I survived the disaster at the first Rock'n'Roll Marathon in 1998. I experienced the terrible first Mile High Marathon in 2000 (dog tags for medals?) and swore never to do a first time run marathon ever again. Fortunately I decided that the City of Birmingham might beat the odds with the first Mercedes Marathon. Was I ever pleasantly surprised. Having run 14 marathons, the Mercedes Marathon is the only one that I would say was perfect. Everything from the race organization to the course were a runners dream. The small details such as the medal (a Mercedes emblem that felt like a medal, one of my favorites), the pasta dinner at the Science Center, the post-race party, the finish line organization, web page, chip timing, etc were professionally executed as if they had been done 100 times before. Valerie (the race director) and her army of volunteers thought of everything. The sponsoring of each mile (was it mile 4 that Krispy Kreme sponsored :) Yum), the Balloon Lady, and the agreement with the YMCA for postrace workout and showers were novel ideas that made this my favorite. The question now is how Valerie and her team will deal with the inevitable flood of entrants to a world class marathon like this? Do they have a lottery like St. George, New York, and the Marine Corp, or qualifying time like Boston? Hopefully anyone who finished the first Mercedes Marathon will automatically qualify for future years. It doesn't get any better than this!!! See you in 2003!!!

This is the best first marathon I have ever, ever seen. Great course and great people helping along the way.

A great first year for this race. The course was great but a very steep hill at mile 9-10 will probably prevent a PR compared to flatter courses. Good race support and organization. Crowd support was very sparse but will build over the years. Overall this is a great smaller marathon and I plan on running it every year.

Great race, very organized, wonderful people. Great time all in all. Very tough course but what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? Thanks to MT Brook and the great people there. Thanks Pritchards.

This was my first marathon and will not be my last. Mercedes did a great job of putting this one together. The support and activities were great. The only problem were the hills and mountains on miles 14 and 21. The hills really take it out of you. The winner, a Kenyan, finished around 2:20 but remarked that it was very hilly. Overall the marathon was very good and should not be passed up.

This could not have been a better first year event. Everything from the Expo, to the Race, to the Course, to the Post race party were truly first class. The Expo was great. The race course was tough, but why do people always want a easy, flat course? The fans on the course made it easy to run the whole way. The post race party was a lot of fun. They had lots of food just for the runners, lots of beer, and two really good bands playing. I will hopefully do it again next year.

Ran the Half - Awesome race, great course, well organized, lots of water stops, cool medal. T-shirt could have been better. Definitely plan to go back next year.

The Mercedes Marathon was overall a very class act. Support was good, and enthusiasm of volunteers, etc., was super. The expo was disappointing, as vendors closed up shop Saturday evening as many runners arrived. As far as the course goes... Birmingham is hilly, and those who designed the course chose the most insane Hill in Jefferson County. You could see North Dakota from the top. No wonder they offered a new Mercedes to the dude who could break the American record on this course. With the Hill as part of the course, that car will never be in danger. They would safe to offer the whole company as a prize if runners had to run the Hill. I don't mind a challenging course, but I do anticipate a realistic course. I fully support marathoning in Alabama, and with Rocket City and a new year's Mobile race being our only alternatives, I wish Mercedes Marathon great success. I will run it again for this reason only, but I encourage readers to contact mercedesmarathon.com and suggest a more realistic route. Otherwise you will have a good time and a fun run and take home a PW (personal worst).

This is the first major marathon that Birmngham has ever had. The race was very well organized and crowd support was great..hardly a stretch of over 100 yds where someone was not there cheering the runners on. The course has 2 good hills..one at miles 10-11( which takes you to an overlook of the city), and at mile 20-21 ( which is not as long or steep, just hurts a little more). Overall, I would say this is a must do race for anyone looking to do a nice mid-winter marathon. You may not get your pr here, but you will have a great time!

I ran the inaugural Mercedes Marathon Sunday and thought they did a fantastic job - especially considering it was a first-time race. Everything went very smoothly and was well done. If you want a nice, fast course, however, DO NOT do this one. It's a toughie. If, on the other hand, you appreciate more of a challenge, this is a good marathon for you. Very hilly route. I was quite impressed with Birmingham's enthusiasm for the marathon. The whole town seemed to be behind it all the way. There was very good fan turnout along the course, and the whole atmosphere was exciting. I've done 6 different marathons, and this one ranks right up there with the best of them. I'd recommend it to anyone who appreciates a challenging run.

One extra that I should mention is the finisher's shirt they gave away at the finish line along with the medal. It is a long-sleeved coolmax shirt and is very nice. This is in addition to the long-sleeved cotton participant's shirt they gave away at the expo. Nice touch.