The Space Coast Marathon stepped it up BIG this year, yet still had a small-town feel for the the whole event. My second year running and I WILL BE BACK in 2008. The participants grew threefold, yet I did not experience any confusion from check-in to the finish. Great finish line with full towels and plenty of food.

The Piercy's are to be commended for putting on a first-class event to make each and every runner fell special.

Having Joan Benoit Samuelson on the same course running, and seeing her on the way back at the turn-around was a thrill; it was great to see a legend pass me by (she can still fly at 50). You do not have a lot of spectators. But the course is beautiful along the Indian River.

My only recommendation is to increase the size of the medal in 2008 and put some lettering on it. Nice idea making it an astronaut.

I will see you again in 2008 and still tell on my running mates about the Space Coast Marathon.

This was my second full marathon, but I have also participated in other half and relay marathons throughout the country. I loved this course; it was picturesque and a huge highlight was at mile 14, to see dolphins playing along the waters edge! I enjoyed it immensely and would run it again, but I do have to say the medal - astronaut or not - was a huge disappointment! After receiving a medal from the USAF Marathon, given by a general, the astronaut looked like a child's toy medal! I also found it confusing to find exactly where the event was to be held the day before. It must have been thrown together just a few hours before the event! Regardless, I did enjoy the scenic and serene course!

I have run 5 marathons and this race was my 6th half-marathon. It was a beautiful run, along the inter-coastal the entire race; however the start seemed a little disorganized and even though I was towards the front of the pack, I could not pass because the narrow street. I would recommend corrals. First mile in just under 10 - and not by choice. The finish was great, on stage with lots of support. The final miles of the race lacked water stations and I found myself very thirsty. Not a bad race; I'm sure it will get better in the years to come. I would recommend this 1/2 marathon; however, I would think twice about running the full at this location.

This was a great race (I ran the half marathon) even with the heat and humidity.

* beautiful course
* shuttle blastoff on the Jumbo-tron at the start was great
* nice technical shirt
* meeting Joan Benoit Samuelson at the packet pickup was fantastic
* plenty of food/refreshments at the finish including pizza

Needs improvement...
* pre-race dinner was terrible.
* need more water stops on the course

This was a great race! The course was beautiful, tree-lined, with water on one side and nice homes on the other. Organization was very good. The support was more than adequate; they had Gu and sponges available in the first and second half of the race. The volunteers were enthusiastic. The post-race food was plentiful and diverse; you can't go wrong with pizza. The beach towel instead of a mylar blanket at the finish was a nice touch.

Weather was warm this year, however I have lived in FL long enough to know it could have just as easily been in the 40's (like it was the week before the race). If you are looking for a well run, fun, scenic, flat and fast course, this one is for you. If you are looking for large cheering crowds, you might want to look somewhere else.

Great race. Nice protected course along water and friendly neighborhoods. Super aid station support. Thank you for putting on a wonderful race.

Beautiful course and definitely a lot of bang for your buck.... A pre-race pasta dinner, very nice, long-sleeve technical shirt, very cute astronaut medal, and a beach towel that was handy for post-race sweat and lounging in the park during the awards!

I do question the logic behind leaving the timing chips out of our pre-race packets in favor of having us pick the chip up on race morning; the lines got a bit congested with the layout at the start area. And my only real complaints would be: 1) Not enough port-o-potties at the start area and 2) Seriously lacking in race souvenirs (only items available with race logo were a white polo shirt and a training jacket).

My running buddies and I LOVED this race. This was my 14th full marathon and definitely one of my favorites. It was very organized, easy to get to the race, and package pick up was at the free pasta dinner with great food. Did I mention that Joan Benoit Samualson was the speaker? They also had an astronaut named Mike McKinney give us a pep talk as the race had a space theme. He was great too. The course was beautiful! We might have finished sooner except we had to stop running twice to watch the dolphins we saw swimming right next to us in the Indial River! Water stops were plentiful. Everyone was friendly and helpful everywhere we went. Just a bunch of happy runners. The only reason you might not want to do this race is that in Florida in November, it's usually hot. In other words, you're not likely to get a PR. If you can keep that in mind, ease off your pace and enjoy everything else about why we do this.

I ran the full marathon this past Sunday, and was thoroughly impressed with the route, organization and amenities of the event.

I will definitely be back next year.

My only suggestion for improvement would be to consider adding pace teams.

I ran the full marathon on Sunday. This was my first marathon, and for anybody considering this race, I highly recommend it.

Extremely well organized; great, flat course; plenty of fluid and gel/Gu stops; and very enthusiastic volunteers.