Hot Chocolate 15/5k

There’s probably no need for another review, but in case you’re thinking about doing this race next year, DON’T! Here’s why:
1: It started over an hour late. In December. When it was very cold. And they never gave us updates on when it would start.
2: The announcer was incredibly annoying and condescending. While we’re all waiting for the race to start, he just kept talking about how there was plenty of chocolate to go around, several tons of it, so much that we could just jump into it, etc. As though that was our biggest concern when a 15K race is delayed by over an hour. Asshole, we’re only doing this race because it was the only long-​distance race offered in the winter; if it was chocolate we were after we’d just buy some damn hot chocolate.
3: The first 10K or so was an out an back along Indian Head Highway, which was open to traffic. It seemed to be a popular route with trucks, and breathing in that much smog while running is incredibly unpleasant. Plus, given that there were 20,000+ people running two directions, plus tons of trucks, it’s seriously a miracle that nobody got hurt.
4: Priorities for placing volunteers were completely off. There were tons of people standing around at bag check and dishing out chocolate, but almost no one manning the water stations. This resulted in huge waits at the water stations, as runners were mixing their own drinks (they had concentrated Gatorade, which had to be mixed with water).
5: «Apology» letter which went out after the race placed blame on every one and everything other than the race organizers themselves. The local police department, the volunteers, and an accident which appears not to have actually happened were all blamed by the race director, who didn’t even have the balls to sign his name to the email.

WORST. RACE. EVER.
Too many issues to list here, but in short = a waste of money, unsafe, and run by greedy people (RAM Racing) who delete your posts off their Facebook page if you have any opinion contrary to theirs. Same with race sponsor Ghirardelli Chocolate. I feel sorry for Ronald McDonald House who was underwhelmingly featured as the race charity, because I would have to question how much $ the yare actually getting from RAM.
Not impressed, plus I sustained an injury that could have been avoided had there not been 22,000 people on a race course designated for 5,000 and if we had actually not been delayed over an hour in 30 degree weather with a ridiculous 1.47 mile uphill walk to the start line (advertised as less than a quarter mile, and was told it was a 3 minute walk from the parking facility we were at) and just overall incompetence displayed by RAM racing became the cherry on top of this disaster.
A gentle summary of what went down:
An overly-​rosy and not-​honest-​enough summary of what went down:
Local radio coverage:
An honest summary of what went down:
19-​year veteran of running, and appalled at the mistakes executed by those greedy fools at RAM. I would have more compassion if it was their first race overall, but they tout «over 10 years and 100 races of experience» so that just accentuates my point that this race sucked even more.

I tried to enjoy what I could out of a fun 5K race with my friends, but there were oh so many issues:
1. It took me over an hour and a half to drive 13 miles. National Harbor could clearly not handle 5,000 cars parking there. Additionally, there were tons of people just by themselves, not carpooling!
2. The start of the race felt like more than a 1.5 mile walk from the garage. Also, if walking from garage, there were only 2 portapotties on the way, whereas the large number of them we did not see until the end of the race. For such a short distance like a 5K, this seems ridiculous to have to walk that far after paying $ 10 to park close to the start.
3. Poor communication to runners prior to race. Corrals were overcrowded. Many areas of the race where we could not run, had to walk. The race was longer than a 5k, run in reverse, and we had no mile markers until mile 3, and even that was incorrect.
4. The jackets in the packet pickup were very poor quality, would have preferred a t-​shirt with how bad it was. Also, would have been nice if there was a packet pickup in DC, not all just in National Harbor.
5. The 15K started after the 5k as planned, but was delayed even more. This made our carpooling situation difficult and we had to wait about 2 hours for our friends to finish the longer race. Doesn’t make sense why the 15K didn’t go first.
6. Even with traffic and all of the above, the races still should have started onetime. I didn’t get home until 1:30pm, for a race that was supposed to just last until maybe midmorning. I kind of wish when I saw all the traffic we just turned around.

