For my first marathon, and a very good race. The weather was PERFECT! I really enjoyed the scenery and the course layout and even running in the hills toward the end. Certainly a very positive experience for me but...

...the post-race arrangement was a big disappointment. I ran a slow pace and finished at 5 hours so maybe I shouldn't expect much, but many of my friends said the same thing and they came in around 4 hours. Little to no food and no beer available. With all the half and relay marathoners finishing earlier, there was no hope of the majority of the marathon finishers to enjoy the food/drink that was highly advertised. Frankly, I looked forward to it and it wasn't there.

I hope the race organizers will address and find a way to correct the problem. Except for this, the race was great!! The route, expo, hydration stations, and especially the shirts were outstanding. I will definitely have this on my calender for next year.

I can understand the need for these smaller marathons to diversify and have more events to create a bigger buzz in the community. In this case, unfortunately, it seems like the marathon runners got ignored in favor of runners in the shorter events.

The expo on Saturday was ok (what I expected from a race this size - mostly local companies or organizations). The one disappointment was there was no race poster offered for sale; other marathons I've been to have had an official poster.

Race day conditions were almost perfect. Parking near the start area was easy to find, and I was able to move through crowds easily to get water and warm up, and there were no long lines for porta-toilets.

The course was ok. Nice loop over river to start, and then out and back on the parkway along river. Got a bit monotonous at times, but the course entertainment (bands) every few miles helped break up the boredom, and the volunteers did a great job handing out drinks and cheering us along. Had isolated clumps of spectators, then long stretches with not much out there except the occasional biker riding the path along the parkway. The hills in miles 22-25 were tough, especially coming through the park, but that part of the course was probably the most visually stimulating and had plenty of spectators as ran through the neighborhoods.

The bad part was there were a half marathon, quarter marathon, AND marathon relay. The half and quarter marathoners started an hour later, which meant that most of them were back at the finish before the marathoners. I finished in the top 100 in the marathon and would have liked to have gotten something to eat, but there must have been 200 people in line at the food tent by that time. Guess all the half/quarter marathoners and their friends were hungry. Judging from other comments, I should consider myself lucky there was some beer left after the hordes of locusts had passed through. It would be nice if the race organizers had a little more consideration for the people running the full marathon and set aside some food and beer for those arriving later in the day - maybe that'll happen in future events.

The organization for this race was excellent. I signed up early (in June) and received emails all summer and fall with updates and info about the run. I knew exactly where to go and when to be there by the time race weekend came.

I participated in the half marathon last year and will say that I like the new start finish area compared to last year. Although, I was very disappointed that most of the food was gone and the beer trailer had already shut down. I finished just under 4:30 and was really looking forward to a slice or two of pizza and a cold beer at the end. I had to settle for an orange and a bottle of water.

They tweaked the course last year based on feedback from runners and the community so maybe they'll work on it again for next year and not have so much of the course on Riverside Drive. It definitely gets monotonous, especially after the turnaround and you're coming back on the same road you just ran on.

But, enough complaining. This is a great race and if they make sure that the 1/4 and 1/2 marathoners save some pizza and beer for the full marathoners, then I'll be totally happy. That is why I run after all, for the free beer and pizza!

The Tulsa Marathon was mostly out and back on flat cement along the river. It got a tad boring. The fan and volunteer support was fantastic especially for a smaller race.

The last few miles were hilly and enjoyable. They weren't that bad. Besides its hard to complain when the hills are clearly there in the elevation chart of the race.

Two gripes, one big one small. Small Gripe: I didn't find a good map to the race start. Big Gripe: My wife finished in 4:05, I finished in 4:30. There was only Mazzios pizza. No Beer, no other food as had been touted online and in flyers. My guess is that the half marathoners got it all. BAD Deal. I know I wasn't the only one disappointed.

That said. I'm sure it will be remedied next year. Right?

The medal was nice and the shirts are nice - short and long sleeve tech shirts.

This was my 11th marathon and this was one of the better ones I've run. It still has some minor things that can be tweaked to make it great race though. Yes there is a lot of concrete and there are some hills miles 22-25 but the rest of the course is very flat. The size of the race did not leave the course crowded. Don't expect a lot of spectators but most of the ones lining the roads are energetic. It's also a good course for your family or friends to follow you. Getting two technical shirts (one race and one finishers) is virtually unheard of. Beats the heck out of the shrunken cotton tee I got at another race.

Here's what I think can be improved. I ran a 4:06 but there was not a lot of food left at that point. It was mostly some rice & beans with seasoned chicken along with some cold pizza and bagels. Also, someone needs to remind the aid station volunteers to be consistent with water and sports drink arrangements. As I approached each AS I would hollar out 'WATER' but it seemed to be all over the place and sometimes the sports drink seemed to come before the water. No other real complaints.

