I find it hard to call it a marathon. It was a great training run on a flat, traffic free course, a perfect tune-up for a marathon. My comments: Registration procedures were way too rigid with little consideration to international entrants. The course was a really poor choice, as if the organizers were looking for the easiest way out, trying to get over it asap. LIM could have been a great running and cultural experience, but there was no effort made in that direction. The volunteers and the few spectators along the course did a great job. There was not enough water between miles 15 and 19 and the lack of food at the finish really hurt my feelings.

Isn't there anywhere else on LI to have a marathon besides the parkway? No wonder the only spectators are in Eisenhower Park.

This race should be run in a more topographically challenging part of the island. It is much too flat. However, it's too bad it won't be around much longer.

Flat course - nice on the legs - good bunch of neighbors cheering the first 5 miles - desolate loneliness thereafter. I ran the past two years - 00' was wicked hot!!! Needs more waterstops between 19 and 26. Easy to enter - no lottery! Good venue for first timer or LI native. Worth the fee? To be continued...running next weekend.

Why do we run through some of the most unappealing parts of Long Island? Any out-of-towner will think all of LI is Levittown.

There are many beautiful areas on LI. The south shore beaches. The North Fork. The Hamptons. The 'Heritage Trail/Gold Coast'. So why does this race start with 5 miles on commercial surface streets and then proceed to 18 miles of looping and re-looping the Wantagh State Parkway? For virtually the entire race we were less than 10 miles from the Robert Moses Ocean Pkwy, which is a gorgeous 15+ mile-long Pkwy along the beautiful south shore beaches of LI with ample parking at Jones Beach. It would have been nice if we had gotten within a whiff of salt air.
Other quibbles with organization: pretty lousy goody bag, no website, 2 phone calls placed in late '99 to the phone number listed in RW went unreturned, only food offered after finish was bagels (sunbaked for many hours). On the very much plus side...Fantastic volunteers who braved many hours in the same hot sun we fools were running in and remained pleasant and supportive.
The race: Brutal brutal heat. My first marathon. Had it not been my first, I would have bailed out and run the half. As it was, I missed my 4 hour goal by 90 minutes and still considered it an achievement. Perhaps because of my 5:30 finish time, I was handed half a cup of lukewarm water at the finish, foraged and found aforementioned extra-crusty bagels and nothing else. I wandered around for about 20 minutes looking for fruit or yogurt and saw a guy wearing a medal. I thought he had won a division or something so I congratulated him. He looked at me kind of funny and it dawned on me that it was nothing more than a finisher's medal...which I had not received. I wandered back to the finish line and found the medal person who gave me my medal (with raised eyebrow...'Are you SURE you finished the race? I don't see how we would have missed you'). Anyway, I don't want to seem churlish, and it was my first marathon so I have no other marathons to compare it with, but I have participated in several 10Ks, a 15K, and a half-marathon that had a lot more charm and better organization and certainly a better course. I am a proud Long Islander and that's why I chose this for my first marathon. After the race I couldn't help thinking, we're a metropolitan area with nearly 2 million adults and THIS is the best marathon we can offer?

After months of anticipation and proper training, the big day finally arrived. My only request from the man up above was a moderately cool day with a little less wind. It was only 2 weeks prior that I was running in tights in 45 degree weather with a 20 mph headwind. Well the big day finally arrived whereby it was 90 degrees with no breeze and 75% humidity. Sweating at the start from the heat, the gun went off and out we went. The first 5 miles were warm but from my standpoint, smooth as can be. Then, and almost without warning, we entered the infamous Wantagh Parkway which was reminiscent of my days spent in Manila;hazy, hot, and humid. My game plan went out the window and you might say that mother nature showed me the wall early on. The sporting folks were dropping by the dozens and everyone of them had that familiar look of dismay in their eyes. Out of 6500 registered, there were 1900 no shows. Out of that, 4100 did the half-marathon and about 400 completed the grueling 26.2. At the 10 mile mark, I too, had decided that it was either a trip the hospital for heat exhaustion or a respectable finish in the half-marathon. Not being the quitting type, I opted for the 13.1 mile event and finished in one piece.
My hats off to Finish Line Road Race Technicians for a job well done and even more amazing, laudest regards to a person I have yet to meet but have great respect for and that is Triathlete Donna McMahon who defied the heat and won the women's marathon in an outstanding 3:05 in a race where only 4 people went under 3:00.
Sometimes you have to hand it to mother nature.

It is well organized but it's a minor race. It's not for somebody who needs screaming people to egg them on. I was overcome by the unseasonably hot weather, and coasted in on fumes. Mostly, people bailed out and did the half marathon instead.

I last ran this race in 1981 and nothing has changed much since then other than the addition of a half-marathon a number of years ago. The race is organized by Finish Line Road Race Technicians who are, without a doubt, the best race techincians in the business. You will receive fast, almost instantaneous results, thanks to the introduction of the chip.
The race takes you from Eisenhower Park, out along the Wantagh Parkway, to beautiful Jones Beach and back to the park. Crowd support is best at Jones Beach and the finish at Eisenhower Park. The coarse is flat and with the right weather, could be a record breaker. Only one small hill to speak of at 24 miles but at that point, any incline can be tough. Overall, an enjoyable run without all of the crowds and fanfare of NYC.