The course may be flat, the fans may have been out there, but the organizers messed up the finish area. The bag check was a, in their own words, a disaster (http://yumkerun.blogspot.com/2011/10/utter-fiasco-that-was-scotiabank.html). They want to keep their silver rating, they should focus on serving their runners, not trying to create press out of prize money or singling out great runners. There are the other of runners  thousands of them  that your race will depend its reputation for. You let them down.

the organization was poor, especially at the baggage pick up.

After Marathon, you can't stop and wait for more than one hour

This was my 5th marathon and the first that I would not recommend running (but just barely - it was fine). It was quite windy, but I don't think that is clouding my judgment. There were enough drawbacks that I would skip this in the future.

Pros: Good fast course, downtown start and finish, fairly good crowd support, some beautiful parts of the course, well organized water/Gatorade stations, very friendly runners.

Cons: Expensive ($13) parking for packet pickup/Expo, hidden porta-potties at the start (I didn't see a single one), some ugly industrial areas on the course, subpar post-race food and the first water available was a pretty long walk from the finish, ugly race shirt (I will likely never wear it).

I didn't get caught up in the bag pickup debacle, but it's pretty funny that this is the only race I have heard of with a fee for bag check.

Now I remember why I haven't run this marathon in 3 years. Flat, fast & Festive? Try: Boring, Boring, Boring!!! The course is boring, with out-and-backs through industrial areas in town, it's fast if there isn't the usual headwind from the lake, the crowds are thin and unenthusiastic in typical Toronto fashion. The Bag Claim which cost $2 was a disaster. I heard one friend waited until 3:45pm to get her bag and she finished her Half Marathon at 11am!!! I went around the back and got roughed up by a cop when I tried to get my bag. I finally saw a 'Race Official' standing beside my bag and he threw it to me over the fence without even verifying my bib #!! How secure is that!!! This race is not worthy of it's IAAF Silver Medal Distinction. World Class? Hardly!

I don't ever plan on running this marathon again. I've run many small and large marathons (7 now) and have NEVER seen such a mess before. I stood in the mob of people for over an HOUR waiting to get my checked bag. After pushing your body to its limit running 26.2 miles, the last thing you need is to stand in the cold for over an hour in tight cramped quarters with thousands of runners! My entire body starting shaking from cold and exhaustion. Luckily I found a friend, who eventually hopped the fence and went in back to get our bags.

To funnel 5K, half marathon, and marathon runners; thousands of people; into such small quarters is rediculous. Obviously that was a problem waiting to happen!

And we paid and Extra $2 for this privilege!

The Good: Fabulous volunteers and lots of them. Well organized water stations - told as you were getting close that Gatorade would be first and water second (distinctive cups). Superb spectators/bands/music especially through the Beaches. Nice medal and great warming 'blankets'. Good bus service to the Expo.

The Bad: Not a very exciting or attractive course and definitely not pancake flat as they say. The last 10 K are rolling inclines which were OK but not fun as there was a strong headwind (not the organizers fault!). Very poor Expo, lousy shirts which were too small and we were not permitted to exchange for another size. Bag check at the start was good but totally chaotic at the end when they opened it up for everyone to rush into the area and try to find their bag. Food was poor - banana, apple and bagel only and you had to hunt for water (not handed to you as you came through). Much preferred the Toronto Goodlife Fitness marathon route and Expo.

The course is great. Spectator support is pretty sparse for a big city marathon. The exhibition, start and the actual race was well organized but the finish was a 'gong show.' Waited 1.5 hrs in the baggage pick-up line before finally getting my checked bag. If they can iron out the finish area issues it will be one of the best!

Fun race in some challenging conditions - the last 5 miles or so of the course was right into a strong headwind and made for a tough finish.

Pros: Great pasta feed. Really good expo and gear. Great city, mostly scenic course, mostly flat (except for a few rollers in the second half and a bridge), great aid stations and volunteers, spectators were enthusiastic.

Cons: The finish area was an absolute mess. Runners were funneled into a small space which made it very difficult to find people you were meeting up with. The bag check was also the worst I have ever seen- my friend had to wait 45 minutes before finally taking it upon herself to get our bag.

Fix the small finish area and try to end the course in a large plaza area if possible, and this race could be really awesome. We definitely had a great time though and enjoyed Toronto very much.

Great rolling, mostly scenic course with enthusiastic fans in most places. Extremely well organized with one GLARING exception: baggage pick up was a complete and utter disaster. I imagine the organizers will be blasted badly and repeatedly about this and make the appropriate changes for next year. With changes, I'd recommend this race 100%.

that this race will forever be remembered for the bag check fiasco. While waiting over 60 minutes for my bag, I spoke with many people, not just from out of town but around the world. People who said they would neither recommend nor run this marathon again because of the bag check problem. I'm not new to this game people, but this was definitely the worst bag recovery I have experienced. And to boot, we had to pay $2 for the service. I personally have never paid for a bag check at a marathon (47 and counting). At the end of a marathon, on a cold day, and you can't get at your dry clothes for over an hour. I got my bag faster in both NY and Boston, and they have a few more runners than Toronto. You keep saying you want to run a world class marathon and attract runners from around the world. Well, I hate to break it to you, you just took a HUGE step in the wrong direction. You can build bridges, super highways, and skyscrapers, but if you screw one sheep.... Enough said.