I had the same miserable experience as everyone else, so nothing new to add there. I will definitely never run another race promoted by RAM racing.
However, a big thank you to the volunteers that worked the race, I could tell they were frustrated and overwhelmed and doing the best they could. IF this race happens again next year I definitely won’t be running it but I will volunteer to help to try to make it better.

This was the WORST race and by far the worst event I have ever attended thus far. I had heard about this race from my cousins in Chicago, so decided to sign up with a friend for the 15K in DC. Why not? Its advertised as having the «Best Swag Ever.»
Horrible start to finish. My friend called to register late, gave RAM Racing her details and CREDIT CARD INFO, and was never registered. She found out a few days before the Expo, when she called RAM multiple times to get her bib number. Potomac River Running helped her find out what was going on. She signed up for a $ 150 charge since it was a few days before.
The EXPO. Disastrous. How could you not have any energy chews or gels for a 9+ mile run? The «swag?» The jacket is worse than anything you would buy at KMART. DONT sign up for this race for the free stuff, it sucks.
Location was the National Harbor. It could have been really pretty. Instead, it was on the highway, runners were running towards each other in a very narrow lane. Ok– we have 20K runners here, you cant come up with a proper course? AND, to top it off, we were running alongside moving traffic. Really?!
I had to fill my own water and gatorade at the aid stations. The race didnt start until 930am, though there was an 8am start time. By 9, I was hungry. How about one of those apples that are just sitting in a bucket? Ohhh, those are for decoration only. Right. So, now I am going to run 9 miles on an empty, hungry stomach, because we started an 1.5 hours late.
This race, and RAM Running, deserve negative stars. It was horrid, a total nightmare start to finish. The race course was horrible, the SWAG was sh**ty, the timing was off. The chocolate fondue was a joke. NEVER AGAIN, you couldnt pay me.
STAY AWAY FROM RAM RACING.

The other runners are spot on about this race so I won’t added much, but felt really strongly about how poorly the morning went — it was the most poorly executed race I’ve ever ran in. I’d never been to National Harbor (because it’s not Metro-​accessible), and I’m not keen on returning anytime soon. From starting an hour and a half late, to the terrible running course (including the stretch of highway that wasn’t closed to traffic, the gravel parking lot, and the much too narrow path along the Potomac), to being stuck in traffic for hours, to the pathetic «apology» email, this race was definitely a fail.
I’d never recommend running a race at National Harbor or running in any of RAM’s other events.
There were at least a few positive things about the race: 1) no one died, considering we were running in narrow lanes right next to speeding traffic with only really annoying orange cones separating us from lethal weapons; 2) the port-​a-​potty lines at bag check were really short — but probably because half the people didn’t know where the bathrooms were located (since signage was so terrible); and 3) I heard that the chocolate fondue (though not the hot chocolate) was delicious, but I couldn’t eat it so not really a plus for me.
If you are a masochist, then this is definitely the race for you!

Don’t. Do. It.

I would have almost given this event 2 stars but after the ‘apology’ which basically shifted all the blame for this fiasco to other people, I have to go ahead and give this event 1 star. Mistakes happen, not being able to take stock of how you played a part in them makes it almost impossible for you to improve in the future.
Terrible logistics and planning
One hour delay for the start in the cold (no proper communication either)
Flimsy jacket, and 2 squares of chocolate and a lame coupon was the extent of the ‘goodie bag’ (so much for ‘best swag and goodie bag’
Watery Hot Cocoa at the end
Having read the reviews for the race they put on in chicago this year and last year I knew it was going to be a debacle and I think I mitigated a lot of the things that affected other runners by knowing that in order to not have a horrible time I would have to arrive EXTRA early and lower my expectations.
Early Arrival and Seeded Corral
I arrived crazy early so I ended up parking near the start rather than 1 – 2 miles away that some people did. Anybody looking at a map of national harbor could and SHOULD have been able to tell this would be a logistics nightmare for 20k runners. They were supposed to be checking bibs and directing parking, none of this happened. Even though I arrived at 6am for a 8am race, it still took us 30 – 40 minutes to get parked. I truly believe one of their most fatal mistakes was choosing this venue for so many runners. Its hard not to believe that greed made them decide to allow so many runners to register. This race would have been better with about half the participants if they wanted to use this location.
Having read reviews, i made sure to sign up for a seeded start since everyone complained about how jammed up their races ended up. I was fortunate to not be one of those people running in a dangerously packed group. It was tight but I cant say I had any real issues since I was with a group running my pace. If you do run one of their races, seeded start is the way to go.
Which brings us to the next point. We had the ‘pleasure’ of inhaling dump truck and car exhaust for 5.5 miles or so. The highway was partially closed and bumper to bumper traffic created tons of exhaust for us to breathe in. Not to mention running down a crappy highway wasnt the most scenic route…
What I can say good about it is the fondue was tasty and volunteers were friendly. Thankfully i didnt deal with having to mix my own gatorade that others did later in the race but I think my experience was better because i finished ahead of most (top 14% holla!).
Many of their explanations for why things went wrong fall far short of acknowledging any blame and also shows that they are not involved enough in the planning or at the very least have incompetent people putting together the races. I really doubt ill be running in any of their races here

