This is ONE VERY DEMANDING course.

Charlottesville, VA is a beautiful city, located in a lovely part of the the Blue Ridge of Virginia. The race is well organized, water stops every two miles, GU frequent along with Cliff Bars (shots would have been better). Lots of medical support and county motorcycle officers constantly cruising the course. The finish through the town center mall was a good touch, but the final incline was asking a bit.

This run is not for the faint of heart or those not in good running condition. It is a demanding course with lots of hills throughout. Shade at the beginning and along the dirt road but the middle is mostly open, as are the last three miles through UV campus and the town. Beware the spring sun and use a good sunscreen.

The day started out warm and by noon was into the high 70's. Times, even for finishers, were slow, and that is an indication of the demands of the course, as well as the effects of the weather.

I would consider running this again, but not as an attempt to qualify for Boston.

Good luck to all future BTB runners and a big salute to the organizers.

This is a good local race that wants to be bigger than its infrastructure can handle. The volunteers were spectacular. The course is satisfying, with three steep hills and about 4 miles on a trail. An elevation chart would have been helpful instead of the vague language on the website that this is a "challenging course."

The aid stations ran out of water and Gatorade, which is inexcusable based on the forecast of an unusually warm day. Massages were advertised, but unfortunately only one massage person arrived, who was quickly overwhelmed. There is no pre-race expo, as packet pick-up is at a running store and the post-race related activities are non-existent.

The roads are not closed, and there are no shoulders. It appears that the town has not embraced the race at all, as several intersections were not controlled, including the last major intersection, where runners had to dodge traffic as the one police officer was not in control. The city charges about $10 to park. One wonders why the race is so expensive compared to marathons with similiar amenities throughout the country that charge half what this race charges. I felt as if the directors were trying to cut corners in the name of profit. The lack of service is indicative of a lack of support from the community and the city leaders, perhaps because of the "for-profit" status.

I have nicknamed this marathon "The Hills to Heaven" Marathon - extremely hilly, you can almost talk to GOD at the top, and it was so hot, one can get to the point when you do talk to God, and you ask, why so many hills, why are the roads open to traffic on such a tough course, and why NO PORT-O-POTTIES? There were maybe a total of 5 or 7 only. Only at the finish, none at the start, and two at mile 8, one somewhere else, and two or three at mile 19.

It's a pretty new race, and maybe there were not that many sponsors. It is beautiful, or as my friend said, "BRUTE-IFUL".... It was brutal. And the temps were in the mid to upper 80's. The few spectators that were out there were race officials, and some local folks, but no great crowd support. Those that were out were FABULOUS with us. It's a tough one for sure... though I saw many doing this as their first marathon. I don't recommend it as a first. Hopefully they will not be discouraged from other marathons. They survived this one, the rest are pretty tame by comparison.

By "challenging," I mean "hard." In a newspaper article about this year's race in the local paper, veteran marathoner Chuck Engle described the course as "brutal," and "the most difficult I've ever completed." The hills are constant throughout, and the temperatures this year approached 80 degrees.

That said, the course is indeed spectacularly beautiful from start to finish. However, long stretches of the latter half of the race run along open (and busy) two-lane roads, with barely enough room for the runners along the edge in places.

There is no expo. Bib pick-up is in a running store in Charlottesville. Charlottesville is a friendly and picturesque college town, with lots of restaurants and nightlife.

Given the fact that the race runs mostly along the countryside, there are essentially no spectators, period. The race volunteers placed about every two miles were cheerful and enthusiastic.

Water stations were supposedly every two miles, and maybe it was the heat, but they seemed farther apart than that to me. At one water station, they had run out of cups, and volunteers were pouring water directly from the gallon jugs into the runners' mouths. I didn't mind.

There is no chip timing, and that's reflected in the official times. The person I actually finished alongside has an official time 37 seconds different from mine.

Despite these qualifications, I would recommend this race for its spectacular beauty, to runners looking for something "challenging."

The Charlottesville Marathon was everything it had been billed to be, with great organization made up of fun people who really know running, and an incredible course that IS the most scenic, I believe, in the country.

Keep up the great work, Charlottesville; my friends and I plan to make this an annual event!

This course is very hilly, so do not let the description of "gently rolling" fool you. The second half of the course you will spend about 70% of your time going uphill. This race really shouldn't be anyone's first, unless they live in Charlottesville and know the area. The race directors should post an elevation profile of the course and let people decide if the course is one that they want to do. I personally would have chosen not to do it this early in the season if I'd seen an elevation profile. Honestly, when Chuck Engel says that he rates the course the most difficult he's ever done, that's saying something.

