is helpful.
The race course is not the most scenic, with the majority of the race taking place through the downtown area of the tiny town. However, if you run the 5.17 distance, the course will take you down by the river, which is a little more scenic. The best part of this race is how extremely FLAT it is. If you want a PR for these two random distances, THIS is the place to do it.
The race starts in the later part of the morning (09:30), so the weather was a little warmer than I would have preferred. However, it was still a quick, low-stress race.
My biggest complaint or concern about the race is the way that they time the race. There is not a timing mat. There is a person at the finish line collecting your chips and then running them back to the computer station to calculate your place and time. I ran hard through the finish line, but slowly handed my chip to the woman collecting them. Had I known that my “place in line” would be my place and final time, I would have continued running to the woman collecting the chips. I ended up missing the opportunity to place in my age group by 2 seconds! BUT, my husband ended up getting first place in his age ground, so I call this whole a thing a success!

Let me begin by saying this was one of the most fun half marathons that I have ever participated in. It is a small, but well-managed and beautiful race!

Race Communication: Unlike some races, the director did not inundate the runners with emails every week. I received an update with the pertinent race-day information the week of the race. The instructions for packet pickup and information for the day of the race were succinct and to the point. Informative without being annoying!

Packet Pickup: There were two options for packet pickup: the Saturday evening prior to the race or the morning before the race. I opted to pick up the packet the day of the race because I live about 1.5 hours away (and didn’t want to make the trip twice…). The packet pickup was very low key. Just a handful of volunteers handing out the packets. It was not an expo with vendors, but there was an opportunity to purchase shirts from previous races. The prizes for the age group were also out on display, which was a nice touch.

After packet pickup, runners can take a bus out to the race start. There is parking at the race start, but it is limited and the race organizers encourage runners to take the bus to the start.
As mentioned before, the race was a pretty small race (approximately 500 runners), with mix of half and full marathoners (mostly half-marathoners). There was German music to pump up the crowd and the race started off with a German count down!

The race takes places at Pennypack Park, north of Philadelphia. The course was absolutely gorgeous. There were warnings prior to race day about the heat being an issue, but the weather was actually pretty great at the start of the race. The first 5 miles or so run along a paved bike/run/walk route. As with most races, the start was a little crowded (even for a small race), but the crowd thinned out as the miles progressed.

There is a random “open grass” area of the route, which stretches across an open area marked with cones. It feels like a cross country race, but it was a nice change. Shortly after this portion, the race becomes a true trail race. There is a narrow, rutty path with rolling hills. The trail is VERY narrow, so runners will form a single-file line on the path. Although this is arguably the most challenging portion of the run, I enjoyed it the most. Unfortunately, this is also around the time when the weather started to warm up a bit.

After this portion, the race returns to the wider bike trail. Mentally, this is great because you know the race is over halfway and all you have to do is tackle the hills that you’ve already ran on the way out!

The race is a lollipop, out and around the trail portion, and back to the start. At the conclusion of the race, there are treats for the runners, to include pretzels, candy, banana bread, etc. (And water of course!). After grabbing some treats, I got on the bus and headed back to the after party.

Each runner is given two tickets to use for a brat/sauerkraut and a beer. There is an EXCELLENT selection of beer to choose from (not the normal Michelob Light). If you are still hungry or thirsty, you can also choose to purchase more food or drinks. As you relax and enjoy your post-race goodies, you have the opportunity to listen to performers play German music and there is also a costume/German garb contest.

In conclusion, this is definitely one of my favorite races that I have had an opportunity to participate it. I definitely recommend it!