Everything that the other reviewers have written is true about this race. It was a hot mess. To arrive at 6:00 am to stand around and freeze until 9am is just inexcusable.
I have to say not being a hardcore runner, I wasn’t as agitated as the people around me, but when I got the not signed anonymous letter from RAM’s supposed owner, blaming other factors (unrelated or fictious traffic accidents, National Harbor’s coordination of parking) rather than admitting that they overbooked the race, planned a horrific course, and just shamelessly acted like moneygrabbers, I got a little miffed. Oh and by the way, if you’re gonna blame other people for your mess, sign your name to the letter, you f****** pussy, and you have five typos in it too, just sayin.
To add insult to injury, I got even more ticked off when I took my «swag» jacket out of the bag last night, the one they described as «made from wind and water resistant material, with reflective piping and vented back, this jacket is perfect for winter weather running.» Yes, it was perfect for winter running… in Honolulu. It was wafer thin and cheap. I wasn’t expecting a Northface jacket, but for a $ 65 entry fee, I would have either preferred a long sleeved tee or anything else that wouldn’t dissolve in the rain.
So here’s where they went wrong (I won’t touch parking, that was a whole other cluster **** you can read about in other reviews):
First of all, keeping runners in suspense for over an hour, in the freaking cold without our warm clothes is just bad planning/​ethics/​safety. No one had a clue when our start time would be, so it keep us on edge and we didn’t really stretch again or go run to the port a potties knowing the race could start at any minute. This resulted in some chanting of:
«What do we want?»
«THE RACE TO START!»
«When do we want it?»
«NOW!».
Now you have to keep in my mind the race participant demographics was about 75% women. If we had been in that corral any longer, our cycles would have synced up and you have a big raging PMS fueled riot on your hands. Do you want that race coordinators? You’ll be standing between us and the chocolate fondue.
When we were finally allowed to go, I have to honestly say I have never seen so many women drop their pants and pee in public than within the first 2 miles. I honestly didn’t need to see all that, and it would have helped to have port-​a-​potties or maybe some updates as to when the race would start so people could pee before they started racing.
To begin the race, I spent about 5 miles running down half a highway sucking on some exhaust and being honked at by trucks. The road was tight and overpacked. I saw some people run into cones, luckily no one got hit by a car.
Then we moved onto the running in dusty and rocky construction site part of the race. This part had some major bottlenecks as we approached the water. We finished the race with a climb up Mount National Harbor in the last few miles, cause every runner loves to finish a race going uphill. The entire race course was around 9.15−9.19 miles, and a 15k is 9.3, so apparently no one did the math.
After you finish you get one bottle of water (keep in mind, along the course, most water stations were DIY and unmanned) and march up a big hill for the after party. The fondue at the end was actually good but not generous. We got a half banana, some apple slices, a pretzel stick and a mini rice krispie treat to dip into the chocolate. I discovered that the last thing I wanted after a race was sugar though, and didn’t eat much.
Here is my message for those of you that are first time DC race runners, I promise you that there are plenty of well coordinated and more scenic races like Marine Corps, Army 10-​miler, and Cherry Blossom. Please don’t let this crappy race deter you. For all runners, just on principle alone, stay far away from RAM races.

