This was my first marathon experience, but my comments are limited to the half-marathon. The fans were awesome! From what I saw, I would not wish to run the full marathon in Charlotte because after the half marathon dropped off, there were very few competitors left. If you like a smaller marathon, this may be for you. There were PowerAde and water stations every two miles. The food at the end was meager! Great half-marathon experience though! Great energy from all the other runners as well!

While the second half winds up and down and around the more commercial sections of Charlotte, the first half is under-rated and Under-publicized. The beautiful neighborhoods of southern Charlotte host, are pleasant, and peaceful, with pretty gardens, parks, and homes, and worth seeing if only for the half, which, from Pennsylvania, is what I chose to do on a sore foot, just for the pleasure of it. Kudos to course decision-makers on their choice.

The second time around must be the charm, because 2006 was the best organized, best supported race I've participated in. Aid stations were perfectly spaced throughout the course. There was never a period of more than 2 miles without water/PowerAde, and the final 10 miles featured Gu at each stop. Volunteers, including police, did an excellent job of keeping runners safe and directing traffic. Crowd support was strong at nearly every major intersection, and folks even stood on their driveways through the neighborhoods to cheer us on at 8 a.m. in 25-degree temps. Pace group leaders were easily identifiable. Finally, this is a great representation of Charlotte: rolling terrain, occasional flat sections, and a great tour of all the city has to offer. I just can't say enough about how positive this experience was. If you want a big race with people screaming at every step, go to Chicago or New York. If you want to PR, find a race at the beach. If you want a nearly perfect example of how to organize and enjoy a "smaller" (~1100 full, ~1100 half) race over a challenging yet rewarding course, come to Charlotte.

This course is very enjoyable to run. It has a good mix of short hills and flat sections. The music along various points of the course was great - especially that metal band around mile 23!!!! The only areas I see for improvement are:

1) The loudspeaker system at the start. Most runners in the back half of the field could not hear the announcements prior to the start. More speakers are needed.

2) Some of the early aid stations could not pour water into cups as fast as runners were arriving, causing runners to either wait in line or skip the aid station.

3) The race-day expo/check-in was hard to find in the civic center for those who entered from the east side of the building. There were no signs pointing us in the right direction until we were very near the expo hall.

This is a nice marathon and I will run it again.

The race expo was well laid out, but bad planning was evident. As there were no shirts left either to buy or get for registering. The race staff gave us five dollars off to make up the difference. No one could count on making up the bib packets, as each person I checked with had a different number of safety pins in there packet but no one had four. I got to the finish line and, as people have commented in previous write-ups about this race, there was nothing - no pictures being taken, no blankets handed out, no medals, no music, not even announcements being made; just a box of oranges. How disappointing! So, all in all it is a race I did, and can check off the list; and I do not feel the need to repeat it in the future.

I really enjoyed this race. It was very well organized. The price might have been a bit steep, but sometimes you get what you pay for. The port-o-lets were superb (I've never seen one with a sink, running water, and a mirror before), the police support was top-notch, and the course was well-marked. I especially liked the cop at the top of the hill who yelled, "LADIES, THERE IS NO WALKING ON MY HILL!" to the guys behind me. It was a nice chuckle late in the race. The food was a little scarce for us slowpokes, but not to the point of being a problem. I've never understood the fascination with spectators, so the modest turnout didn't bother me. I'm also not a NASCAR fan, so I didn't care that it wasn't a more obvious tie-in. It certainly wouldn't have bothered me if it were, but I would have hated to fight crowds at the expo because some race guy showed up to sign autographs. Lastly, I think they did an EXCELLENT job with the website for the race, and I especially liked the forum format for Q&A. Other race managers should look into that.

I highly recommend this race.

I did the half marathon at this event. It was better organized than just about any other race I've competed in, and it was their first year! It has all the makings of becoming one of America's premier marathons! It's good to know that Charlotte has got a marathon again, and I salute Run For Your Life for picking it up. (I later found out that they have a built-in race marketing division and don't have to outsource the promotions.) I urge people in and outside of NC to take part in this race next December, and be proud that we've got a race.

More spectators would have been great, and I really liked the guy in the Winnie the Pooh custume going berserk. It's always good to get encouragement and high fives from the police as they watch the intersections! Plenty of bathroom stops, mile markers, GU's, and drinks. Rock band at 23 was really jamming also. Totally memorable and I still talk about it all the time! Great job guys!

I have run 4-5 marathons in Charlotte (due to proximity) and this was easily the best organized Charlotte-based marathon that I have run. Being proud of this city, the course ran through some of the most scenic and beautiful neighborhoods in Charlotte - it was nice to showcase our city. Outside of a rough section around mile 19 or so, the course was excellent (even given the hills). The finish-line experience was very good - a more official finishing chute might be a good improvement for next year. Having run the Richmond Marathon several times, I think Charlotte should look to learn a few things from that race: 1) Race medals - the more metal the better. Medals should stand out from other races' medals (e.g. Disney, etc.). 2) Crowd support - advertise and if needed, help spectators get to key spectating locations. 3) Results - please work on getting the results in the local paper. Local coverage of the marathon wouldn't hurt for awareness and support either. 4) Price - $70 is a very steep price to pay for a small-town marathon. Runners do equate entry fees to running experience and amenities (medals, expo, efficiency, bag drop ease, portable toilets, etc.). All this being said, I look forward to running the 2nd annual Thunder Road Marathon in 2006.

Ok, so this was a great course if you like to run around a neighborhood, but that is what you get in a city, flat most of the time, and good support at every mile with timing clock and plenty of aid. One problem was the fee; I mean, $70 plus $20 for the dinner from a pizza rest that did not serve pizza but pasta? Go figure: the shirts where Nascar-like, and I handed it to someone at the airport. Being a runner, you look for 2 things: a great shirt and a great medal. I think they made some money on this one; good business to get into, I guess.

Great inaugural event - happy to see a big city marathon back in the fall in North Carolina. Excellent water and Powerade stops with plenty of porta-johns. Not many spectators, but thanks to the person with orange slices at about 21 miles. Late check out (2pm) at the hotel was great - could get a shower afterwards and relax. Police did an excellent job holding traffic - some big backups in places, may need to rethink the route next time. Pretty course through some beautiful tree-lined neighborhoods. Up and down, but no really long grinding hills. Pasta dinner in the tent was convenient but the noise from the heaters made it hard to hear the speaker; not sure why it couldn't have been in the hotel.