A devastating crash on the main/only route to the race stopped traffic dead, so many arrived late. The organizers DID delay the race by 15 minutes, which was just enough to let almost everybody start on time, based on the Diff column in the official results showing gun time versus chip time. In the chaos, I saw no evidence of toilet facilities anywhere near the startjust a row of bushes. Pre-registered, it wasnt an issue for me, but I remember no signage about where anything was. The starting-line PA was mumbly, so that all I was hearing was wheelchair a bunch of times. Consequently, the starting gun found me unprepared, way in back of the pack. And theres a substantial pack, given that the half starts along with the full marathon.

In the organizers partial defense: They have responded to criticisms by moving the start time earlier by 30 minutes (half negated this year by the traffic situation). Any earlier and it would still be dark. Also, the number of water stations must have been increased, because they were entirely adequate. Only one interval somewhere in the middle seemed a little long. Quality of stations has probably also improved with plenty of gummies and other comestibles, due to an incentive system whereby runners votes determine prizes for workers. I heard lots of 'Vote for #10!' for example as I stumbled past. However, I never saw my opportunity to actually cast a vote, which seems a significant flaw. Portable toilets, however, were few and far between, which I noticed with increasing alarm until finally one appeared near mile 19.

My spectator wife swears that the course we followed around NW Highway diverged from all the maps. My untrustworthy Garmin says I ran about 26.84 miles. Do any of you think the course or its measurement were actually wrong?? I dont know.

It was near the ideal of 54 degrees at the start. Some rolling hills near the start, and then it is flat for a long, shaded, cool, windless, enjoyable stretch along the east side of White Rock Lake. At mile nine we climb rather steeply into the warming sun, unmediated by any clouds. After that my pace declined gently at first, then catastrophically. For the entire 2nd half, I ran slower by far than any of my slowest training runs. The course is well designed for those seeking positive splits: the hills, the temperature, and the likelihood of headwinds (as you run toward the SSW) are all much worse in the second half. The fact that you run alongside half-marathoners for the first four miles also contributes to positive splits. For example, the impressive young woman who ranked 87th in the first half and 86th in the second half ran 8:24s followed by 9:39s. It was hard to be happy or look good doing it in the second half.

The weather was the biggest thing for me. Other reviewers say the darndest things, but the heat got up to 80, (not 'the 60s') and I believe that makes this the coolest day for this race in its four years. After that 10th mile, the elevation chart shows choppy hills, and the FAQs on the website say miles 12-20 are the hilliest, but in reality they are not long or steep enough for me to even remember, except for the short one right after marker 17 and especially the long one from 19.5 to 21. It is impossible for a loop course to be 'mostly downhill,' but after that one long uphill it is gently downhill the rest of the way. But by then almost everybody in my cohort was walking most of the time; too bad my shuffle-running was barely fast enough to pass any of the walkers. Its an especially nice neighborhood from 22 to 24, but the residents along Swiss Avenue probably didnt know there was a marathon going on. Fan support, outside of water-station workers lobbying for votes, is close to zero.

Traffic was controlled well enough, except for a long, dismal stretch after marker 24 along Haskell Ave. where cones dotted the center line, with no indication whether we should stay right or stay left. That street was so steeply crowned that I staggered along on the left sidewalk/dirt/grass which at least was closer to a flat surface. It is true that the final twists and turns inside Fair Park were poorly marked and interrupted by wandering spectators, such that I had to be calling out to anyone who could help, Where do I go? In the finish shoot, I was handed a medal reading Top 100 Finisher, which I knew couldnt possibly be true. I even asked, How many of these are you handing out? and was told what you would expect. In fact I found out the next day I was the 129th finisher.

Although almost 300 more marathon finishers were still coming behind me (some delayed much by the pre-race traffic crash), all the empty pizza boxes were being removed from the barn where I went to console myself (on a time that was 20 minutes slower than my wildest nightmares and almost 50 minutes slower than my ambitious goal of Boston-qualifying). Bananas and baked potatoes were available. I make it sound dismal, but there was little that a more festive finish area would have been able to do at that point to make me feel better.

There is no reason an out-of-towner like me would ever do this race twice, and little reason to do it even once, except that its date fell conveniently for my teaching Spring Break, and my wife preferred visiting Dallas over Yakima, WA or Olathe, KS. The course itself is not very hard and is rather pretty much of the time, but the conditions conspire for poor times, and there is nothing else especially great about the occasion: no pre-race loading feed, a why-bother-at-all goodie bag, and a routine shirt. For a special occasion, Im look next spring break at the Bataan Death March.

I've run about 8 marathons, and this is the only one where I saw no clocks on the course. I don't like to wear a watch, and I had no clue what my split time was or how fast/slow I was going throughout. However, this marathon was, for the most part, all DOWNHILL. Quit complaining about the "hills." Poorly organized marathon, but GREAT weather. Some of us like it hot and sunny.

This was my third time to run this marathon, and it just keeps getting better. OK, this may not be a five star marathon, but it doesn't deserve the negative comments I have been reading.