Yesterday’s hot chocolate race was perhaps the worst run, worst organized event in which I have ever participated — EVER — and I do a lot of races. First, the venue does not have metro access so everyone must either shuttle or drive. Next they let too many people into the race to the point that the National Harbor area cannot handle the capacity of people or cars. The process of getting off the highway and into a parking lot took over an hour. My four friends and I — yes, we took the carpool requirement seriously and squeezed into a small SUV — were racing the mile from the parking lot to the race start in fear of missing the starting gun. (We were unable to find our friends in the other two cars, because they were shuttled to a grass lot closer to the start and finish (lucky them).
But alas, the race started a good hour-​plus (maybe closer to 1:20) late. No one knew where to stand or where to go. Some people were on a hill others milling about around the corrals but not in the corrals. I saw many 15k bibs start with the 5k race — did they just give up because it was taking so long or were they confused because the race was starting so late they assumed it was their race starting?
Had I known that the 15K wouldn’t start for another HOUR, I would have just done the 5K race… But I waited for the 15K to start, thinking it would only be half an hour after the 5K. The 15K course runs along a highway and was so crowded that runners were spilling beyond the area marked off by cones. Not a particularly scenic — or safe — course. The nicer part of the course circles along the harbor area with nice views but very crowded — again, way too many people for the space allotted.
The finish area was also over-​crowded and confusing, and the process of getting out of the parking lot and onto the highway took an HOUR. Seriously, it was worse than getting into the national harbor area. If the race organizers hold the race again next year, they should either choose another venue or else cut the number of participants by half. Either way, I will not be participating.

Posted this already on the other event page, but still feel like this is worthy of a zero. Plus, event coordinators could have at least apologized… but didn’t. Poor form.
So this was my tenth or so race with 20,000+ runners. The other 9 basically went off without a hitch. Sure, some are a bit crowded; sure, some don’t have the best swag, or the best expos, or even the best water. But to be categorically terrible is quite the feat. Congrats, RamRacing.
1) It’s hard to have a good race if you can’t get there. Between the lack of public transportation, the traffic, and the lack of shuttle buses (really? 5 buses for thousands of people?!), this was a complete disaster.
2) It’s hard to have a good race if your volunteers are clueless. I’ve NEVER had to stop running, fight through herds of people to get a cup, and then have to fill it myself with gatorade. I really really really do appreciate the fact that people are volunteering their time in support of my race, but come on.
3) It’s hard to have a good race if you fear your own personal safety. The course was too tight, half of it was run on a highway, breathing exhaust, and they made us wait for AN HOUR before starting the race late.
This was a DEBACLE. It will NOT get better next year. They’ve had a terrible time now with 2 Chicago Hot Chocolates… hopefully this is the LAST annual Hot Chocolate race presented by RamRacing.

