The good: fast race through the city of brotherly love
The bad: strawberry bridge

In all seriousness this is a fast run and mostly flat. The weather this year happened to be beautiful which is not always the case in April in Philly.
Leading up to the race:
There is ample communication coming from the race management.
The only thing I would have liked to have seen; was seamless communication regarding having someone else get my bag (see below).

The expo:
Didnt go.
I don't go to Philly unless I have to.
The traffic is atrocious and it's really not a convenient city to get in and put of.
That being said, it's really easy to to get into the city at 0500 on a Sunday morning...
The race company will mail you your packet, or you can have a friend get it for you with a copy of your ID.
For this information I simply emailed the race management company and they repsonded pretty quickly.

The pre-race
Ups gear check. Easy peasy.
The art museum steps are easy to get to and available for iconic pictures running up or just standing there...

The race:
A lot of good energy.
Really good organization.
The corral system is laid out really well.
There is something magical about running toward City Hall down Ben Franklin boulevard.
Its dopey but you feel like you're watching the opening credits to a philly based movie...or maybe even an extra?
The first 7K is super flat and fast.
The volunteers were good.
I personally was a little put off by the team handing out the energy gel at mile 9 I think that I would have stage the volunteers energy gel Then electrolyte then Water.
Come to think of it the whole course was water than electrolyte and it is my personal preference do you have electrolyte 1st then water in case I want to wash it down or in case it is too sticky or whatever.
Also the course, as I stated, is pretty flat. You're running along the Schuykill river I'd love for most of the race and U loop around city Hall for another segment.
But there's one portion kind of kills you around mile 8 because you're running up the off ramp and even though it's not a long Hill or it's not be most steep Hill I've personally ever climbed the placement at the race is impact Ful.

The finish line
I think that the love run does a fantastic job of taking care of runners.
Receives a post race goodie bag with water pretzels were Nola and it's so much easier than trying to collecting carry those things like you would have to do it other races.
This year they had a beer garden which was nice you got to sample some of the Coney island IPS and I believe smernoff had a sample station
The flow of runners out the finish line and into the food tent and then out to the gear check area was super efficient and should be admired and replicated.

All in all this race is a must do to start your Spring running season.
Even though you have to drive into Philadelphia for it the the race outweighs the drive so I thoroughly recommend it.

The good: fast race through the city of brotherly love
The bad: strawberry bridge

In all seriousness this is a fast run and mostly flat. The weather this year happened to be beautiful which is not always the case in April in Philly.
Leading up to the race:
There is ample communication coming from the race management.
The only thing I would have liked to have seen; was seamless communication regarding having someone else get my bag (see below).

The expo:
Didnt go.
I don't go to Philly unless I have to.
The traffic is atrocious and it's really not a convenient city to get in and put of.
That being said, it's really easy to to get into the city at 0500 on a Sunday morning...
The race company will mail you your packet, or you can have a friend get it for you with a copy of your ID.
For this information I simply emailed the race management company and they repsonded pretty quickly.

The pre-race
Ups gear check. Easy peasy.
The art museum steps are easy to get to and available for iconic pictures running up or just standing there...

The race:
A lot of good energy.
Really good organization.
The corral system is laid out really well.
There is something magical about running toward City Hall down Ben Franklin boulevard.
Its dopey but you feel like you're watching the opening credits to a philly based movie...or maybe even an extra?
The first 7K is super flat and fast.
The volunteers were good.
I personally was a little put off by the team handing out the energy gel at mile 9 I think that I would have stage the volunteers energy gel Then electrolyte then Water.
Come to think of it the whole course was water than electrolyte and it is my personal preference do you have electrolyte 1st then water in case I want to wash it down or in case it is too sticky or whatever.
Also the course, as I stated, is pretty flat. You're running along the Schuykill river I'd love for most of the race and U loop around city Hall for another segment.
But there's one portion kind of kills you around mile 8 because you're running up the off ramp and even though it's not a long Hill or it's not be most steep Hill I've personally ever climbed the placement at the race is impact Ful.

The finish line
I think that the love run does a fantastic job of taking care of runners.
Receives a post race goodie bag with water pretzels were Nola and it's so much easier than trying to collecting carry those things like you would have to do it other races.
This year they had a beer garden which was nice you got to sample some of the Coney island IPS and I believe smernoff had a sample station
The flow of runners out the finish line and into the food tent and then out to the gear check area was super efficient and should be admired and replicated.

All in all this race is a must do to start your Spring running season.
Even though you have to drive into Philadelphia for it the the race outweighs the drive so I thoroughly recommend it.

I have had the benefit of running this race two times prior.
The good: rock n roll puts on a good race. Running around the Capitol is pretty sweet and there is always support.
The bad: this is going to sound super petty.... but where is my finisher jacket?!?!?!?

Pre race communication:
RnR does a succinct job in communicating. And they have a standard format whichn covers all their bases. It is not too frequent but early and enough.

The expo:
I was a little disappointed that some of the vendors didn't show. There were a handful of empty tables when I got there.
I was also a little confused that there were more vendors with muscle stimulation/ massage machines than running gear or products. It felt like every third table was an electro muscular stimulation machine...
I feel that the expo was laid out to optimize flow of people through the expo which is helpful.
Also. They had a plank contest which was neat--and the first time I had seen this at a rnr expo. I though this was engaging and fun.

The course
New this year ! You dont run through the abandoned industrial park.
Okay okay. Maybe it wasn't an abandoned anything but in years past there was an awful stretch between 15 and 20 which felt lonely and boring.
Even though there were more 180 degree turns I felt doubling back through the park and over the highway was much more tolerable.
If I remember correctly where the half marathon and full marathon and traditionally split this time around the half marathon banks right and the full marathon banks left.
I really appreciated seeing the 5K runners come in and being able to cheer on other marathon runners on my way back.
All in all they did a good job of making this race fast in the beginning and then technical at the end with some hills and some turns and this is a good competitive race
Also a side note about the course every year I have run the rock and roll Washington DC it has been freezing and either raining or snowing or so 1st time is an outlier 3rd time is a trend...

The swag
Where is my finisher jacket
I know that achieving a certain time completing a certain distance or a combination of the 2 should be why I ran the race
But
I look forward to the jacket which reads marathon finisher
I was really looking forward to having that jacket at the end of the race
The T-shirt you get is your standard T-shirt it's a technical material and it has the logo for the race this year the colors were black-and-blue which felt kind of dreary especially with the weather. The metal is OK I think they get a better job with their Virginia Beach metal and their Brooklyn metal when they were running in Brooklyn New York

After party
Another rock and roll staple are there after race events with the headliner series concert and the Michelob Ultra area.
I was not let down this year by the finisher area they were giving out pizza and the normal race amenities like bananas and chocolate milk. They had music playing they had awards and metal engraving and yes I could have bought by finisher jacket at the merchandise tent
Free Michelob Ultra had the end of a race is always fun
I had a massage area which was very welcome and a changing area which they may have had in the past but I don't remember ever taking advantage of

Summary
Ideal enjoy rock and roll races they put on a good race they plan a good course they have good amenities on and after the race and while it's not always about the swag they often do put some thought into what they give you