The support was friendly but lacking; they had run out of water, Gatorade, and cups at many of the water stations. The police constantly changed their minds on which side of the road we should run on, and kept moving us back and forth. At mile 15 the course turn was poorly marked and the race officials didn't turn all the runners, so some got to skip the 1.2-mile loop. I only recommend this race if you go into it prepared to climb lots of hills, and not get any liquid hydration in the second half of the course. The big selling point for this marathon is its scenery, which is very nice - if you have the time and energy to enjoy it. For a small marathon that is WELL supported AND scenic, I recommend the Carlsbad Marathon in CA.

Where to start? The course is obviously beautiful, but the organizers of the race repeatedly dropped the ball during and after the race. Let me just list a few of the worst instances of poor organization. Keep in mind, however, that this is for the 1/2 marathon; I'd be very interested to hear feedback from the full marathon folks.

1. There was no one (and no signs) directing the first 100 or so half-marathoners as they re-entered the city. As such, the whole group went off course for a stretch, reconnecting to the course after a short-cut of indeterminate length (if any in that group had a GPS device, I'd love to find out exactly how far we ran). All of a sudden we were running without support staff, or policemen to block the traffic at busy intersections. Unaware that we were off course, we simply ran through these intersections as you normally would in a race. Several people that I saw were almost hit by cars! Simply inexcusable. Period.

2. Gel was promised at the water stations for miles 6, 8, and 10, but, alas, there was no gel to be found. At mile 6 I got a Cliff Bar, which is fine if you're on a hike, but not a good thing to choke down when you're going for a PR. I mean, if you promise something, you've got to deliver on it. I would have brought my own gel onto the course if they hadn't indicated there would be plenty available. Again, I'm wondering how the full marathoners dealt with this problem.

3-15. A bunch of other minor problems that I won't get into here, except to mention 3) cheap, crappy, short-sleeved t-shirt, 4) no chip timing, 5) awful food at the end, 6) terrible lines to get said awful food, 7) lack of water/Gatorade at the finish, etc., etc. I know the race is only in its fourth year, but this was simply a shoddily organized, poorly-run race on a beautiful course. If they're banking on that course to create a wonderful marathon experience despite the ineptitude of their volunteers, then they've got some serious rethinking to do.

The good things:
1. Nice time of year in this region.

2. Nice course - lives up to the reputation.

3. Nice crowd support in downtown mall area - I was alone in this area, with nobody within 100 yards of me, and I felt like a rock star.

The downers:
1. Pitiful start organization. There weren't corrals, so the start was madness for a mile or so until I was able to pass all of the 14 minute-milers that were up at the start line. It was not just annoying - it was unsafe. I was so perturbed that I was doing really stupid stuff weaving in and out of people to get going. The start line was at the intersection of two narrow streets. Those that were punctual were stacked straight back on the street that the start line was on. However, tons of people were stacked up on a side street to the left and were "merging" right at the start line... and it was complete chaos. Hated it - unsafe, not fun.

2. Entry fee over $50 and no chip timing? Not much Gatorade or gel on the course either. I thought that the value for the dollar was pretty lame, to say the least.

3. Poorly marked course. I had a buddy running the half and he saw groups of people missing a turn just before mile 10. There wasn't a race official in sight at this turn (although there was chalk on the road... that's what he spotted). Anyway, I understand that dozens of runners in the half missed this turn. I don't know if it was an issue in the full or not, but that sounds like pretty poor organization.

All in all, I'd go for a run in this area anytime. Race here again? Not with this bunch organizing it.

The course was difficult with plenty of hills, but that was not the source of my dissatisfaction:
*goodie bags had NO goodies, and the shirt was just a regular cheap t-shirt
*no expo the day before the race
*too few port-a-potties for the number of runners at the start of the race and not enough on the course
*too few water stations at odd places on the course - with temps over 80 degrees
*water stations ran out of water and were re-using cups taken off the ground
*after the race only one trip through a food tent was permitted, and there was not much food either
*no extra finishing amenities
*no time chip

No support; ran out of cups in 85-degree heat, not enough water stations, muddy course, not enough medical support, and no fan support. Bring your own support or you are out of luck. No hotel discount despite a hotel a half-mile from the start and finish.