Despite reading terrible reviews on Hot Chocolate Chicago, the counterpart to the DC run, I had high hopes for this race. Sadly, the only thing I left this event happy about was my race time. Here’s what went wrong:
Fail #1– Expo: Race packets were distributed in person only at the expo in the days prior to the event. Never mind that out of 20-​something thousand people, a few thousand might a) have to work; or b) live far enough that driving to National Harbor during the weekday might be inconvenient. People seem to complain that the jackets ran small, but I got an XS which fit me perfectly. Then again, I am 4’10″ and weigh 100 pounds… so maybe their complaints are correct. Welcome to America, land of vanity sizing.
Fail #2– Parking: Traffic going into National Harbor was a complete nightmare. My friends and I signed up for the $ 10 walk-​to-​race parking… and ended up running ON THE HIGHWAY to attempt to get to the race on time. What was supposed to be a 20 minute drive turned into close to two hours for our driver. I saw dozens of people hopping out of their cars onto the highway and jumping fences to try to get to the race on time. Which leads me to…
Fail #3– Start Time: Multiple e-​mails were sent announcing a start time of 7:45 for the 15k. I guess RAM Racing’s watches were set back an hour and fifteen minutes, because we started somewhere around 9 AM and meanwhile, everyone that managed to get to the start line had to wait around freezing.
Fail #4– Course: Some parts of the course were wide enough… and by some, I mean 20%. Many times I found myself dodging groups of people that decided to run at the same pace… in a line across the course. Whatever happened to race etiquette? It also seems that I missed the memo about a trail run, which was not only extremely narrow, but also dangerous– I definitely saw a rusted iron rod sticking out of the ground at some point. Yum, tetanus.
Fail #5– Water: What water? At almost every water station, there was one volunteer frantically trying to fill cups. Most of the time, everyone got frustrated and started pouring for themselves. Self-​service is fine, but had I known that, I would have just brought my hydration pack with me to avoid that mess. I’m also pretty certain that the Gatorade they gave us was the concentrate that is supposed to be mixed with water. I nearly gagged drinking that syrup.
I can probably think of many other fails, including the ONE marshmallow, ONE pretzel, ONE rice krispy square that was offered at the post-​race party… but honestly by the time the race finished I just wanted to go home and write this scathing review. Thanks for the e-​mail apology, RAM Racing, but if your ‘owner’ can’t even sign the letter with his/​her name and show some accountability, this will be my first and last time dealing with you. Next time I will spend my $ 65 on chocolate fondue items at the grocery store and go for a run by myself!

They definitely over-​booked by a dangerous margin (especially for an inaugural race in an unproven venue) and generally I think running a 4 mile course along a highway is not the best idea. Did RAM Racing have an experienced runner run the route and report back? They could have pointed out the potential bottlenecks. That being said, it was a beautiful day, my jacket was tight but it fit and I actually like it (apparently I got one that actually was NOT a hand-​me-​down from another race as other people have complained), I got to run the 15K, I loved the fondue and the hot chocolate at the end and I only wish I had looked more closely at the route map– I didn’t think we’d be running ON the HIGHWAY with moving traffic right next to us. I think if RAM Is genuinely sincere about doing better, they need to give us free registration for next year’s DC Hot Chocolate Race. That being said, I will be more vigilant at examining the race route and making sure they don’t run «along a highway»!

BOTTOM LINE: Do it again? No, HELLS to the no! The poll in our (very long) shuttle line revealed that even if RAM were to issue a groveling sincere apology and offer us free registration next year, none of us would take them up on Hot Chocolate DC next year.
PROBLEM 1: We were told to park in other locations (I was at Crystal City) and shuttle over in school buses — they said to be on the shuttle by 6:15 am at the latest. Those of us who did that showed up, checked our bags, then stood in the open and shivered violently for 2.5 hours, waiting as the 5K went off late by over an hour, then we had our own late start of 1 hour and 15 minutes for the 5K runners to clear out of the portion of the route shared with the 15K (gosh, couldn’t have imagined that overlapping those two could have caused delays!). Most of us started with numb feet. At one point people started changing «Let’s Go! Let’s Go!» in frustration.
PROBLEM 2: After, an unacceptable 1.5 hour wait in a long line for shuttles back to the parking lots, without any volunteers walking down the LONG line to explain what was going on. So for example there were people who waited in the long Crystal City line (on the right) without knowing that the much shorter Old Town Hilton line (on the left), because the big visible sign combined the two and no-​one explained anything. Others were waiting in our line not knowing that their Rossdale (?) shuttles were out of sight over a hill. WTF? We were the blind lining up behind the blind.
PROBLEM 3: Crap course that had us taking deep lungfuls of truck exhaust for 6 miles, and an uphill finish. Not the same course as we were sent, and who the heck schedules a major 20,000 person race and then sends them past construction, only partially-​closed highway, and other such «scenic» views?
PROBLEM 4: cheap-​ass «technical jacket» was literally the only thing in the «goodie bag». It’s a step up from a trash bag, but not by much.
PROBLEM 5: Annoying weekly emails that actually did not say much, and clearly did not provide us the right information when we actually showed up. The race volunteers were mostly very nice, but not very clued-​in to what was actually happening, and not proactive about instructing us what to do.
GOOD THING 1: unlike the «technical jacket» we all got, the for-​purchase shirts were cute, with their «will run for chocolate» motif, I bought several since I know I will *never* do a Hot Chocolate race or a RAM race ever again!
GOOD THING 2: I think the DJ was very strange, at one point in the 2.5 hour cold wait he said something like «you can just jump into the vat of fondue. And stay there.» Bizarre but amusing.
GOOD THING 3: plenty of porta-​potties! We started in a big U — on the left were rows and rows of bathrooms, on the right were woods, and both were equally accessible. No clue why so many people went off and peed in the woods, in view of everyone. There were plenty of bathrooms, in my opinion!
GOOD THING 4: Fellow racers, as disgruntled as we all were.
GOOD THING 5: Prince George’s fire, EMS, and police (oh and Park Police too), they were very supportive and lined up all along the way. Very much appreciated you folks!

