It was in general a great course inside the city, but the problem appeared when we finished.: we had to walk more than one KM to get our bags, and after getting there, we had to wait, standing up, for more than one hour to get the bag!!! Great course, but the organization could be much improved.

Beautiful day (sunny but not very warm) and great course; TV cameras everywhere; very nice atmosphere; the expo was very well prepared; and the staff could speak any language (typical for Belgium). I followed the 4-hour pacer (a real professional, he did not miss one split).
The course is a bit challenging (full of little hills but very scenic); the organization is wonderful; the water stations were always full and clean; and you don´t have to cross angry drivers in the crossroads; because the diversions for the traffic are foreseen well in advance. The only negative point: maybe the lack of spectators. Overall, a very nice marathon.

This was first marathon. I live in Brussels, so I knew what to expect of the course. I think in terms of scenery it is pretty good but it is quite challenging, as there are several long, steady climbs.

I think the race itself was very well organized. The number of drinks stations for 1,000 people was unbelievable! The marshaling was good too. Some things were less good: The baggage claim was in a stupid place, the expo was totally pointless, and the medal is the same cheap rubbish that you get for doing any of the other ING Belgian races (typically 5K to 10 miles only!). But these are minor details.

This is a good race to do but only if you don't mind a small field and no support. I'd say it's a small marathon with a big-city marathon organization and budget.

One last warning: We were lucky with the autumnal, cool weather this year, but obviously it could easily go the other way.

This was my first race and I ran the half marathon. It was a small race with fewer than 2,000 runners - perfect for a first-timer. Overall I thought it was well organized. Abundant fuel stations but absolutely no porta-potties on the route... good thing the course had plenty of bushes along the way. There were some looooong hills that will challenge you. The finish area was a little bizarre. They cover the last 200 meters with bright orange (ING Bank) carpet. It not only shocks your eyes, but it also covers up the cobblestones and add some risk to the final sprint. The finish in the beautiful Grand Place was well supported with fans and a great place to end a run and reward yourself with some Belgian chocolate, waffles, beer, chips.... I would definitely run this again!

The Brussels marathon wasn't anything spectacular nor was it anything terrible; it was a very average marathon. I don't have any real awesome positives or negatives to say.

Some thoughts though:
The course was nice. I'd say about 20 miles of it is run in the rural areas outside Brussels and the other six are inside the city. The rural areas are tree-covered and very isolated, so if you're looking for great crowd support, this isn't your marathon. The start and finish locations are great.

My one minor complaint is about the location of the baggage pick-up at the finish. After running a marathon you'll have to walk for almost a mile to pick up your bags, so it's not the most convenient set-up I've seen.

That's about it. Brussels is a great European city that definitely shouldn't be missed. The Brussels Marathon won't disappoint you, nor will it wow you either.

This is a hilly course with a field of 1,000 marathoners (2,600 for the half marathon - separate start). The race passes through nice and green areas of Brussels and is challenging but not impossible.
Organization is OK. Refreshments every 2.5K or so.

Weak points: ugly medal and so-so T-shirt, no pasta party and ridiculous expo.

Good organization, nice course - despite several big hills and cobblestones, and an interesting city. The only downside was the limited support....!!!!

Just giving some insight on my feelings about this race. Beautiful! The start was cluster-free and the temperature was perfect running weather. I had a PB on this course, but I will warn you that there are some very challenging portions on this course! The organization for the half and the full was fantastic; the half starts about an hour and a half behind the full so the finish (as you can imagine) is with runners of your caliber! Water stops and sponges were all over the place! Only difficulty I had with the course was the carpet at the end - it wasn't natural and threw me off my sprint at the end! Overall, if you're in Europe in August, this a great race!

A very beautiful course which takes you through some very nice parts of Brussels. Several rather steep hills make it very hard though. The fact that this is a small marathon (1000 participants) makes it ideal for pacing yourself (or for following the excellent pacers).

The organization can improve: drinks were great (water and sport drinks every 5 km or so) and well organized, but we could have done with a bit more than 3 small bananas during a whole run. There were no dressing rooms at the start. A tent or so would have been nice for those who didn't come in their running shorts. And I didn't notice any toilets along the course.

One real disappointment though: the spectators. I'm a bit embarrassed about the cool reaction of my fellow countrymen. Next time, hopefuly, the spectators will show a bit more enthusiasm.

It was a great course around nice scenery. Though in the last meters cobbled (stone) road was covered with carpet, this did not help. The risk for injuries was high. Anyway, the organisation was great (no pasta party, though). I heard last year it was bad, so I guess they have really improved the race this year!