Along with the Head of the Charles and the Head of the Connecticut, the HOSR is considered one of the three “fall classics” - like the New York or Boston Marathons or Triple Crown horse races. If you are going to block off streets and create a traffic nightmare, it'd be nice if the locals felt welcomed at the event. If anyone from the race or Philadelphia is reading this, please add more things to do at this race for the spectators. That will lead to more spectators viewing the races. As it currently is, this seems to be more of a participant and their parents event rather than a community event. Forget buying a beer, I couldn't even find a bottle of water or a soft pretzel. It's still fun walking the event end to end.
A few photos of the event: