Last year, I walked this as my first marathon, and it was a great experience, but what could I really compare it to. Since then I've done 3 others, all of which I thought were done well, but now that I have some experience under my belt, I have to say, I'm proud to be a Tulsan. My husband dropped me off within a couple of blocks of start line. Quick in & out of porta-potty line. Start well spaced so those of us in back not interfering with speedsters. I can't praise the volunteers enough. They were still enthusiastic & cheerful even for us trailing in at the end. Great shirt, I'll wear it a lot & I love the medal.

I really enjoyed this marathon! It was challenging, with either headwind or hills a large percentage of the time from around mile 10 on, but the course was interesting and well-designed. There was a nice variety of scenery: large buildings downtown, beautiful residential areas, the river, the university campus. The half marathoners ran with the marathoners almost the entire way, but I did not have to dodge any of them at the end of the race.

The water/Gatorade stops were spaced well and staffed with friendly volunteers. And, as people have mentioned, the Gatorade was high-quality in a variety of flavors, and they were generous with GU for the last few stops. There was one part of the course that was a little hard for spectators to get to, but overall very pleased with the crowd support considering how cold it was.

My only two race-day complaints were that they could use more restrooms at the start, and they had a sign at the 25.9 mark that almost gave me a heart attack, because the '.9' was so small that from a distance I could only see the '25,' and I started panicking at the thought that I hadn't actually passed the 25-mile mark yet. Unintentionally mean!

The expo was a nice size: easy to pick up your packet and wander through. Nice t-shirts and technical tees for finishers, plus I picked up a great technical sleeveless 'Route 66' shirt on sale for only $10. And if bling is your thing, you're in luck: very original, high-quality medals.

For the price, it's really a great marathon: high quality, but cheaper than the larger ones, not only in terms of the marathon itself, but in terms of lodging, too. And plenty of parking near the start and finish if you're not taking a shuttle.

I highly recommend including it on your to-do list!

Beautiful scenic first half. Keep the full Riverside run - that is classic running spot for T-town. I was not prepared for the hills in the second half. I only saw only one stop that had bananas and oranges - great to see the non-lime gatorade drinks. I did the 'Center of Universe' detour - I like the additional coin I received ( and the beer!).

Felt like a real nice tour of the city. Downtown, business areas, residential areas, several posh neighborhoods with some ridiculous mansions, a kid's private school like something out of Harry Potter, a college campus, industrial parts of town, etc. Even Route 66 itself, for like a half mile?

A lot of decently sized rolling hills that may make a PR tough to achieve and will challenge a novice marathoner, but nothing an experienced marathoner should be too concerned about. I would say hillier than the NYC marathon.

Fifteen aid stations relatively well spaced out. Gatorade was full strength, not too watered down for a change, if that's your preference. Volunteers very friendly and helpful.

Goodies: a regular cotton short T at the expo, PLUS a technical short finisher T at the finish line (yep, that's 2 shirts!!). A really nice, unique high quality medal. Expo was larger than expected.

Tough course and cold weather, these things are temporary and soon forgotten. The medal will last forever and I am so thrilled that I rec'd a special medal that recognizes my participation in the 50 States Marathon Club. I believe first time marathoners and Maniacs also rec'd a special medal. We also got (2) shirts, one for participating and one for finishing. This is EXTREMELY generous and the effort to make me feel special were successful. Thanks so much! Also, the volunteers deserve an A+ for braving the cold temps and the high winds.

Tulsa. The city of extremes this year weather wise. Saturday before the race is was in the 70s with south winds. The forecast for Sunday kept changing and I went from a short sleeve to long sleeve shirt from Saturday evening to Sunday morning. Of course the south wind changed to north overnight which made waiting for the start a chilly deal since the temperature was now in the high 30s.

I found the race course typical with rolling hills at the beginning then a long flat area along the river in the area before the half way mark for marathoners. The North wind was an issue heading back toward downtown and finding a group to draft was a necessity. The final few miles were harder than expected with sizeable character building hills around the 25 miles mark so save some fuel for the end.
A couple of things to keep in mind.

Most of the downtown food shops were closed Saturday. In fact the downtown area was almost a ghost town. The host hotels were close to the start line but there was about a mile walk to the finish area, hence the shuttle bus on Sunday.

This was my 22nd marathon and I was very satisfied with all aspects of this race. The expo was pretty good (sure, they didn't have any xl shirts left but they said they'd mail me one asap, plus they gave me another smaller shirt which I was able to give to my daughter because they said they didn't want me to go home empty handed - nice). The start downtown was walking distance from several hotels and it wasn't overly crowded. Sure, the weather was kinda cold, but what can you do? My solution was to wear a sweatshirt and some thin gloves...brilliant!
I thought the course was typical of a mid sized city like this, the downtown core was kinda lifeless but we quickly entered into some nice shopping and dining areas, attractive neighborhoods, and high school and college campuses. Were there some hills? A few, but nothing too serious. In fact, this was one of the easier courses I've done so far. And as an extra bonus, the fluid stops actually offered purple and red Gatorade, not just that vile lime stuff that everyone else seems to force on us. The finishing area was great, still lots of drinks and food when I got there (mid pack), the medal was superb, and the free shuttle bus back to the hotels was flawless.
All in all a well run race.

I was very pleased with the organization of this marathon. The expo was well run and had many interesting vendors (although they didn't have men's XL even on Friday). The hotels were so convenient and most offered late checkout, although I would check first if you are a slower runner as I almost didn't make it back in time. Some hotels had a 3:00 check out and some had a 2:00 check out. I was impressed with the course and didn't feel that there were too many hills. The first half was incredibly beautiful, and the second half had it's own interesting points. The Michelob detour was a fun diversion. It was chilly, and the wind coming off the river was brutal, but it wasn't unbearable if you dressed correctly. I am going to recommend this race to all my running buddies. The Tulsa volunteers were great and we enjoyed the city immensely.

Extremely cold and windy! Second time running this marathon. Was disappointed in the course this year. The second half of the race has many difficult hills. Probably much more difficult with the 39 degree temp and 15- 20 mph winds that day. They changed the course to allow runners to see more of Tulsa. However, even though if was cool to see downtown, Tulsa University, etc... it made the race a lot more difficult because of all the turns and hills compared to the original course. The 5 mile stretch along the river is always tough going against the wind. The first 8 miles was nice. Really nice neighborhoods!

A huge thank you to all the volunteers and race officials. They love what they do and this race has really grown because of them. Super job all around.

Would agree with other comments that the race corrals are not needed at this point. Staggering the corals several minutes isn't needed. Allow people to find the pacers they want to be with. Forget the corrals - not enough runners for that to be necessary.

Great medal once again. :)
Nice hotels with good rates. Easy to get rooms.

This was my third time to run this race and each time the course has been changed. It's really a brutal course with nothing but rolling relentless hills during the second half. The 6 miles or so of flat is not fun either. Probably the first 6 miles were the best part as none of the hills were too bad. Very cold and windy the whole race just made for a not so fun day. All I wanted is to be done. Volunteers were great and the Maniac perks tent was the best ever. Loved the medals!