Down side: This event was a perfect example of how not to run a race. Allow too many participants on too narrow a course. Start ~70 minutes after the published gun time without any announcements leading up to when the start will be or any explanation as to why everyone’s waiting. Water stations were poorly thought our, the course was poorly marked and if that weren’t enough it apparently wasn’t measured. If you advertise a 15K (9.3 miles) then don’t put the finish line at 9.1 miles. When the 5K race leader has to stop and ask for course directions mid-​race you know it’s going to be a long day. This was a cluster eff from the get go.
Up side: It was sunny and the chocolate fondue was good after the «almost 15K» race.

I wish I didn’t have to enter at least one star to post…
I’ve run over 100 races, and this was the worst. We arrived in plenty of time for the start, only to wait an extra hour before beginning the race.
I had no issues with the course, but see how many people would have. The lack of communication from race officials was an issue, since it wasn’t clear when or even if the race would begin.
Lastly, while the chocolate was great, after waiting over an hour to even start, I was starving by the end of the race. It would have been appropriate to have real food, like bagels and pretzels, available to runners.
I will never run another RAM race, and I really hope that this race is not allowed to come back to the DC area.

This morning I had the displeasure of participating in the DC Hot Chocolate 15k. I was nervous coming into the event because the Chicago event had awful Unilocal reviews. I managed to convince myself that the poor reviews were situation specific. Wrong. RAM Racing is a horrible! The company is unprofessional and has no idea how to play a running event.
Here is a list of things wrong with the race:
1) The 15k started 75 minutes late! Meanwhile participants standing in 30 degree weather chanted, «Start the race! Start the race!»
2) Parking was a joke. I payed $ 10 for onsite parking. Cars were backed up for miles on 495 trying to get to National Harbor. I thought this was because they were checking to make sure people carpooled to the site, as was required. Nope. The backup occurred because the parking staff was incompetent. My lot wasn’t even half full.
3) Onsite parking was over a mile’s walk from the start line. This should have been clearly communicated at the packet pickup.
4) Jackets run two sizes too small. They provide measurements online which I thought was helpful in selecting my size. When I picked up my jacket, it was clear that the measurements they provided did not equal the jacket’s actual dimensions. The Chicago reviews also mentioned this issue.
5) The start line was confusing. No one could figure out how to line up, and where the corrals started. Furthermore, instead of providing a map of the start, the event organizers sent video depicting the organization. A video? Who does that?
6) The start line gate was maybe 15 feet across. Trying to get thousands of people through such a small space takes a long time. I ran through the gate six minutes after the official start. I’m sure for others it took closer to 30 minutes.
7) We were told that there would be a 20,000 person cap on the event since it was the first time in DC. No one believed they stuck to the cap.
Runners, stay away! RAM Racing needs to be put out of business. Chocolate alone does not make for a fun event!

