Pros - Good organization, excellent traffic control with friendly police officers running the intersections. The water stops were great. Lots of hard-working volunteers. A special "thank you" to all of the kids and Boy Scouts that helped. Kids at water stops are always the most fun. Plenty of port-a-potties. Course has some great neighborhoods to run in but very hilly. Great job to everyone who worked in and around this event to bring it back to Charlotte. Crowds were thin but enthusiastic so that was OK.

Cons - Host hotel is closing soon and the food was awful. Without a car and being from out of town, we felt trapped. Suggest spending the money for a car so you can see some of the sights of Charlotte and get away from the downtown area.

This event could be a real winner in the coming years with some slight modifications.

A very good first effort with room for improvement. The course was terrific - very scenic, traffic was well controlled, and the turns along the way were well marked. It was a challenging course given all the hills, but that didn't really bother me any. The volunteers at the water stops and along the course were very energetic and enthusiastic. What few spectators there were also very supportive. My biggest suggestion for improvement is on the time management side of things. The expo started packing up well before the end time of 8pm. The finish tables started packing up after 5 hours - odd considering the time limit was 6 hours. The last person to finish came in at 6 hours and 10 minutes, and they had to dig the box with the medals out of the truck in order to find one for him. And, as others have said, there was nothing for the half-marathoners or relay runners. It was their first race, so I hope these things will be corrected for next year. All things considered, I'll be back again.

Fantastic marathon; it is hard to believe that this was the inaugural for Thunder Road. The course was beautiful and contained plenty of variety from uptown towers, to elegant residential areas and quaint shopping districts. There was also plenty of room with a minimum of two lanes blocked and police at every intersection. This may not be a PR (i.e. very flat) course but it was fair and none of the hills were that big. The organization was outstanding with everything staying on schedule and plenty of clean toilets at the start and throughout the course. There is a little fine tuning that will come with any first year marathon like pasta dinner location, entertainment schedules and post-race party. However, the details like a web forum and charity raffle were very nice touches. The only notch is for the quantity of spectators which I attribute to a lack of local media support. However, the quality of spectator support was awesome from police traffic control to volunteers at the water stops and the residents and friends who were in attendance. I wouldn't be surprised if Thunder Road hits the Runner's Magazine list of top 10 "Long on Fun" marathons in 2007.

Great to see Charlotte finally have a marathon, organized and managed by runners for runners. Nice job with the details (plenty of water/Powerade/Gu stops) and the course was well-managed throughout. The course was great and, for many of us who call Charlotte home, it was a great way to show off our great running areas. Early December weather is usually perfect and this day was not a disappointment. This new Charlotte Marathon is the real deal and a GREAT way to experience Charlotte.

This was a fantastic inaugural marathon! Everyone I spoke to complimented the race organizers for coordinating a very smooth event. Usually unheard of for first-time races. I live in Charlotte (2nd largest banking center in the United States) and knew the course would be hilly yet there were fantastic sites like tree-lined streets, fabulous homes, the Bank of America Stadium, Bobcats Arena, and a wonderful view of the Charlotte skyline. I really enjoyed the running route looping through the 'NoDa' section of town even though there was minimal spectator involvement there.

Aid stations were well manned, plenty of toilets along the ENTIRE course, and enough GU to satisfy the most energy deprived runner!

Special kudos to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department for a fantastic job of traffic management. You made it safe for the runners and gave smiles and encouragement to us all along the way. Hey, even the chief of police worked the entire day at one of the intersections (mile 8). How's that for leadership?

This race is definitely one to put on your calendar!

I highly recommend this course to anyone who is looking for a challenge. There are lots of hills (more than Pig or Richmond) with very little flat areas. The turnout was small, but that is because it was the first year (I expect this to grow). However the support was excellent with plenty of water stops and more than enough support for traffic control. For most of the race, one direction of traffic was kept off of the street, which meant that you had two traffic lanes in which to run. There was never a bottleneck. Mile makers were well advertised and plenty of extra GU was being passed out. Crowd was thin, but that is not important to me (although it was crowded at the finish). Everyone was very friendly (even the cops were cheering us on) including at the expo. I had a great time and will probably run this again next year. If you are interested, remember to include serious hill training.

This is my fourth marathon and the ever-present rolling hills made it fairly challenging. It was a great tour of Charlotte even for those of us who live here. We had great views of Uptown, many beautiful residential areas (Meyers Park, Foxcroft, Dilworth), the South End, NoDa, Plaza Midwood, etc. There was not much of the city that we did not see. The course was definitely varied.

Good organization for any race, great for a first running. Hats off to Tim Rhoades & company for putting this together and having the race run so smoothly. No problems with fluids, gel or bathrooms. Could have been more substantial food (Hey Moe?!) at the end - not that the bagels, fruit and PowerAde were lacking - or possibly access to a beer or two, but it was great to have the food and drink immediately following the finish chute so that you did not have to go foraging.

Not sure if there was any media coverage beyond a two-line mention buried in the sports section of the observer. Very few non-runners I know had any idea this race was happening this weekend, but those who showed up did a great job of support (the 2-star rating is for turnout; definitely not a criticism of anyone who did show up). Not sure this year would have been the year for you if a large crowd is important to you (unless you live here and had lots of great friends and family out there - thanks guys!!!). That said, I am sure that the media will get behind the race next year. Even if the media doesn't step up, I am sure the Queen City will.

If I do not run this race next year, I will volunteer. This was a great start.

The course was great. A well organized run, although they should ensure that all the mile markers were present. BUT plenty of toilets, and water stops. The wonderful weather did not hurt. They provided a great set of street directions, useful for me because I took off early and walked the course and did not get lost. This marathon is a great way to see Charlotte; I recommend the run.

Well organized.... Challenging course, a lot of rolling hills. Perfect weather. I'll plan on running again next year.

Pleasantly surprised for an inaugural marathon! For those who had never visited Charlotte before (which I surmise is not many as the majority were locals), they were in for a treat. The course took the runners through upscale Myers Park neighborhoods, downtown/uptown Charlotte, Bank of America Stadium, and the NODA district. The sky was cloudy but temperatures were perfect. All stations were properly manned and volunteers were enthusiastic. Plenty of encouraging police controlling traffic too! As expected, spectators were few and far between. More crowds would have really made it great. Hopefully, the race will be better promoted next year so the impatient people stuck in traffic will be more prepared.