POSITIVES:
Beautiful city, friendly Southern style hospitality, Course was spectacular, volunteers were awesome, finish in the stadium addeed a nice touch, nice technical shirt, enough support on the course, many other positives
NEGATIVES:
perhaps pickybut the medal does Not say Marathon anywhere on it, Could have had a MC calling out runners names as they were finishing.

OVERALL would rate this marathon a A. It was great.

This is the third time I have run at the Spinx Runfest...I ran the half in 2009, the full marathon in 2010 and the full marathon again in 2011. Taking my specific goals in mind (qualifying for Boston) this was a great race. Flat except for maybe 5-7 miles of mild rolling hills, marathoners start 30 minutes before half-marathoners making it much less crowded and for the most part it was organized. There were some negatives, however. There was a lot of confusion among different race organizers of where marathoners were supposed to start, which was never an issue in past years. Another issue, which was a bigger deal to me since I am trying to qualify for Boston and every second counts, was that they decided after the race to not have chip times for the marathon runners only. Half-marathoners and 5k runners had chip times recorded, just not the marathon (and there were timing chips on the back of marathoners bibs). I asked the person who was in charge of the chip times why they had not posted any for the marathon and he said it was due to the low number of marathoners. What bothered me was that runners were never made aware of this and the difference between gun time and chip time could be minutes. Had I known, I would have been on the start line but because I didn't I was in the middle of the pack. As someone who is trying to qualify for Boston, this issue bothered me a lot. Advice for those who run the marathon next year and are potentially trying to qualify for Boston...e-mail the race director and clairify the use of chip times/gun times. Other than that, the race was great and the weather was perfect. Thanks to everyone who worked hard to put it together!

This is the second time I have run this marathon, I enjoyed it so much last year that this is one of my favorites. The reasons I like this race include; start marathoners first, early start time, beautiful scenic course, starting and finishing at the baseball stadium and being able to pick up your packet on race day.

They changed the course this year and made adjustments to take the route on more rural scenic roads and hope they keep it the same for next year. All the volunteers were friendly and helpful. The only negative that I can think of is that it was a smaller race and I felt like I was running alone at times.

Greenville is beautiful and the people are very friendly. The course was tough but fair. The uphill at the end was a real challenge. The fans that were there were great but like all small races there are many sections where there are no fans. All the water stations and surrounding areas has boisterous friendly people. The only real negative was the colder than expected weather. It was mid to low 30's to start the race and the course was wet from the rain the prior day so my feet started cramping very early on. By mile 21 through 25 everything else was cramping (maybe I changed my stride because of my feet?). I thought I wasn't going to be able to finish but managed to hobble to the end.
I would love to run it in 50 degree sunny dry weather.

There was a big crowd of half marathon runners merging with the slower marathon runner, several of us ran 1 1/2 miles before realizing we were going the wrong way. Too make it even worst none of the voluteers or police on site knew the acutal marathon route. Luckily we found someone with a map and were able to negotiate our way back to the course. The crowd was small but enthusiastic and the course was beautiful.

Greenville is a cool city which is big, yet has small town Southern charm.
Pros
" Course is very nice a few miles in the city then you hike the bike path and right about the time you get bored you exit the path and into a nice neighborhood. The start and finish at the baseball stadium was different and running inside the stadium for the finish was a nice touch
" Good pasta dinner at nice hotel
" I stayed at the Hilton and they granted me a 2pm check out which was great
" Race shirt was nice, however lose the sponsorship on the shirt or make them smaller, Runners DO NOT LIKE shirts that are billboards.
Improvements
" Spread your h20 table groups I ran with a pace group and it was crowded to grab H20
" Have the GU 100 yds prior to the H20 stop not at the end of the table
" Get quality pacers, putting a 'call out' is not the optimal way for pacers. By having professional groups this can help attract more runners.
" Louder PA system and more directions at the start, runners did not really know where to line up
" Get the locals out!! We ran through a neighborhood and no one was really out, support the runners, we are putting money into YOUR community
This race has great potential, with continued improvements should be a an A+

Greenville SC is a neat small city with a beautiful downtown and great trails. The race starts and finishes downtown and most of it is run by parks or on a long greenway. Traffic control, race materials, organization, volunteers, were all top-notch, and I would not hesitate to recommend this race to everyone. I appreciate being able to get the packet on race morning instead of having to go a day early to get it. Many thanks to the Greenville Track Club for a superb job!

This has to be one of the most scenic marathons in the country! The route makes the run a pleasure, plus the very efficient expo and start/finish set-up. The aid station volunteers were very encouraging - true Southern hospitality! Not many spectators given the bike trail route but that's OK by me.

This was my first marathon. I know, kind of an odd choice, but I wanted to do my first one on my birthday! Previously, I had run four half marathons.

The organization was top-notch. Getting in and out of the expo was easy, as was parking on the day of the race. The course itself was a mixed bag. The first 13 miles or so were absolutely gorgeous! Not too many hills, and there was plenty of room to maneuver through those first few miles. We went through some impressive parks and it was just an enjoyable run. After that, we went through what amounted to the ghetto. It seems like such an odd choice considering how many cool areas there are in Greenville. Plus, from mile 13 to around 19 I ran a gradual uphill that just sucked the life out of me! Miles 20-25 are on the Swamp Rabbit Trail, which was very enjoyable and easy on the legs. The finish in the stadium was cool. I appreciated the medal and hat being handed to me at the finish, but where's the water? Walking up the stadium steps to get water was very painful!

The spectators were great throughout the race and very friendly. My thanks go out to the woman who said, "Just a 5k left. Any day of the week!" That helped me through the final 3.1.

Great experience overall, and I would recommend it!

I wanted to do this race in 2009 but they were not able to hold it and then I had registered for the Myrtle Beach race in Feb 2010 only to have it snowed out, so I was overjoyed that the Spinx race was going to be held in 2010. I registered as soon as I could. The packet pickup was very easy to get in and out of and it gave you a bit of a view of the finish line area on Saturday. The course elevation was tougher that one would think because some of the "uphills" are not steep, but they are long. The first half was beautiful and I spent some time taking pictures along the course. The traffic control was outstanding. It looked like they had every local and state law officers on hand controlling the intersections. The finish line was pretty cool too as you ran the outer warning track of the ball field and then came down the 3rd baseline toward home plate. Lots of after-race food and water. The Ed and Jane did a great job.