Jim Varley's Staging Area

Parking was not an issue, and was probably the best part of the whole race. An Auntie Anne’s food truck was parked exactly where the long lines would form for pre-race porta-potty use (lines forming around the truck – seriously). I missed the start of the race due to long lines. The 10k and HMers start together, 5kers start about 15 minutes later and merge into the same course. There is a lot of congestion in this race, a lot of dodging and weaving. There is a section of the course that runs through a tourist area, the road is brick pavers so some uneven surface there. At some point the 5kers do a u-turn but there is a lot of runners taking up the whole road. The 10k/HM group goes on to cross the Naval Academy bridge, with the 10k turnaround at the end of the bridge and run back to the start. The HM group continues on and eventually wind up on a wide hiker-biker trail that is in very good shape. The issue is congestion, as runners are going both ways on this trail. I was going for a PR, but had a lot of issues getting caught behind slower runners and being unable to pass them right away due to oncoming traffic.
The HM group crosses back over the bridge and heads back to the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, but as you arrive, you head up a small trail (very poorly maintained) up a hill and have to be led into a logistical funnel around the stadium to get to the start/finish.
My Garmin had me at 13.01 miles at the finish, and I did not cut any corners, although I did try to take efficient lines at turns/corners. I know that there may be some GPS discrepancies, but my case is not isolated, several other people complained of the same. I did get a PR, but because of this discrepancy, I don’t actually know if it was legit.
The finishing chute was confusing, the medals were off to the side, you had to go out of your way to get to them. I actually missed it and had to double back and even then almost missed it again. The race shirt premium was awful, bad colors, bad design. Look for it at Goodwill. I doubt I will run this race again, and wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.