The course is challenging, especially if you did all your training on flat ground. Therefore it is really beautiful. You should consider it in your pacing that at mile 24, the 'killer' Burrard Bridge is waiting with a last but long incline.

The organization was very good. Despite other people commenting about missing pace bunnies, I saw a couple of them, marked by huge signs. The volunteers are very nice and helpful. Water and Ultima at (almost) all drink stations. Vector Bars three times during the race (about mile 14, 18 and 22), pre-cut and ready to enjoy. No hassle with unwrapping. I would have preferred getting bananas instead of oranges on the course and post-race. After the race there was a variety of food for refueling available. Unfortunately the water was just served in cups; no bottled water available.

I really like the design of the medal and the t-shirt. The best I got so far.

Overall: I definitely would run the Vancouver Marathon again. In my opinion it is a difficult course for PB's and first-timers, but really enjoyable. GO FOR IT!

I celebrated my 43rd birthday by running the Vancouver Marathon and had a great time! The entire event was very well organized. Volunteers associated with the marathon were exceptional - very helpful, friendly, and enthusiastic.

Most of the course was scenic; it was certainly diverse. As a back-of-the-pack runner, I appreciated the out-and-back portion of the course that was early in the race, providing the opportunity to see the elite runners in action.

Vancouver is a beautiful, exciting city. I will recommend this marathon highly!

This is my third time running the VIM. I enjoy the scenery of the course, and also the variety in terrain.

My gripe I had this year was that all the aid stations for the first half ran out of Ultima! I'm really surprised to see this happen for an event that has been run for more than 30 years.

I found that the course marshals, volunteers, first aid personnel, aid station volunteers, and of course the DJ's all did an outstanding job this year !

This was my first half marathon and I did better than anyone thought I could! I loved it, everything about it. The race was amazing, scenery was stunning. Vancouver is simply the best city! THANKS!
Way to go Sharla, Gordon and Nathan!
I'll be back. :|

I really liked running the Vancouver Marathon, but it was much more difficult than advertised. This should not be advertised as a mostly flat course. There are a large number of inclines and it is a good thing I live and train in San Francisco because I would hate to see how a person training on flat ground dealt with the inclines on the course. Also having the bridge climb near the end of the race was a killer. However, I was very impressed with the last 16 miles of the course as far as scenery was concerned. I was aiming for a sub 3:00 time and missed it by about 4 minutes, but I was happy with the time considering the difficulty of the course.

Such an unbelievable city and beautiful course route made this marathon actually feel easy (well, easier) to run. Great fan support and perfect temperature to achieve your personal best.

The course is excellent; train for moderate hills. The city and crowds are fabulous!

The t-shirt design is one of the best.

For those who complain about not enough water, etc. at the aid stations, use a fuel belt. Why would you count on someone else for your nutrition?

Hope the organizers will have sufficient supplies in the food area after the race and not limit juice to one per finisher in the future.

I will run this race again.

Had a wonderful time at my first marathon! The course was mostly beautiful. Yes, there are areas of industry, but it's a marathon that takes place in a city and if you want the amenities of hotels to stay in, shuttle buses, and things to do before and after the marathon...suck it up and deal.

Most of the course ran from visually interesting to breathtaking. Stanley Park was wonderful! Lots of waves and encouragement from people out walking along the water. One question, though...why in the world were there trees nailed to platforms in the park? Some were tipped over and others had brush covering the telltale signs of 'fake' trees. Very, very odd.

Course support was ideal. No, there was no gel, but bring your own. That's what an intelligent person doing an endurance event does! There were Vector bars throughout and I found that even though I brought a lot of gels, I only needed two of them as the Vector bar pieces did a good job of fueling me. Ultima was available at most of the water stops, as were sponges on many of the later stops. The volunteers were AWESOME! I never ran into an empty water table, or even had to grab my own. They were right there to hand you water, Ultima, vaseline, Vector bars, or even refill your personal water bottle.

Course support was so fun! Kitsilano neighborhoods seem to make a party of it! How inspiring to be running along and see hoardes of people cheering us on! I felt like royalty throughout the route!

