I'm sure everyone would agree with me that the conditions on Sunday, April 10th for the Big D Marathon were brutal. Very windy, hot and humid! I had trained very hard for the full marathon and had been running good times up until the race. Came in with a sinus infection, yet ran well for the first half around 1:56:40; but about MM 15 everything changed. Got light headed and dizzy. Kept hydrated the whole time but just overheated. Wound up walking about 3-4 miles coming in for a whopping 4:47! Very discouraging, but I'm not the only one who had difficulties. I was very ill the rest of the day! People were getting overheated and very ill by the time they finished... if they were lucky to finish! Medical tent at finish line was full of people! Hope everyone is ok after this run.

I ran the half at Big D last year and had a great time so I decided to go for the full this year. It turned out to be awful due to the heat wave that made the temps 10-15 degrees above normal for this time of year. If the race would start at 7 a.m., it would be much better for years like this where it is just too hot and humid to run a full marathon and get a good time or even have a good time.

Pros: adequate parking, pre-race fruit, most of the course is very beautiful, great volunteers at aid stations, spectators were encouraging, lots of post-race food, great finisher's shirt and medal, and the last couple of aid stations had ice.

Cons: starts too late for April in TX, did not see mile markers for 24 or 25, aid stations weer not spaced at good distances (ex: aid stations one mile apart then no aid station for 2.3 miles), not nearly enough porta-potties at the start, and it was crowded to run on the jogging path by the lake rather than on W. Lawther Rd.

Quite a nice course around the lakes and city streets of Dallas. Extremely well organized, and very enthusiastic support at the aid stations! Thank you, all you great volunteers!! Nice finisher's tech shirt. Problem is with the locals: where are all the spectators??? And cyclists on the paths of the marathon route: please move to the side even if it means you ride single-file. We don't need any other obstacles on the course.

Race start didn't have enough porta-potties. Lines were well over 50 deep. Porta-potties were out of TP at the end of the race. The area at the race start is ugly, and there are bad mile markers (low to ground) - I never saw Mile 1. Miles 4-9 are beautiful, running around the lake. Nice neighborhoods after that, from Miles 10- 22. Volunteers were awesome and spirited. Plenty of drinks on course, minimal food, and no GU toward the end. Very hilly, tough course. Pre-marathon shirt was OK, but there was a nice finisher shirt, although I wouldn't have known that had I not seen others wearing them. No water or Gatorade at the finish, although a paramedic hooked me up with some. I had to go inside several hundred yards from the finish for drinks. Warm beer, no food, no real party. Pathetic post-race; they need to fix this.

After I registered for the Big-D Half, I found this site and was terrified after reading the horrible reviews! However, it wasn't as bad I as I expected. I'd only run this one again if I couldn't find anything else to run. And frankly, had I received the email from the Dallas Cowboys sooner about their run on the same day (America's Run I think), I would have done that one instead.

Pros:
-The split was marked very well. Other reviews from previous years said it was not. Even if the volunteers and signs weren't there, it was easy to find if you viewed the map ahead of time.
-Once you were out of the bad neighborhoods near Fair Park, the course was really beautiful. Great lake!
-The water stations were great! Nice people - lots of cheering from them.
-Our host hotel (Hyatt Summerfield) was really nice! I would stay there again if I needed to book a hotel in Dallas.


Cons:
-The end was NOT marked off very well. There were spectators and runners that were done walking around and getting in the way. Next time they REALLY need to make sure that people aren't walking, texting, and talking on their phones while we are trying to finish... please have a flagged lane or something through that area!
-The food options were horrible. I ran the half in under 2 hours and there wasn't much once I got inside. I can't imagine what it looked like by the time the full marathon runners got there.
-The shirt color was horrible... baby blue.
-No goodies, coupons or anything. I've run in smaller races and received lanyards, cups, coupons, etc. with my $25 fee. For $65 here, I got that horrid blue shirt. And only 3 safety pins.
-The main host hotel (Doubletree) was where I picked up my packet. The front desk seemed irritated and they were short and rude with me when I told them I was picking up my bib. Obviously this doesn't have anything to do with the actual race, but I still wanted to throw that out there. I won't ever stay at that hotel based on the attitude I got.
-The mile markers were horrible. I never even saw mile 1 and 2. They were small circles so low to the ground. So I had no idea what kind of pace I was running until mile 3. Then towards the end I didn't see the signs anymore... there was some stuff written in chalk on the ground in a few areas.
-Charity?? I don't think they supported anyone.
-One of my supporters used the indoor bathroom and it was NASTY! I won't even describe what she saw and I didn't bother using it.
-Couldn't hear a single word over the microphone (at the beginning). We were all looking at the each other, saying, "What are they talking about? Who? What?"

Overall, it wasn't horrible. I didn't find the hills to be that bad by the way. If I remember correctly, it was pretty hilly at the beginning of the half, but then it seemed to flatten out at the end. Hopefully the organizers will make some changes.

My only gripe is that there was no food for everyone who participated in the marathon. We (10 of us) traveled 535 miles to participate in this event. One participated in the half and finished in 2:06. At this point there was no food for him. So, for those of us running the marathon, unless we finished before two hours, we were out of luck. Why is that? As organizers of the event, you all should have a general idea as to how many will be participating and should plan accordingly. Since I didn't get any food at the end, I don't know what kind of system you use to give out the food. I will think twice about participating in your event or I will make plans to have our own booth of recovery foods for our participants.

This was my first marathon. Found the hills very tough but manageable if you did adequate training beforehand. The folks at aid stations, traffic control, and the fans really helped me push through it. I also found the race longer by my Garmin measurement - 42.54K. I carefully paced to finish just under 4 hours but ran 4:00:44 due to the extra distance. I'll take this into account in all future races.

If I am living in Dallas, TX, or within one to two hours, the Big-D Texas Marathon will definitely in my to-do list every year. The lake is breathtaking for me personally. A big "thanks" to the VOLUNTEERS AND THE POLICEMEN , POLICEWOMEN, FIRE DEPARTMENT AND FIRST AID PERSONNEL - especially, the LITTLE AND YOUNG KIDS. I would not have finished the marathon without you guys.

Course is nice, challenging. A bit harder than White Rock. Course support is terrific. Aid stations had full-strength Gatorade and enthusiastic volunteers. Dallas Police is top notch. The officers have a great attitude and I always look forward to their support. No problems with packet pickup. The T-shirt color is a little strange (light blue) but I like cotton better than an uncomfortable tech shirt. The post-race party ended by the time most of the marathon runners finished. They had plenty of breakfast tacos (egg only), but no sauce. There was no post-race fruit. There was some on the tables before the race, but I guess that got picked up by the half-athoners. I do not know why they don't provide better for the athletes who are running double the distance. Big D used to have post-race pizza, but I guess times are tough all over. Fortunately, there was beer, water and low-calorie PowerAde (low calorie?).

Beautiful course, once you're out of the Fair Park area. Great hills! Perfect weather, and I love running around the lake. Good crowd support at the water stops, just wish there were more stops over the last 5-7 miles. Couldn't find water (or food) at the finish line.