I ran the National Marathon its last year, missed the RnR last year but ran the half this year, in part to compare it to the old race. This was my first and I can say last Rock N Roll event. It was absolutely the worst organized race in which I've participated. There were too few volunteers and seemingly no professionals working it. There were NO signs for the aid stations, no warning signs so I could time my GU, and no signs at the stations themselves, suddenly you were just running by them. Half of the aid stations were out of water and some had no volunteers so we had to pour our own. Then there was the bag check. I waited 40 minutes to get my bag and I was lucky. Some people waited 1.5 hours. If it had been raining and cold as predicted we would have seen lots of hypothermia, its a safety issue at that point. Finally, there was no one directing people out of the gathering area so it was very difficult to find a way back to the parking lot. I hated this race.

Ran the half. Somewhat better beginning of course this year. But organizers cut corners in crucial areas and support was woefully inadequate for the crowd. VERY long wait for bag drop and much longer for pickup  the latter particularly a problem in cool temps; runners were shivering. Not enough Port-a-Johns at start led to very long lines. I barely made the start, and several friends missed it and had start way back and wade through thousands of slow runners. If they don't improve this, I would look elsewhere.

I also agree with a previous post: Course was much better before the RNR. The organization tries to minimize hassle for themselves, hence the boring course, especially in the latter half. (I didn't run the full but I live in SW and I can't believe where they put the course.) The Suntrust National Half used to run right through downtown and Dupont Circle.

Also, the music was kind of lame. Okay, it was lame. Some of the groups were too quiet and weren't at all rock n' roll groups. Other groups were in between songs. Seriously, the best rock n' roll band I heard had a kid lead singer who looked he was 13 years old. The music was rough, but hey, at least it was loud. The DJ in Adams Morgan was good too.
I thought the service on the run was fine, except running out of water around mile 11.

So, if you want an easy course, this half will work for you. If you are interested in a more interesting course or an actual RNR half, don't do it.

Course was awesome!!! Lets you see some of the major tourist sights and gives a flavor of 'regular' DC with run through neighborhoods and along the Anacostia river on the back end. Crowds were great, supportive and loud. Although crowds did thin out on the last half of course, but how cool is it to run through some of DC's best and most despressed neighborhoods and have people high 5ing you all the way. I say good job RNR. I have done Marine Corps and this one and I think the RNR course is better. The course does have some small hills that all seem to hit at the worst time. Nice for variation, but be prepared. A wave start would be nice. The field is huge and it takes a while to thin out. I also agree could have used more Gatorade on the course and more ice or wet towels as the temperatures were well above normal. 70s in DC in March. Wow! Packet pickup was a breeze and using the Armory and starting/finishing at RFK stadium makes public transportation perfect. Would like to see Metro open even earlier. I was one of those in a train behind the train with the broken door, so I was late getting off. Can't blame RNR for a mechanical problem with a Metro car though. Despite heat, late start, etc, I had a PR. Fun day, fun course, great crowds, great taste of DC. Let's do it again!

I ran the half in 2010 and the full in 2011 when it was still the 'National Marathon.' Making this part of the RnR series has its pros and cons, but mostly minuses from my perspective.

Pros:
- unlike 2011, the course had 26 mile markers, and they appeared to be in all the right places

Cons:
- Gatorade only available at every other water stop, i.e., about every 4 miles. All other marathons I've run or seen have a sports drink at least every 2 miles. On a warm day like 3/17/12, I had to carry my own Gatorade.

- the race is oversold. Way too crowded, especially the first half.

- slow to provide info leading up to the race. Important things like when Metro would be open, where the hydration stops would be, etc only seemed to come out in trickles, and often not until closer to race date than normal.

The organizers can't control the weather, but it was an unusually hot one in 2012. They could have adapted by adding ice, sponges, or whatever on race day, because it was forecast to be warm a week in advance.

In 2012 Metro opened at 6am, which made it a viable option for most people to make the 8am start. But by 8am it is already getting warm, even on a normal March day. I wish that the race had started at 7am (as it did in 2011) and that Metro had opened at 5am (as it did NOT in 2011). What a lot of people don't realize is that the events have to pay $30,000 per hour for opening Metro early. Apparently hat makes too big a dent in RnR's profit margin for them to pay for a 5am opening (as I think the old National Marathon did in 2010), but that would be the ideal.

The Rock n Roll DC marathon was my second marathon and despite setting a PR, this was a tough slog of a course. It did not help it was unseasonably warm for DC that day, with the sun beating down on full marathoners in the middle and latter part of the race. The first half of the marathon (or the half-marathon itself) is greatlots of bands, great vibe, spectators, etc. But after the half-marathoners divert to the finish line, the second 13.1 miles became lonesome. The Anacostia portion of the race is brutal, especially the final climb up Minnesota Ave. I was passing people the final few miles who were a solid half-mile/mile ahead of me near the Nationals ballpark. If I do the 2013 race, I'm sticking to the half.

From an organizational standpoint, I thought things were OK. Granted the unseasonable weather made me wish I had brought my own hydration unit, but the water stops came at the right time, otherwise I would have been in trouble. The only thing that was irksome (and not sure if it's RnR's fault) is the Metro needed to open up at 5 instead of 6. I was on the first Metro coming from Virginia (orange line) and it was standing room only when I got in and a sardine can by the time it hit the Stadium-Armory stop. That could have been planned better. Like I said, I'd run this race again but only the half marathon.

