It was a perfect day, weather-wise: cool, sunny, windless.

But the air, as usual, was horrendous. Absolutely choking at some places, where you run beside endless lines of idling vehicles, where the air is trapped and has nowhere to go but your lungs (you run under elevated highways for a couple K in the 1st half, then on an elevated, beside the noise barrier, for a few K in the 2nd half). Awful for an asthmatic like me. It was the same last year.

Considering the city, an incredibly ill-planned route. Nowhere near the Bund, the French Concession, etc. In fact, at the end when you're struggling, it's into industrial waste land. (A marathon into China's 21st century??)

Ridiculous registration process: cannot register online.

Overall organization: pretty standard, I guess. Buses to carry items from start to finish, fairly well-organized (could be better). Fluid, sponge, toilet and aid stations well-spaced and signed. No impediments from traffic (except the fumes). Shuttle buses from the finish back into the city (but then, why not finish somewhere central?).

Spectators: lots of organized groups banging gongs and shouting, "Jia you" (go, go). Good crowds.

Overall: If you are in China, and don't have many options, come. Otherwise, don't go out of your way for this one.

Only run the Shanghai Marathon if you want to have a race in China in your pocket. The route is far from exciting, as it goes through the outskirts of the city! What a shame - there are so many other nice routes in the city!

This is my first ever "big" event, and the sheer number of participants was overwhelming and made for an amazing atmosphere. The route itself was not that great, but it wasn't so bad either, compared to some of the routes Ive raced. The spectators made the event so much more fun, and practically the whole way were people cheering, "Ja yai, ja yai," and ladies dancing in formation with ribbons and drums and tambourines. The organization at the end was excellent; we queued up for certificates immediately after finishing and received medals at the same time. The weather was just perfect. My friends and I WILL be back next year. The website is a little difficult to understand (the English version). Has anyone managed to view the results yet?

Overall, this was a pretty good race (I ran the 1/2, and my wife ran the full). It was well organized from number pickup through the awards, and the course was well marked, with frequent water and sponge stations (I saw them at a minimum every 5K; not sure what experience the previous poster had). The crowds were enthusiastic, with lots of groups of supporters on the sidelines chanting or cheering.

The Puxi area of Shanghai is not the most scenic area, and we were running on roads with active traffic, although there was plenty of space between runners and autos, unlike previous years. My recommendation on the survey they sent out was to pick a more scenic environment, but it's tough in this city.

The website was awful, especially the bit in English - we're still waiting for results to be posted a few days later.

I have read all of the comments and I have to agree. If you are already in Shanghai, do it! The crowds enthusiasm is contagious and makes for a memorable experience. It seems the race organizers must be reading these comments because they have made improvements. For one, this year there were beautiful medals for all of the finishers! I would've liked to have been able to buy a sweatshirt or coffee mug for memorabilia at the end of the race. The beginning of the race was great. The buses for all of the bags were very well organized (my friend enjoyed the group warm-ups). The finish lines to pick up the printed certificates were also very efficient. The chips for our times were great, as a runner you always want to know your real time, start to finish. The start of the race on the walking street Najing Lu is perfect. OK, so what needs to be improved? As you are running you can visibly see that you are headed straight for the smog and pollution! Ugh, no runner wants to fill their lungs with that! Why not start it in the same place, run through the historic Bund, and then head over a bridge (!) to the clean Pudong area! Another thing that needs to be thought of is to have the finish close to a subway stop! My friends and I were all done running in 2 hours and then it took us over 3 hours to get home, via subway, bus, subway, taxi, and then finally a shuttle!

The course was not thought out at all. It ran in parallel to major roads in Shanghai, and along some of the worst scenery in the city, not to mention polluted air. I have lived in Shanghai for the past year and there are certainly more scenic routes to choose. Also, there were only two water stations along the 13.1-mile course (one more about 100 yards from the finish) and the volunteers didn't have any cups filled at either location!! Finally, many others and I clocked off 13.45 miles for the course using our Garmin GPS watches. Now it's understandable that you add some distance weaving in and out of crowds, but almost an extra half mile??? Don't bother signing up for this race, unless it's under some new management. The crowds were generally the only positive part of the race.

It was my first half-marathon in my life. As a college student, I think the race is OK. It was really a wonderful experience, especially when I finished the half-marathon within 2 hours.

As for the improvement, I'd like to suggest the organizer replace this current marathon route with a better one, such as one that runs through the Pudong area where the air is clean and fresh.

Stay away from this race. If you are living in China, then it's one of few large marathons that you can do, so you may be stuck with it. The city is polluted and you run up and down busy streets for most of the race (with the cars still going next to you). Try and find another race if you can...

It was my first marathon. I lived in Shanghai and didn't hesitate to participate. The perfect whether made the run much easier. I just didn't understand why the organizer designed such an ugly course running through Xinzhuang of the Minhang District instead of the Pudong new area. I used to live in Xinzhuang for awhile and moved to Century Park for better environment. The brutal Xinzhuang course ruined my nice feeling for the first half. If the organizer doesn't change this, the Shanghai Marathon will never stand out among its competition with Beijing, Xiamen and Dalian - not to mention be accepted around the world. So if you happen to be in Shanghai during the race day, try it. Otherwise, please don't bother to fly here.

My first full marathon. The first half of the race was quite ok, even though this time unfortunately the start was not at the famous Bund. The second half was extremely tedious and boring, partially being on an elevated highway. The sound barrier as well as the stop-and-go traffic on the other lane made for unbearable air. Also the second half lead mostly through industrial parks, therefore boring boxy factory buildings and few onlookers.
I was amazed at the friendliness at the onlookers and the numerous cheering bands etc. out there.
Drink stations were well spaced.