About first 8 miles flat, mid miles were hilly, and last part flat. Overall, a good course. Very nice food/drink at the end. Friendly people!
Wooden medal for finishers hand made by local folks with disabilities. Nice job all around.

I ran this as part of a double marathon weekend because the race partners with the Mississippi Blues Marathon the day before, and both races offered a 20% registration discount.

This race is a good low key race. The packet pick up was very organized, and offered a nice free pasta buffet for runners. This is not a chip timed race, no race banners, basically not a lot of frills. The course is very flat the first few miles, then rolling hills in the middle 10 miles, then flat again at the end. Not a lot of spectators, but plenty of volunteers and police support at intersections. I did notice that volunteers were dipping their hands into the water buckets to fill cups, I'm not a fan of that, so I made sure to only get cups that were poured from pitchers, or from the container itself. The race shirt is a cotton shirt, short sleeve for the half and long sleeve for the full, with an option to buy another tech shirt if you wanted. Back to back runners also received a custom made 5x7 plaque by the L'Arche community adult group home residents. The finishers medal is a painted block of wood with a schellacked race sticker with a piece of craft ribbon. Definitely not as flashy as other medals, but the same folks that make the plaques hand make the medals, so they definitely have a deeper meaning. Some of the proceeds from the marathon goes to the group home as well. They also had a really nice after party, with BBQ sandwiches, beans and rice, cole slaw, cookies, and drinks. The humidity was high this year, which made it a little uncomfortable running, but everything else was great.

I have run the first light several times and seem to never get tired of the course. The course is very scenic and full of spectators. The police are excellent at all busy intersections. The course showcases all the attractions of Mobile. The medals are the BEST. They are handmade and presented by the residents of L'Arche. Looking for a GREAT marathon to start the year...this is the ONE!

I completed this race in 2012 and found it to be everything I had anticipated. First it is an excellent value with a reasonable entry fee and both pre and a post race meals. Proceeds are for a good cause. The food at the ending was great. There are two nice hotels across the street from the start and the Expo and two luxury hotels about 3 blocks away. The course is totally flat for the first 10 miles, rolling hills for the next 8, and flat for the last 8. It runs through downtown Mobile, historic areas, into upscale residential neighborhoods, university campuses and back to town. I highly recommend this race if you like nice well run small races. I have no complaints.

I ran this marathon as my second one and my first attempt at qualifying for the Boston Marathon. What a good choice I made. It was well organized, the host hotel was great, the course was challenging. The weather was a little too warm but nothing you can do about that. I had a time that qualified me for Boston. Yeah!!!!

I did this one the day after doing Jackson MS. Great combo deal. This was a flatter course than Jackson, which was appreciated by the 100+ people doing the back to back.
Excellent organization. No chip, but so what, it's a small group.
Finish 'medal' was somewhat dissappointing until I 'got' that it involved local folks and wasn't made in China. Now I love this finisher 'medal'. They should take a lesson from Jackson and make the Marathon medal twice the size of the 1/2 marathon medal.
Fantastic finish 1/2 mile. Very enthusiastic support and a GREAT party in the park after the run. And how do they put this all on for so little money.
BOTH entry fees were less than ONE Rock-N-Roll. And check the comments from the Vegas RNR. YIKES!!! They should be giving refunds.
Mobile did a great job. THANKS!

I ran this the day after the Mississippi Blues Marathon, so I arrived kind of tired and worn out. But good southern Alabama hospitality was abundant, and I felt right at home. The expo was small, but friendly and well-organized. Shirts and swag bag stuff was pretty typical, nothing too fancy, but pretty good. The highlight was the plaques for the 'Back 2 Back' runners (Mississippi Saturday, Alabama Sunday). They were individually hand made by the Special Needs adults of L'Arche. They were so wonderful it literally made me tear up.

The race starts simple, a group singing of National Anthem, followed by a 'okay, go...'. No chip time, just a starting watch. Others have complained about this but really, doesnt everyone have a GPS watch these days?

Course is nice, flat, very scenic. The trees alone bump the course a whole star (yes, the trees. No, I'm not nutty, there are 500 year old sprawling live oaks that are magnificent!). Plus some really nice old southern homes that are architecturally stunning.

The finish is in a little park 'downtown.'. You get a cute little handmade medal. Yes, it's the same medal for everyone, full, half, relay, and 5k, but when a young man with Down Syndrome puts it on you and and thanks you for running, its worth it's weight in gold! I found the realization that everyone got the same medal to be special and noteworthy. Here we are running different races but all to support a wonderful charitable organization. Big thumbs up !

Also, if you are a 50-stater, the Back 2 Back is tough, but fun. About a three hour easy drive from Jackson to Mobile.

From arriving in Mobile to leaving after the marathon, everything about this event
was great. Good packet pickup; small, but nice expo; delicious pasta dinner.
Race start preceded by the National Anthem
The entire course had people cheering us on, and Police protection throughout the course. Passing through old and new neighborhoods, parks, golf courses, and two college campuses. Finish line area was really impressive. The clients of L'Arche were handing out the finishers medals. The food and drinks were great. Nothing left out. Looking forward to my 2013 trip to Mobile!

The First Light Marathon could step it up just a bit to make this a GREAT race... it wouldn't take much.

There are several great hotels within blocks of the start/finish line. The course was flat and scenic, like taking a 13.1 mile running tour of Mobile. The cause of the race is noble and humbling. Plus the race medal is a handmade, wooden medal given to you by L'Arche residents (the organization that the race benefits).

First Light needs to in invest in a timing chip!!! We would pay extra for the timing chip... I promise.

OVERALL: this is a great race and I ran it in conjunction with the MS Blues Half marathon the day before ... you receive a discount if you run both races.

This was my 31st different marathon.
Pros:
1.Ease of everything: packet pick up, walking distance to start/finish, free pasta dinner, etc.
2. Gorgeous course with varied terrain.
Only one hill (mile 17) that leaves a mark.
3. Excellent organization! Police everywhere. Water stops spot on. Flawless start (we sang the national anthem in unison), and festive finish area.
4. Great cause. Medal is one of my favorites. Race swag: long sleeved T
and drawstring bag nice.
5. The crowd at this race is very laid back: lots of 'doublers' and ultra runners, a lot of conversation on the course amongst runners, very friendly!
6. Only one band on course, a marching band at mile 13, which was fine by me.
For the most part, the course is quiet and serene.
Cons:
1. Plastic cups at some early water stops: my pet peeve. Hard to drink out of and a menace on the ground. Hate them!
2. Results: problems with them would be resolved if they didn't continue to rely on pull-tags and use chip timing.
(Currently their un-offical results don't match up with their awards handed out at the race and I am wondering if I need to mail back my grandmasters award!)