What a disaster. Never again. I should have listended to the bad reviews I read about the Chicago race. I’ve run many many races in my life, and this one was, by far, the worst. Where do I start:
Insufficient parking/​transporation.
A narrow/​dangerous path.
No bathrooms near the start, so people were peeing in the open!
A late start time, which meant that those of us that arrived on time had to freeze.
The cops wouldn’t let us on the path to walk back across the Wilson Bridge.
There weren’t enough volunteers, and many of them were rude.
I could go on, but I don’t want to waste any more time on this stupid race. RAM Racing should be embarrassed. DC has agreat running community, and this amateurish race won’t be tolerated.
PS — Worst swag bag EVER. Where did all my money go? I’ve run charity races that gave better gear.

I was really looking forward to running the Hot Chocolate 15k, but I was seriously disappointed. I’ve been running middle-​distance races since 1997, so I like to think I know what a well-​run race looks like.
So … why only 1 star?
1) Poor location — National Harbor has no Metro access and trying to squeeze ~20k people into the area is trying at best. As I said in the intro paragraph, I have been running middle-​distance races since 1997. I like to get to races early so I’m not rushed. Because there are only 2 lanes into National Harbor, this was impossible — even when we tried to arrive early. We, like most others, got stuck on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge — many bailed and missed the race altogether.
2) Poor communication — RAM Racing did very little to communicate the issues they were having given the confined access. At one point, they blamed their issues on a traffic accident on the beltway (BTW — we never saw any signs of an accident). Poor communication stretched into our arrival. The event staff had no idea where we were supposed to park and we received conflicting advice. Additionally, there were no signs telling us where the start line was (and the parking staff were as uninformed about this as we were).
3) Poor execution — the parking lots we finally ended up using were at least a mile walk from the start line. Really? Yeah, really. There were times when people could only run 3 – 4 abreast (in a race this large, that is unacceptable) and those ahead of us were running back past us (also only 3 – 4 abreast) next to moving traffic. Poor poor planning. The 5k mat was misplaced. There were hairpin turns on the course that caused bottleneck slowdowns. Mats are usually placed at the far turns to keep people from shorting the course — this did not happen. There were at least 2 places on the course where people could short the course with no effect on their «official» times. The course was also too narrow when running past the water.
4) Poor logistics — It cost $ 65 to run the 15k. The Army 10 Miler is only $ 55. The windbreakers we received for the Hot Chocolate 15k were little more than glorified trash bags with zippers (which were on the wrong side for the men’s jackets). We received no finishers medals or coins. Food was rationed — ½ banana, 1 pretzel, 1 marshmallow, 3 small apple slices, and ½ of a rice crispy square with about ¹⁄₈ cup chocolate fondue. Oh, and 1 cup of hot chocolate. Really? Yeah, really. I’ve never been to a race where food was rationed. Water points should be 2 miles apart, not 1 mile in some instances and 3 in others. We were told there would be water at the start line — no such luck.
What would I do differently?
1) Move the race to somewhere with metro access (and flatter).
2) Drop the «Fun Fact Friday» emails in favor of something more useful. Get everyone’s cell phone numbers so you can send out text updates the day of the race.
3) Fix your logistics issues — the parking and start lines should not be that far apart. For $ 65, runners expect a quality race. Experienced event planners know not to design a race course as poorly as you did — fix it.
4)And runners are HUNGRY after the race, feed them! They also expect a quality goodie bag and some recognition (medal or coin) of their accomplishment when they finish.

If you’re one of those who sees bad reviews and thinks, «meh, I’ll give it a try anyway» just DON’T do that with this event. Trust me, it was as bad as the reviews say.
This merits 0 stars. I cannot recommend ANYONE run this race. RAM Racing is terribly unqualified to put on events. Both the D.C. and Chicago races have received critical reactions so this shows it’s not just an isolated event.
This course was unsafe (hands down, biggest complaint), overcrowded, boring, and too short. The water stations were poorly stocked, which caused me to suffer a minor dehydration issue. When I crossed the finish, I needed attention at the medical tent and I am thankful for the volunteers there who tried to work with what they had — which wasn’t much. No chairs, no cots, and no water to provide sick/​injured water.
On top of that, the logistical issues (traffic, parking, start/​finish management, expo, location, etc.) proved to be a nightmare.
Save your money and run one of the countless better organized races in the Washington, D.C. area. I hope RAM does not return to further mar our wonderful running community.