Yes, there was a wreck on I30, but if these people had given themselves extra time to get there, they would have made it. The race was delayed 15 minutes for late starters. That was long enough.

The heat is a given at this time of year, so there is no use complaining about it. There are also some hills, but so what? Marathoners should do less whining. Just because another marathon gives out finishers' shirts, they shouldn't expect it every time. Lewis George delivered on his promises. Aid stations were well staffed with enthusiastic volunteers. The course was as good as one could expect in a large city. The intersections were staffed with policemen. There was plenty of post-race food. I will be back next year.

I wish the race was advertised better so more spectators would show. The fan support is crappy and the course leaves a lot to be desired. The water stations were great for a while- but around mile 17... they seemed to taper off. The volunteers at the aid stations were great and so was the Dallas PD. The course should be re-mapped to draw more public support (no one wants to come cheer you on in the ghetto or under a bridge. The I30 accident did cause major delays, but they did postpone the start time by 15 minutes- they couldn't hold up the people that were ready much longer than that. Overall, it has potential to be a great marathon- each year is an improvement.

Awful accommodations for those of us who were late because of the wreck. We were running in unsafe conditions ALONE because we were unable to start with the other runners. Also, chip box didn't start, so our times were wrong. Horrible race - wouldn't recommed it EVER. Wait for White Rock!

If hadn't already signed up for this marathon prior to reading comments left by runners from prior years I probably wouldn't have done this one. Many of them talked about the Dallas heat, lots of hills, terrible post race food and not enough water stops so I was concerned.

The race ended up started about 20 minutes late and it did get a little warm at the 4 hour mark but it wasn't unbearable but then I train in a West Texas. There were some hills but nothing really bad although I could really feel the ones between miles 20  22. The post race food sure could have been better, I was really hoping for lots of fruit and carbs like bagels or something but all there was were bananas, baked potatoes and burritos. I did enjoy a frosty beer though so it wasnt all bad :P. I believe there were 15 water stops along the way and most were handing out hard candy or orange slices and all had Powerade. The last few stops also had gels which was nice.

All of the somewhat negative comments other runners have made may have just got me mentally prepared for a much worse experience but I just didnt have one.

Overall Id have to say it was a good marathon and one I plan on doing again next year.

Running in the Big D was extremely disappointing. My friends and I were late because of the huge wreck on I30, so we started the race about 15 minutes late. There were no signs directing you to the starting line. And when we found the starting line, it was completely nondescript. We actually had to ask someone if the it was actually the starting line. So we started running. My friends left me in the dust, so I ran alone. I did great and was making great time. The water station was at mile 2. I passed with flying colors and continued running. At mile 2.5 a police officer directing traffic stopped me and the 10 people ahead of me and told us that we had missed our turn and that we needed to go back. So we went back to the water station and asked the volunteers where the turn was. They had no idea. They did not even have a course map with them. There were no signs ANYWHERE!! So our only choice was walk/run to the starting line. As we were walking, we realized that the bad part of town was waking up. We were all a little nervous, but we made it back safely to the starting line. It was a complete waste of money and time. No glory of crossing the finish line. Don't run this race, choose one more organized.

This was my first Big D marathon and overall I can say it was just alright. The day was beautiful and the accommodations for packet pick up and hotel/transportation were very good. There wasn't many fans along the course but given traffic conditions it is understandable. I finished in the top 100 of 450+ finishers and there was very little food at the end. I heard from others that the pizza and breakfast burritos were very good. Would suggest only serving food and beverage to people wearing a number. I feel for the people that were four hours plus if they were hungry. The t-shirts were nice but would recommend putting 'finisher' on them. People handing out water had the same shirts as the marathoners. It seemed like there was a water stop missing between miles 19 & 21. Hats off to the Texans water stop at mile 24 as they had ice in the water which was a great treat at the time. All aid stations were very good. The course had a few more hills than anticipated but made a great training run. Would not recommend for a PR. The overall trip to Dallas was great and would return if some things were improved.

Yet another marathon where the half marathon runners scarf down all the pizza and beer. It must have something to do with Dallas race organizers because the White Rock Marathon in 2006 had the same problem. Not much food left for marathon runners finishing after 4 hours (to be fair they still had soggy old egg tacos and plain baked potatoes). They started running out of water at the finish and there wasn't anything to drink inside. Course was fine. TX in April will probably be hot. Volunteers as always were terrific. Accelerade looked like barf, yuck. Good old Gatorade works fine, thanks. They went to a cotton T-shirt that is much nicer than the so called technical shirts that don't fit right and don't feel very good to wear. Start was delayed by 15 minutes because there was a wreck on I30. We sat in traffic for an hour, stuck on a ramp. We got to the start about 6 minutes after everyone already left. Lots and lots of walkers to wade through. Chips didn't count toward our official time so I don't know why they wasted money on them.

I read a lot of negative comments about this race in 2006.... Most were about the lack of water and too many hills. There seemed to be plenty of water stations this year. In fact, the course seemed easier than the White Rock Marathon course. I do suggest giving medals to the various age-group winners that are different from the finisher's medal. All in all, it was a very good race!