It was great weather for a marathon! Missed opportunity for a good time! Texans' Sundays took more of my Sunday training time than expected. It was worth the sacrifice! Great turnout even though the Texans were playing at noon!

I rave the organization of Houston Marathon years after years. After 10 years of running this event, I did not think it can get better. Well, it did.

This year's marathon event included an expanded expos that was bigger than before, as well as larger post race event. The organizer made the Convention Center roomier and even more runner friendly.

However, what is more impressive is the organization of the race. An app for Houston Marathon? They got it. Not stupid chip on my shoe? Much easier. There were porta-potty every 1.5 miles, all at least 10 available. Water and Gatorade station every 1.5 miles as well. Mile markers were complete and, well, sort of accurate. My GPS says I ran 26.7 miles. My friend's says 26.4. Nonetheless, there are mile markers every miles and every 5K. Take a note of that, other marathons. And Flags for Water and Gatorade stations so you can see 0.1 miles away and make lane adjustment? Seriously? That is great organization. I do miss my Gu station at mile 20, but beer truck sits pretty at miles 21. For carb load, of course.

Corral system worked well today. They blocked te street a bit excessively for those of us coming and leaving, but that is just minor issue. Medal is pretty, with a big 40 to celebrated 40th anniversary. Don't forget the free finisher shirt AND finisher mug and hot breakfast. Yum, biscuit and gravy!

Weather was better than last 2 years, but I still would like cooler like Thursday or Friday morning. Otherwise, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this race. I even pulled my result online 10 minutes after finishing to get my chip time. Nice!

For all marathon enthusiasts and novice, Houston Marathon is the race to which all other marathons must be compared. It is a wonderfully run event, and Houston is a great city for the out of Townes to find a little Texas surprise and Southern hospitality.

Bottom Line: This is a PR course  the only hills are the overpasses and underpasses. Weather for the 2012 was perfect  45-55 F with low winds and partly cloudy skies.

Sign-up, website and Pre-marathon: This is one of those marathons that sells out quickly. If you really want to do this one, be looking at the website in June. The website is well organized and the maps are and FAQ sections are well done.

Expo: The packet pick-up is a little less efficient that some. The lines were a little confusing, but it worked. The expo was big and crowded  but with a lot of vendors.

Start: Bad drop was okay. Not nearly as efficient as Boston or other races. Plenty of porta johns though. They also had them inside the starting gate  which was really awesome.

Course & support (to include Water & and port-a-johns): Ample water stops and porta-johns along the way. Surprisingly good crowd support along pretty much the entire course. The course itself was not one of the prettier marathons I have done, but the weather was perfect and there was no hills to speak of.

Post race: Nice medal & shirt. I liked the pint glass. Once again, layout could be a bit more efficient. Post race hot meal of biscuits, gravy, eggs and sausage hit the spot though.

Hotel & transportation: This was the first race that I tried couch surfing (couchsurfing.org) for and it was an awesome experience. I also heard good reviews about a hostel (HI-Houston). I flew into Hobby which was a nice small airport. There is a bus that can take you into town, but in generally Houston is a spread out town that makes a car very useful.

To do: The day before the race I went and checked out the Car Art Museum. Of course theres the Johnson space center, but you should not do this unless you can give it a solid half day. The Battleship Texas is also pretty neat.

This is my second marathon and I was very impressed with the Houston Marathon. The course was fast and mostly downhill, especially in the last six miles where you need it the most. The course was scenic for Houston but dull at moments. The fans were surprisingly awesome; nowhere in the race was I by myself - it felt like one of the majors. I would certainly recommend this race for someone who is gunning for a PR!

This was my first Houston Marathon, and I think that this event was done very well. The packet pickup went very smoothly, the finisher shirt was top-notch, and the mile markers and course time were displayed at every mile. Great fan support and outstanding aid/water stations. The website and event coordination were very good.

The not-so-good: road closures for the half-marathon on the day before the marathon made parking difficult for packet pickup; in the corrals there were no times posted for lineup; and the crowd was very thick for the first 4 miles. After finishing I went into the convention center and had no idea what to do. I guess I am used to being treated like cattle at the end of a race. I had to ask volunteers what to do and they just looked at me strangely and said everything I needed was to my right.

I really enjoyed the city and the marathon. I have minor complaints, but all in all, everything went well. I am sure I'll be back to Houston for another marathon.

I was stuck behind so many slow marathoners and half marathoners at the start that the first 4 or 5 miles were painfully slow. They need to separate out the half marathoners for a separate start, and break out and enforce the corrals for the full marathoners. This was the most poorly organized start of a race of this size. I've done 21 marathons including Boston and Chicago. I heard the same comments from everybody I talked to at the race.

This is my 3rd Houston Marathon, and everything in the event has been perfect in all editions. Organization is at level of the major marathons, like NY, Boston, or even better. This year I just noted some problems with pacers (from 3:10 to 3:40); I am wondering if someone else had the same expirience. Everything else was just perfect.

I was really impressed by this race - impeccable organization, great schwag, and a lot of fan support. The course won't blow you away with how scenic it is (Houston doesn't have much in the way of hills or in-your-face natural beauty), but there were plenty of fans in almost every neighborhood. The aid stations were well stocked (except the first two, which were out of Gatorade when the second marathon wave got there - I blame the half marathoners), volunteers were super helpful, and the start/finish area couldn't be better (using the Convention Center means you have a nice, warm, dry, place to get ready and finish up).

My second Houston Marathon, and my 72nd overall. This is by far the best organized marathon I have run... and I have run most of them in the U.S. Everything is well planned and executed on time with great volunteers. Lots of pluses with great food at the end. Two terrific T-shirts, a nice finisher's mug, easy bag retrieval, fairly large expo, etc. The course is flat and possibly the easiest Boston Qualifier out there. Give this race a try... definitely!

Everything about this race is organized well. Top-notch attention to the runners' needs shows at every step. Quick packet pickup, there was an indoor waiting area before going to the corrals, and there were pristine porta-potties with toilet paper and hand sanitizer (!), weather alerts, copious course markings, "criers" announcing pace at the mile markers for both wave 1 and wave 2, and plenty of medical attention should the need arise.

We just completed the Goofy Challenge at Disney, and love the WDW organization, but Houston has it beat. Even though the races will be just one week apart in 2012, we will try to do them both again - our two favorite venues. And last year, I thought the Austin spectators were the best, and couldn't ever be beaten, but Houston spectators are just as enthusiastic, and just as generous, some providing their own pretzels, cookies, beer (!), and orange slices, augmenting the official hydration stations. I can't count how many times I was encouraged by name, and it really does help lift flagging spirits. In 2011 we started in drizzle, and we faced rain off and on for the event, and I think lots of people developed blisters from wet shoes and socks. Nothing against the race organization for the weather - just one more thing to challenge us - but I did notice that a lot of veterans' times were significantly slower than last year. This did not seem to affect the elites; they finish so quickly that they had no time for blisters.

I should add that parking is a breeze, as is ingress and egress from the event. Also, for those from out of town, there are a variety of very nice hotels in walking distance of the start.

And this may be a big city, but it has a small-town feel for friendliness. At the end, one of the race officials congratulated me on my finish, and later when I watched the event on tv, I discovered it had been the race director himself. I'm glad I got to compliment him personally for a well-run event. What a nice touch, his being there "on the ground."

This is one we want to try to run every year, from now on.