Music was AWESOME! Maybe one guy doesn't 'need' it but some of us are more interested in having a good time than making a good time since we know our personal challenge lies in toeing the start line, not breaking the finish tape. I needed the music and took every opportunity to dance/run through every single music station...except the one playing Britney Spears...that one made me run faster...away from the bad, bad sound.

The starts were well organized. Walkers started an hour early giving them lots of time to get underway without being overtaken by the runners. Half marathoners were half an hour before the full marathoners. The announcer was awesome and he even pronounced my name correctly! Get that man a lozenge! He must still be hoarse two days later.

The finishers' area was also very well organized. There were plenty of tables and I didn't have to stand in line. Can I just say: THANK YOU FOR HAVING THAT AREA FOR RUNNERS ONLY! There is nothing that torques me more than being in the finishers' area, food is dwindling, and you see 700 kids who did NOT run scarfing up the food, leaving little for people who really need it. Since their ineffective parents can't seem to say, 'No' it's very nice that the coordinators took care of that for us! Seriously! That is a MAJOR bone of contention for me. Make these events kid-friendly, but parents...unless your kids are participating, bring your OWN food for them.

My only beef was after the race: it was near impossible, as an out of towner, to find my way back to the Skytrain. I knew how to get there, but some volunteers wouldn't let me through the fencing (and one was just plain rude...told me I could wait until 5:00...it was 1:15). Signs would be nice directing traffic to the detour to the Skytrain. Going up to the stadium and over the stairs...well let's just say *whimper* after 26.2 miles!

Thank you for a wonderful event! Thank you, too, to the people in the city who turned out in support...and the fast runners who waited to cheer on us slowbees...and for reminding us what the human spirit is all about as you personalized the announcements (this is __ first marathon, ___ is running her second marathon and has just set a personal best, ___ is 76-years old and is running her 26th straight Vancouver Marathon). You made us ALL feel like Kenyans!

This is my first marathon... with that said, I have little experience to compare this to, but here is what I have to offer:

First, Vancouver is worth a visit for whatever reason. It is a beautiful city, surrounded by millions of acres of playground. Just look to the north and all you see are snow-covered mountains.

We stayed downtown at the Ramada Limited. It was just okay, with a good continental breakfast. Stanley Park is amazing; it's a must see.

The expo was not what I thought it would be. There was a lot of advertising for other marathons that I will never get to run and little info on the one I was about to run. There was plenty of gear to buy if I had forgotten any of mine.

The pre-race pasta dinner was good, but not worth the $21 for each of my family members. It seemed a little much for plastic forks and paper plates, oh and there was only water to drink; good for me, but my kids would have liked to have something else to choose from.

The marathon experience itself was awesome for me, with a few exceptions. No gels, but they had Ultima, which has no carbs and few calories. I had to bring my own and run with a Camelback. The stop at 6 miles I noticed had run out of Ultima. No split times were posted. No pace groups. Finally the course leaves a little to be desired. It was less than scenic and the 2 out-and-backs were painfully drab. The half ran 2.5 more miles in Stanley Park than did the full. Also, I did not see any construction on the Seawall, which is the reason we did not run it. I could be wrong about that.

Overall, a marathon is about you challenging yourself... I met the challenge and that is what matters. I would not run this marathon again even if I lived there.

Course: Beautiful (for the most part) and challenging. The last 1/3 of the race had more challenging hills than I expected. You were either going up or down for most of it. I run on hills all the time, but this still caught me off guard. I still set a PR, but it was not near what I was shooting for.

Spectators: Great. For the first 16 miles there is very little in the way of specators. But when you need them on the back half of the marathon going over the bridge and hills, they are there. Having run smaller races in the past, this was a new experience for me.

Organization: My only complaint is how they organized the pacers at the start of the race. The problem is they didn't. Instead of having big signs out early so people could self-segregate, they had the pacers join the crowds only minutes before the start. By that time the crowds were to thick and I had first-time marathoners hoping for a 6-hour finish standing in front of me.

Watering Holes: Well stocked for me. But I noticed some of the earlier stations having a hard time keeping up, so people farther back in the pack might have had issues.

Weather: Fantastic. But spring in the Northwest is tricky. The very next day it was raining on and off. If you plan on doing this race, bring all types of clothes and be ready for anything.

Overall: I will definitely consider doing this marathon again, but there are so many to choose from I am not sure when I will be back.