Candidly, I registered for Route 66 when I waited too late to sign up for Philadelphia (which was the same day), but I won't view Tulsa as a "second choice" again. This was my 22nd marathon, and at age 49, I presumed my PR days were over. Was I ever wrong! The course, even with a lot of concrete, was very forgiving. I got into a good groove early on and really never slowed down until the hills late in the race.

The aid stations were well organized and the volunteers were energetic and cheerful. And spectators along the way got into the act, as well, offering fruit and water (and a lot of encouragement!). The on-course entertainment, I thought, was a little sporadic but so what? It's like that in a lot of races I've run. The (mostly) downhill final mile was certainly welcome, and I cruised in with a new PR, by a whopping 4-and-a-half minutes! The technical-fabric finisher's shirts were nice, too, although I kind of wished the design more prominently featured the word "marathon" under the trademark Route 66 emblem (but, hey, I'm being picky).

This was a great race, and I thought really well put together. It may not be too high just yet on many runners "to-do" lists, but that is going to change. This is just year number two for this race (I think), and it's already a fine event (and I've run Boston, NYC, L.A., Chicago...). No, Route 66 isn't a mega-event, but it's a whole lot of fun and it is a perfect race for the first-time marathoner. I guess I should have registered for Philly sooner, but now I'm really glad I didn't...!

The course was excellent and the volunteers were even better. I ran with bronchitis, which made the second half hard for me. I was walking in suspense, fearing that I was going to be ordered up onto the sidewalk at anytime. The course was re-opened to traffic around me but an officer stayed with me till the end and helped me through the intersections for the last 2 miles. The police department was very supportive of the event and welcomed all of the runners to their city.

This is a marathon that I will DEFINITELY do again after I finish my tour of the 50 states. The organizers did a great job.

Overall, I think the Tulsa Route 66 Marathon is a decent choice for a race, but clearly could be improved.

The city:
Tulsa is nice enough city with some very well maintained older neighborhoods. The expo was easy to get to and offered lots of vendors, even though there were few "freebies." We ate an an Italian restaurant called Biga (I believe it was in the area called "Brookside") and the food was excellent.

The course:
Much of the race is run along the Arkansas River. You're not going to see a hill until you're past 20 miles, except for maybe a slight incline while running over a bridge. I found the long stretch on Riverside Dr. to be excessive. It became quite boring running back up the same road and I really looked forward to turning off this road and moving into some of the neighborhoods. Once you reach about the 22-mile mark in the race, you come to the hills. I've read some of the other comments about how difficult these hills are, and I don't agree. I'm a 4 1/2-hour runner in my 50's and usually hills just kill me in a race. These hills are challenging, but they are definitely doable. This was the first marathon I did not walk at all and the hills did not stop me. The aid stations along the course were well organized and volunteers made it easy to find what I wanted.

The finish:
Volunteers wrapped me in a mylar blanket, cracked open a bottle of water for me, and place the medal around my neck. Got my finisher's shirt, which was very nice (both the participant and finisher shirts were very classy), and then set out to find the beer and some food. There was very little food; I got a small cup of some rice, beans and chicken that was very tasty, but there was little else. And the biggest disappointment: they ran out of beer awhile ago. Also, if you're coming here intrigued by the "Classic Car Show," don't bother. There were just 5 or 6 cars parked along the street that appeared to be classic. This was not anything special at all.

Great organization. Cloud cover was great too. Liked the shotgun start, and the announcer was entertaining. I agree with previous comments on concrete and hills at the end; but overall the course was not that bad.

One noticeable item for me was the friendliness and involvement of the police. The gave words of encouragement and some even applauded. The guys between 24 and 25 were especially good.

The two technical tops were a special treat.

Nice job, especially given this was only your second year.

This was my first marathon, and for some strange reason I was told it was a fairly flat course and that there was less concrete this year. How could there have been less concrete?? There had to be at least 15-18 miles of concrete. At the expo the race director said that there was only a few rolling hills at the end. Ha... more like 5 miles of hills and they were not small, rolling hills. The water stops were all well staffed and the volunteers were excellent. There were times I would have liked to have seen a water stop sooner, but it was ok. The crowd support at the beginning of the race was great, but after the turn-around it was like everyone left town.

After finishing, I got one piece of pizza. All the other food was gone! Even though I wasn't fast finishing (just over 5 hours), it would have been nice to have gotten some of the finisher's food and drink. Maybe next year they could save some food for the full marathoners. The people that were out there the longest are the ones that would have appreciated it the most. I won't do this one next year but will return again to try it someday. Overall it was a great experience for my first marathon.