Take a Deep Breath...

UPDATE (2/3/12): Competitor Group posted the 2012 Course Map on Friday, at about 12:30 PM EST. Half-marathon course is the same as last year.

My first big race of the year is coming up on March 17th, the Rock & Roll DC Nation's Capital Half Marathon.

Or so I'm led to believe.

Because if you check their website, Competitor Group has yet to download a course map or elevation, and have no information on their Finish Line festival, which is one of the perks associated with the Rock & Roll Series. It's a tad disconcerting, especially after the debacle at the Rock & Roll Las Vegas race in December. Overcrowding, not enough on-course drinks, medals and t-shirts, among other things were reported at Vegas.

The DC area doesn't need another mishap-laden race, on the heels of the disastrous Hot Chocolate 15K in December. The R&R DC Facebook page is loaded with complaints about the lack of information, with some people speculating that the race won't go off.

I took the initiative of sending off an e-mail to my race contact with the Rock & Roll Marathon Series, and this is the response I got:

The event will take place. We are going through the final course approvals with the City of Washington D.C. and the course will be posted as soon as the approvals are final. The course will be very similar to last year’ National Marathon course which is attached.

I just don't understand why it should be taking so long for this course to be approved, if they're using the same course they have in the past. But I digress.

What really concerns me is that I chose this race to again raise funds for the Tug McGraw Foundation, to support research for brain tumors/cancer, post-traumatic stress disorder, and traumatic brain injuries. I've raised over $3,000 for TMF in the past, and I have a modest goal of $500 for this race. But all that fundraising will go for naught if there's no race to run.

I've participated in races under the Rock & Roll banner in the past, and they've been well-run. I have no reason to believe that the DC Half will not take place. But recent events are putting people on edge (for good reason), and these same people want to be reassured that their race day will be problem-free.

So I'm going to sit back, take a deep breath, and keep training for March 17th. It's pretty much the only thing I can do, anyway.