Rock N Roll stepped up the game a little compared to the disaster I read about for Las Vegas 2011. I tend to run RnR races with a lot of trepidation, but I wanted to get DC under my belt for a 50 state goal and the timing was right. Everything more or less went according to what I expected.

The only real snag I found was the expo, theres really not a lot of guidance as to where you can park, but once you get settled it's pretty easy to get your packet. I liked the race shirt a lot, as I tend to wear a very small size and when they are unisex I still feel like I am wearing a tent in a small. The shirts are fitted for M/F and good quality. Plenty of vendors for grabbing last minute Gu or whatever you need.

I have run a few other RnR events, and this was not much different. They really do cater to the half marathoners. Unless you run a 3-hour marathon you will miss the headliner band completely (luckily I don't run these races for the bands). The second half of the course was sparse, in full sun, fewer water stops, and pretty desolate and uneventful with fewer bands (honestly, this is typical of RnR, let's face it). The one saving grace was the tunnel you get to run through with the DJ blasting music, it was probably 15 degrees cooler and was such a nice treat. But the heat really put a damper on the overall vibe of the race, most of the runners looked fairly miserable by the final miles, and I finished probably 20 minutes slower than usual. It was just not my race this time around. I was finishing with 3 hour marathoners at 4:14. It didn't seem to be ANYONE'S race that day.

The medals are OK, nothing special. I honestly always swear I will never run another RnR event, they are very commercial and clogged with way too many runners, but honestly this one was OK and if you can't get into Marine Corps Marathon, this would do for a DC race. Just don't expect a fantastic course the entire way, once it drops from the half it's a no-man's land.

D.C. is such a great city to run. Rock n Roll knows how to run a race. Fan support was great! Only lagged in the late miles in the park. Very well organized. Truly enjoyed the race. Looking forward to doing it again next year!

My first Rock n Roll race, and it was okay, but not great.

Pro's
Decent size expo
Decent size (but not creative) finishers medal
Chocolate milk at the finish line
Easy access to public transportation for start/finish line

Con
Too many runners
Not enough water stops, especially since the temps were much higher than anticipated
No wave start
Shirts lacked creativity (and same shirt for half and full marathon)
Would have been nice to run by some of the monuments vs seeing them from 2-3 streets away.

I have read thru the reviews on the Rock n Roll races and it appears if you are a serious runner, this is not the race/series for you. If you like lots of people, high fee's, beer at the finish line and a decent band/entertainment at the finish line, then this is the race for you. It appears the RnR races cater towards walkers and first timer's.

BTW, at the expo, they offer a $15 discount to sign up for future RnR races.

I did this race purely because it is in DC and I had a 9 month old I couldn't leave for the weekend (other years I have run the Shamrock in VA Beach  one of my favorites.)

The race was OK. Nothing compared to Marine Corps which I've done twice  that race is so well organized but hey it now sells out in two hours so I guess that says a lot. I didn't have any train issues but I live in Vienna (end of the orange line so I got on the very first train and never had to get off til I reached the starting line) - the car was completely full by the time we got two stops in and people were being turned away. The trains were only coming every 20 minutes and I heard plenty of people didn't get there in time for the start.

I LOVED that they let you into the Armory to wait for the race to start. It was pretty chilly at 7 a.m. and I didn't want to gear check so all I had was my throwaway shirt... so nice to sit in a heated building until 7:35 or so.

The premium was a nice Brooks running shirt, but I was annoyed that it said 'Marathon and Half Marathon.' There is a big difference between running 13.1 and running 26.2 and every time I wear it everyone asks if I did the half or the full.

I was also annoyed that you had to pay for people to track you on their mobile phones (I emailed this to the race director and a couple of days later got an email that you could choose three people to track you for free... ) and that you had to pay $20 for a friend to pick up your packet. I picked up my own packet, and hey I have no problem with a rule that you have to pick up your own packet  triathlons make you show ID and have no exceptions  but charging $20 just shows that they are greedy, in my opinion. What extra work is it on their part? Either let people do it for free or don't let them do it at all.

I didn't like being on the same course as the half (another lesson they could learn from Shamrock where the half starts 90 minutes before the full.) There were way too many people and it was hard to get past the big crowds. THEN somewhere around mile 7 someone told me I was running the wrong direction and I the full was supposed to go 'that way.' I was off course for close to two minutes. My neighbor ran it too and said the same thing happened to him and there was actually a sign that said the full people were supposed to go another direction (they weren't supposed to...) I'm not sure where the issue stemmed from but it definitely hurt my finish time.

Of course the race would have to be on the hottest weekend in March (nothing the race directors could do about that.) I ended up with hyponatremia (my own fault  I was drinking three cups of water at every aid station) and was very disoriented for the last 7 miles and therefore I remember nothing about the finish, so I can't comment there.

Getting home was easy  the train wasn't crowded and I just hopped on. Again very nice having the metro stop right there. As much as I love Marine Corps, both times I have had to wait over 40 minutes to get down the metro escalator.

My GPS says I ran 26.85 miles. I can see I was off course for .2, but I'm surprised by the rest of it... every other race I've done has been spot on with the GPS. I'm not the only person who said they their GPS said they course was a bit long. I guess I should be REALLY proud though if I did my first sub 3:55 and ran almost 27 miles :)

Will I run it again? Probably not. It's hilly and has the potential to be hot after training in cold temperatures all winter, and I'm not in love with the Rock N Roll organizers as they seem to be in it for the money. Who busses people to the finish line of a marathon? What is the point? Either make them DNF or extend the time limit.