I thought the race was very well organized. Drink stations were well placed and plentiful. Police presence and road markings left no question about being able to follow the course despite many turns. Hills didn't seem bad to me - nothing steep, just rolling. Didn't expect a PR since I ran Marine Corps. five weeks before but ended up with a PR by 10 minutes, finally reaching my goal of coming in under 4 hours! Hope the people of Charlotte can embrace this marathon.

A carefully planned course from center city through Meyers Park, Dilworth, Eastover, Plaza-Midwood and North Davidson to the finish a few blocks from the start. The 8AM start was 40F. There were water and Powerade stops along the course as well as lots of school kids and scouts helping with the water stations. The roads were closed to traffic during the marathon and Charlotte police were out in force directing traffic away from the route. We thought the course was fast with many small hills and the half cuts through the starting line to facilitate the additional 10K, half-marathon, and relay events. Dick Beardsley spoke at the expo and ran in the 10K this year. The traditional winter 10K in Charlotte has been a premier event since the 80's including a few records (there is still a January Run for Peace without a marathon). This is the inaugural edition of this event with a redesigned course.

This being my third marathon after running Richmond twice, I guess it was a first 'out of town' small-town-run experience. Or at least it had that feel with only 800 marathoners. Charlotte is certainly a beautiful city. The hills are a tremendous challenge, but a welcome one. They serve to break up the monotony of long flat stretches of road (of which there were a few of those too). At any rate, I don't ever expect perfection in any event. So as a fairly small inaugural event, I'd say it went fairly well. Adam's Mark Hotel will not be the host next year as it has been bought-out for condo's. The volunteers were great, and support at water stations was superb. More fans would always be welcome. More tie-in with Nascar would be good if it is to be called 'Thunder Road' again. I would have appreciated a roaring 700-hp cup car at the start. Or a racing celeb somewhere involved. (I know the Nascar banquet was the previous night in NYC, but hey, those guys fly their own jets for crying out loud!) But I'm not complaining - I won the Tony Stewart autographed hat! I'll probably run this one again next year - after I overcome some hill fear, work a little more into training, and forget some of the pain!

Nice rolling hills. AAA+ for 'Run for you life' organizers. Great police support. Beautiful weather. I would recommend it to anyone. Will definitely run it next year.

First, it is great to have a marathon back in Charlotte and I think RFYL did a great job stepping up to the plate. Now, if only Charlotte will support it. The course is a vast improvement over previous years.... For those complaining about hills, this was rather tame compared to other marathon routes in previous Charlotte Marathons. I enjoyed the route and the volunteers were great. As with anything, there is room for improvement, but overall I had a good time. If I have one negative, I thought the entry fee was a little high, but there were plenty of police needed for traffic control. I would do it again.

Nice course with some hills. Race management was incredible - a cop at every intersection, and several were cheering on the runners; wide running lanes; good support every 2 miles; cool shirt. Not much in the way of spectators except for a few areas. I am really glad to have a 'hometown' marathon to look forward to every year.

The Thunder Road Marathon was very well put together, with the course, expo, and start/finish, I thought. Every time I had a question, there was always someone enthusiastic about helping me out. The course took me through several parts of Charlotte I had never seen and it was beautiful. As soon as I was done I knew I would come back again next year. I was rather impressed considering this is a 1st-year marathon, with aid stations in full supply with everything you needed.

My 7th half marathon this year & looked forward to participating in the added inaugural half-marathon run, great course but unfortunately there was no medal. A real letdown! But overall the race was well organized & couldn't have asked for better weather. Chicken sandwiches were perfect from Chick-Fil-A.

This is a hilly course, but don't let that scare you. It is nicely done as it rolls through a great mixture of beautiful homes and downtown landmarks. Traffic control was the best I have ever seen! The NASCAR theme could be used much more to their advantage and the pasta dinner needs to be moved indoors. Very well organized for a first-time event, and one to mark on your calendar for an early winter race.

I enjoyed running in Charlotte. The city really had a lot going on (marathon, football game Sunday, Disney on Ice, etc.) to make it a great family weekend. The first part of the course was especially scenic. I found the race challenging having only run Myrtle Beach twice and being from the beach area. It is hard to train for hills when you don't live around hills. The hills gradually kicked my butt! The police and volunteers were fantastic. The spectators were a little on the thin side, but it was not well promoted by the newspaper I guess. That may have been by design from past problems to restore credibility (I don't know). It seems that most people I talked to from Charlotte seem happy to have a marathon back and a fresh start. Those of you from up north looking for a PR or Boston qualifier should be able to run Myrtle Beach, Kiawah, or one of the coastal marathons much quicker; they are very flat compared to Charlotte. Hilton was great downtown: Walked to start and back from finish. Nice touch that we could catch the Panthers and Falcons on Sunday!!