Douglas Crossen's Staging Area

Course was ~12.75 miles, which after clarifying with the race director was due to some last minute course rerouting due to storm damage. This should have been acknowledged prior to the start, and if it was and I didn’t hear it, that’s still a problem because I paid very close attention before starting.
Is important to note the volunteers at the aid stations weren’t handing out the cups like other races do. I understand they are volunteers and you only get so many people willing to be out there. I’m grateful for them, but I do wish they had organized/trained the aid stations a lot better.
This is NOT a road race. About half was on the Katy Trail which is gravel, and the other half was on windy trail routes through the woods.
Accommodations at the end were okay, but there was no beer. Of all the races I’ve ever done this was a first, but only a slight bummer for me personally. I suggest marking the route in one color, and where NOT to go in a different color. Using the same color was a disaster. Since the half was two loops that required crossing the “finish line” before starting the second loop, split runners up in advance of this, half marathoners to the right, 5k/10 to the left. Myself and other runners at the front were extremely confused by this, and at the end of the second loop I was sure I missed a significant portion, so I ran through the finish line looking for a marking and saw a sign that said “trail users to the right, vehicles to the left”. I assumed this was my route and proceeded to run down the Katy Trail away from the finish line until I hit 13.15, turned around and walked back. I told the director to put my as a DNF, but soon clarified with other runners they came through around 12.75 as well. Luckily they never put me as a DNF and I got second overall. I thought it was a bit odd the awards were the exact same as the finisher medal in a different color with the placement on the strap.
*edit to add that part of the award for 1st overall and in age group includes an offer for free registration in a future event. I think this is actually way better than hardware.
Also want to include that I recognize the director was practically soloing this entire event and worked very hard to make the race happen. He was announcing runners crossing the line, doing awards ceremony in between, answering questions, and was otherwise doing A LOT.