I live in Charlottesville and here is my unbridled opinion of the race. Very hilly, with three BIG hills coming out of river valleys, remarkably beautiful scenery, decent organzation, good weather, lots of room to run, and a cool finish downtown. It reminds me of what a picturesque area I live in. You run out where the rich folk live, past huge houses, horse farms, vineyards, and really spectacular scenery. If you are not after a PR and are just interested in seeing a beautiful part of the country at a beautiful time of year, this race will not disappoint. And Charlottesville has a vibrant music/bar scene, so the night after the race I am sure you could find a concert or bar show to your liking.

I have run this race for the past 3 years now. I live here in town, so I am used to the rolling terrain, but I must say the race does a terrific job showing some of the best areas around. Personally, I enjoy the scenery more than many other srictly urban courses I have run, which, after a while, get a little boring. I am training for the race again this year, and I really enjoy looking at the mountains. The weather has been chilly, so I am hoping the weather will be nice in April. Can't wait for the spring! Training is much easier and it will be nice to see flowers and green grass again.

I had a great time last year and I'm really looking forward to running this race again. I did add some hill training to my plan for this year's race and feel it will help me to better push the pace at the end.

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Folks, be very wary of the comments you are reading on this message board regarding the Charlottesville Marathon. I suspect that someone (possibly race organizers, but can't confirm) are planting bogus messages on this board in an effort to bury the negative comments about their race.

I have already weighed in with my comments on this race - I ran the half and my comments can be read about 5 pages to the rears of where this one is. The point of this message is not to reiterate the litany of items I outlined in my previous message, but to warn you that I believe somebody is trying to cover up the negative reviews.

I had to ask myself when reading some of these glowing comments if these people were running the same race that I had run...then it occured to me after recognizing a pattern in the messages to investigate a bit.

First off, there is a comment from a JH in Sedona, AZ that leads 'The Next Big Thing...' Well, if one peruses the results, you will find that in the half and the full, there was exactly one person from Arizona whose initials are CZ...and her comments can be read about a page back. 'JH from Sedona' also uses common talking points from several 'posts' that supposedly emmanate from runners in far off places like Seattle, Portland, Phoenix, etc. Those talking points include the systematic mention of Charlottesville's sights - which are extremely cool and should be seen by all. But to try to plug your for-profit race with bogus posts on a forum like this? Somebody is up to no good and should be called out.

That is not the only suspicious post. There is one from an SH in Portland, OR that uses a similar formula in the message. There were exactly two runners in 2006 from Portland - they both ran the half and have the initials CG and JC.

Another post further on is from an SL from Seattle. This post mentions 'myself and two friends from Seattle.' Well, there was exactly one runner from Washington state in the race - initials MN from Spokane (completely opposite side of the state).

How about SB from Phoenix, AZ? That makes three comments from AZ runners when only one was there. Again, filled with the same talking points.

The post from BD of Santa Cruz, CA raises suspicion as well. It mentions 'five friends from CA' in the opening (totalling 6 Californians). However, only three Californians were listed in the results for the full marathon. There were six in the half, but geographically they are scattered from throughout the state. This doesn't amount to hard evidence, but still rather curious in appearance. Maybe the other three didn't finish the full...still looks fishy.

I also am struck by the constant beating of the 'get my entry in early because the race could fill up' theme. It's all over the Cville Marathon website in addition to many of these comments. That is deceptively trying to overstate the popularity of this race. Last year the races had a total of 1277 finishers (marathon & half combined). The published limit is 3500. Either the attrition is horrendous or the organizers are deliberately trying to create a perception that is not necessarily the reality.

Beware of what you read about this race. It is quite possible that many of the comments are a ruse to drum up business in this for-profit race.

Hi,

After running the Charlottesville Marathon last year I can now understand why it's considered the "Next Big Thing" in the marathon running world. Several friends of mine had run this race in 2005 and had heard the chatter about how great this race is; with an unbelievable scenic course and terrific race organizers, I now agree.

The course is almost too beautiful to describe. You're running in one of the most historic and beautiful areas in this part of the country. We had terrific time visiting the Shenandoah National Park and Jefferson's Monticello - what great trip. I predict this race will start filling to capacity, especially sense they cap the limit using the marathon and half entrants combined. I've got my 2007 entry in!!

I came to the race from central Illinois last year and had a blast. A buddy ran it and I hadn't planned on running, but I hooked up with him at mile 3 and paced him back to that spot (mile 22). I had to catch a plane from DC.

I loved the course - horses, trees and tons of fresh spring green. The heat was a challenge but plenty of water was available. I had a CamelBak and handheld bottle, so I was good for the day.

As for the hills... what a blast, but what pain too. With each up came a down and again I saw so much great stuff that I wouldn't complain.

I have registered for it this year and look forward to the spring. I now live near Pittsburgh, so the hills will be a piece of cake.

Great job to Charlottsville and the board that let me run with my buddy.

We had the opportunity to come from Portland and run the 2006 Charlottesville Marathon and can't wait to return this year. The course is so incredible and it made the miles fly by. Great job by all the volunteers and we had a terrific time visiting all the local sites.

See ya soon, Charlottesville!

FIVE of my friends from CA joined me in running the Charlottesville Marathon and we loved this race. The race was well organized, the course is almost too beautiful to put into words and the town was a great place to visit. Try to make time to see the Blue Ridge Mountains and Monticello just above Charlottesville.

Great job and we will be back again....

Out of all my marathons (Vancouver, San Francisco, Sahara, Rwanda, Victoria, Marine Corps), this was easily the best in terms of the actual course and crowd support. The course is awesome; it's called the "most scenic" for a reason. And the organizatoin itself was terrific - a very beautiful run through trees and vineyards. The weather was good. I PRed on this course, and I look forward to running it again.

And there's lots of fun stuff in Charlottesville, too! The people are friendly, and there are plenty of great post-race walking areas in the city.

When I found out the Charlottesville Marathon was the same weekend that I would be visiting family for Easter, I decided to enter with a friend. I only did the half, but my friend did the full.

The course is beautiful, but not the "rolling hills" that are advertised on the website. My problems with the organization was being told to switch sides of the road several times. I was also disappointed with no chip timing for such a crowded start.

My friend was one that experienced water stops running out of cups and fluids. In the half I did not have that problem.

As for fans, those who were there were good, and very appreciated. The course however is not fan friendly and therefore had very small crowds.

Is this marathon worth doing? Yes. The scenery really is great and the course is a challenge. But if the race organization does not correct problems from 2006, then you may want to wait for positive reviews in 2007 from people who ran.