Completed my first 1/2 marathon. The training I did (running up hills, then walking) prepared me for this course. Beautiful scenery, friendly people (though not many spectators). Only 2 drawbacks - after BIG advertising this year, not ready (porta-potties) for all who registered; 20-minute waits were unacceptable. Finally, I would've geared up my run better for the last mile, if a) they had better signage, and b) we didn't have to do a little mileage loop at the end (Vine Road). Thanks for this opportunity (and to my brother Gordon, who twisted my arm to run) - it was a lot of fun.

-Jamie

I ran the full marathon and finished. I had never run more than 8 miles before, so after mile 9, the miles seemed to stretch. But the hills weren't so bad. The scenery was pretty. The start was beside a beautiful still lake and we crossed over Deception Bridge, which was fun. I kept wishing I had a camera; there was a variety of scenery, such as lakes, coasts, bays, farms, deer, llamas, bunnies, and mountains - and the weather was nice that day.

I only did the half-marathon, but I think the best part of the marathon course (apart from the Deception Pass Bridge), was the portion shared with the half. It snaked along the Whidbey Island waterfront for most of the way, with breathtaking views over the ocean, Olympic Peninsula Mountains and San Juan Islands. The water stations were plentiful and well placed, and the finish line amenities were terrific. It would have been nice if you weren't sharing the road with traffic in some points, but hey, I'm nitpicking.

I highly recommend this race, and aim to do it next year!

The organizers did a great job supplying plenty of water and gel stops as well as post-race munchies, but it was the fans who made this race were awesome! Yeah, the hills tend to keep coming at you, but once you get to the top of Taylor Road (~ 8.5 miles), the rest of the run was fairly mild.

I ran the 1/2 marathon and the course was beautiful. I trained for hills but still found them a bit challenging because the just kept coming and coming. While no single hill was overwhelming, by mile 9 I was a bit worn out. Don't be scared off by these hill comments however; this course is very doable. As a side note, do not stay at the Coachman Inn in Oak Harbor. The management and staff absolutely refused any late checkouts to accommodate the runners but were happy to charge you for an additional night.

My wife and I ran the Half Marathon.It was our first time running Whidbey and we had a great weekend. I can't say enough about the spirit and friendliness of the organizers, volunteers, restaurants and merchants. Whidbey is a wonderful place to visit and we'll be back.The bonus was my wife and her friend both finished second in their respective age groups!!

Last year's (2004) weather was better, but who can control that? The spectators this year were fantastic - happy and noisy! Support folks were as agreeable and helpful as always. Even offered us some nuts and cheese and crackers from their lunch table.

Great idea to move the start line back; and good idea to 'jog' down that path, off the main road, by the construction area... much better than the busy road.

We had the added fun this year of seeing someone running their horse on the beach - spectacular! Also, we looked forward to seeing the fake, life-size horse on the porch just after mile 23 mile mark... weren't disappointed.

Since my only training run was a 1/2 marathon a month before this marathon, I was pretty miserable by the time we reached the fake horse.

This is a great event, though, thank you to all involved in putting it on.

Really lovely course - it was my first marathon and all the discussion re: hills in comments from the 2004 race made me really nervous. Turns out that they weren't too terribly bad - although I had made a point to train for a hilly course. The course is lovely, although I found myself wishing that more of it happened around the Deception Pass Park - that would have been truly spectacular! The support teams were AWESOME, the random cheerers were a delight, I had plenty of water, sports drink & gels, and had no problem following the clearly marked path. The end was a fantastic feast!!! Thanks to everyone who helped make it such a great event!

Although it was a windy day for the run, I had a great time. The course was better than the course in 2002 because we ran less on Highway 20. The water stations were great. There were many enthusiastic volunteers. There were also less hills than in 2002 (or so it seemed). Speaking as a Whidbey Island resident, this marathon provides a good tour of the island. If you want a challenging, scenic marathon, this one is great.

This is the smallest marathon (of 9 different courses) I've run in terms of number of participants, the second smallest being Cincinnati. Still, I wasn't prepared for how few spectators would turn out; even Oak Harbor was empty. Maybe it is because the weather was cold and windy.

The 1st half of the course was very pretty. The 2nd half, closer to the water, would have been prettier on a sunnier, less windy day.

There were supposed to be 3 aid stations handing out gels. None of the volunteers were offering it when I ran by, though. Only after I started asking at the last stop did someone point me to a box at the end of the table. The sports drink provided on the course was very strong and bitter, and the 13 water stops weren't really enough. I would be dead if I hadn't carried my own Gatorade and gels. I was depending on getting another gel past the halfway, and the one at mile 23 was too late to help me.

In the end, this race showed me how much more I enjoy the bigger marathons. If the organizers hand out the gels efficiently around miles 8, 16, and 21, mix a more palatable sports drink, and increase the frequency of the water stops, I think this race would be fun for those who enjoy the small, challenging marathons.