This is my 4th Houston event (3 marathons, one half), and all have been excellent. I continue to be completely impressed with the organization that this race provides through the entire process. Packet pickup was quick and easy. Found plenty of porta-potties at the start and had only a brief wait (especially fast after the first wave started). The course is interesting, with lots of fans and music, and the volunteers are excellent. Post-race was equally good, with fast lines to get finisher's merchandise and to get food. I've been really pleased with the food: bagels, bread, eggs, sausage, yogurt, etc. All good!

I keep coming back to Houston time after time because it continues to be excellent every time without fail.

Let me preface this by saying that I have run small and large half marathons (S.A. Rock 'n' Roll being the largest), but this was my first marathon. I chose it because of the crowd support that I had heard so much about and it was right on the money!

I picked up my packet on Friday around 1 p.m., and it was very organized and I didn't have to wait hardly any time. I don't think the expo is as good as San Antonio, though. You got a lot more free stuff in S.A. and a lot more variety of vendors. This one had too many vendors with the same stuff.

As for the race, I thought it was very organized, although I didn't intend to start with such slow runners/walkers. It took about 3 miles to get on pace, so make sure you know where to place yourself. The course is flat with LOTS of crowd support the whole way. People hand out everything, and thank you to the smart spectators who hand out tissues. My pace was around 10:30 and I didn't have any problems with getting water or Gatorade at any station.

At the end of the race, I would have preferred to get my medal before the pictures. They didn't give you a medal until you passed the picture station and I never found another one in the recovery area. I would have liked to get bottled water and Gatorade right at the end, but I just found cups of water. I didn't eat any post-race food because my stomach was so queasy. I finished in 4:44 and there were no lines for finisher's merchandise. I was pleased that they had women's cut finisher's shirts and still had my size left. The finisher shirt, medal, and mug were great.

Overall, it was a great experience. I recommend staying in a hotel downtown so you can walk to the start and then take a pedi-cab back to your room.

Everything was great, from the beginning to the end. The course was flat, as mentioned; the organization was excellent; and the fan support was great and motivating. Looking forward to next year. Only problem I had was parking.

This is the biggest and best organized race I have ever run. I did not wait in any lines for more than a few minutes beginning at the expo. Waiting in the port-a-can lines never took more than 5-10 minutes. Good crowd support - a lot of friendly people giving encouragement as well as handing out oranges, etc. The number of water stops was good.

Picking up of the drop-off bags was so well organized that I couldn't believe it. There were numbered shelves and it took one second for a volunteer to find your bag and return it to you.

The line to pick up the finisher's shirt and mug took a matter of a few minutes. A nice variety of food was offered post-race. There weren't any lines there either.

Nice finisher shirt and beer mug.

In the corral at the start of race, I couldn't see a pace group to figure out more precisely where I should place myself. I did see a few faster pace groups (in the 3-hour range) in the front. Well, I knew not to get too close to that group anyway.

Thanks to the incredible volunteers and the race organizers!

This was my 6th marathon and by far the most fun (a PR helps). Course is flat and fast. Plenty of fluid stations. I thought I encountered a few "rude" runners who seemed like they were trying to cut me off, but I might have just been imagining that. Houston weather in January is a crapshoot, but this year it was pretty perfect. The high humidity was of little consequence due to the temperature being in the low 40s at the start. The potential is always there for a warm day, however, so I think we just got lucky.

I am not a big fan of Houston as a city, but I will definitely try to run the marathon there again someday. Congrats to the organizers - you did a great job!

I've run NY, Boston and Twin Cities, as well as numerous triathlons. The organization in Houston - from the expo, to the start line, the potties, the course marshals, medics on bikes, aid stations all the way to the finish line, medal, t-shirts and family reunion area - was exceptional. A first-class job. Only negatives would be that the course is a bit dull and there is a wicked camber on the roads, something like 2 feet in height between the median and the curb. Felt like I was running on a banked track; I am sure one leg is now shorter than the other!

The Houston Marathon has to be a top-3 race in the country. That is why it sells out within 1-2 days. The only suggestion for race organizers: The full marathon medal should be larger/better than the half marathon medal.

Really a faultless organizational exercise. You will have nothing to complain about.

I am a Houstonian. I've run many marathons, covering Austin, Dallas White Rock, Fort Worth, Houston, Boston, and Frankfurt.

Within the USA, I've encountered no marathon better organized. Frankfurt is probably about even, but that's what you would expect of the Germans!

Houston has been well-organized for years. What is really impressive is that every year they get better. It's obvious that they identify the areas of opportunity and then overwhelm those to get markedly better every year. The mile splits were incredible - tall banners that could not be missed and officials reading out average split times. Food at the end was great. The expo was very good.

Comparing Houston to Frankfurt... here's what can get even better: further incorporation of technology to provide same-day video segments of each runner at key points along the race. Houston already has pager and email alerts at key splits along with finish-line video.

My 9th marathon, and I am slow, and old. So I finish near the end. This year the weather was perfect and the course is spectacular. The volunteers were great, and the spectators were great. The runners near the back were as normal - fairly rude, as they tend to be new and not be aware of what is going on around them.

My big shock was that the finisher items were not available. This race capped and sold out at 11,000 runners within 48 hours - six months or so ago. And only 6,400 or so finished. But the runners past maybe 6,000 did not get the finisher's awards. I experience this on small races - even expect it. But at Houston? Not that one old guy will be missed. But I will probably be elsewhere next year. I trained in earnest coming back from injury, logging 700 miles. My 5:52+ is a WMA 4:47. I was so sorry for one veteran I spoke with on the course who was running his 35th. He was not going to get a time because the cut-off of 6 hours is too short for him. He was 74. Just to finish at CHM must require a near BQ for someone 74. I ran 6 marathons and 2 ultras in the last 13 months, so I have been giving it a good go. Too bad they did not allow a score of zero for the organizers.