I was very happy with the new course. It seemed like just enough elevation change to keep me interested. To be able to run through downtown Tulsa was cool but my favorite part was the out-and-back along the river. Pizza and beer were great at the finish. The medal is absolutely awesome. Keep it up, Tulsa.

The course meandered through neighborhoods and downtown before hitting the long out-and-back stretch on the river road. It was a scenic stretch, but I was wishing for the turnaround way before it came. I think a veer-off somewhere would be a welcome addition.

Medals were very good. The gave out two good shirts: one regular and one tech. Spectators were a little weak, but it's a young marathon.

I did the 2008 marathon on the old course, which had a series of fairly steep hills and drops in the final 10K. It made for a brutal finish. The redesigned course had those hills this year at the beginning and added a few more in the first 20K to make it an even more difficult course. Add to those leg-ripping hills a course that's predominantly run on concrete roads and, well, you have the makings of a painful day and a slew of slow times (except the stroller dudes). I will not do Tulsa again for this reason. The big upside was the many volunteers who made the day a positive experience. Excellent work, Tulsa. Just get rid of the hills and concrete (and the 10K of headwind on the river road!).

This was my first trip to Tulsa, OK and the Route 66 Marathon. Almost everything to me was perfect. Excellent course, excellent aid stations, excellent medal, shirts, and processes. They ran out of food for the marathoners; however, I wasn't discouraged by that. I would recommend it and would go back again.

Pros: I was really impressed by the support from the spectators and the medical crews - especially late in the race, as it started getting warm, there were guys on bicycles constantly circling to make sure everyone was OK. Great medal also. Course was as described - not terribly difficult at all. Lots of music along the way.

Cons: Post-race food... I don't know, maybe I was looking in the wrong place or something, but all I found in the food tent was cold pizza, bagel pieces and orange slices - and I was ahead of 85% of the marathoners, so who knows what they got? The full/half course split was very clearly marked, but there was way too much traffic when the courses came back together (with 5Kers mixed in too?).

Registration/packet pick up seemed well organized, pasta party seemed like a class act, and I appreciated the confetti and the fireworks at the beginning of the race. Glad to get the hills out of the way at the beginning, and I was so glad that there was still a crowd at the finish line by the time I came through!

Bottom line: This was a decently run marathon with nothing really standing out as good or bad. The course does a nice job of showing off the city of Tulsa. Pre-race pasta dinner and post-race activities were fairly well done, but also nothing that really stood out as good or bad. This is a good, medium-sized marathon if you are looking for one to do in Oklahoma. Fan support was pretty meager; it almost feels like the city does not realize there's a race going on.

Sign-up, website and pre-marathon: Decent website. They do not bug you with a lot training e-mails. Sign up was easy and the information sufficient.

Expo: A little underwhelming, but easy to find and efficient number pick-up. There were a pretty small number of booths and there were not any great running deals that I usually hope to find at these race expos. The pasta dinner was at a nice location: the Cain Ballroom. It was pretty standard fare. They had some nice presentations. There was a band that night, but I did not stay.

Start: The race ran a shuttle between all of the hotels and they were waiting outside my hotel at 0600. There were plenty of porta-potties, and there was even a trough for the men, which moved really quickly. Baggage check was easy and conveniently located near the start.

Course: The first six miles went through some very pretty residential areas. Miles 7 and 8 were on the west side of the river and were a little industrial for my taste. Miles 9-11 went through more of the downtown/entertainment areas. The first 11 miles were mildly rolling hills. The one thing that I did not really like was that around mile 11, the marathoners split from the half-marathoners. But then we rejoined them around mile 12. This was rather annoying both because I could not see the marathoners that I was racing and I was also briefly worried that I was on the wrong course. Miles 11-20 were gradually uphill (and slightly into the wind) along the river. Then you turn around and come back downhill along the river. You get two free beers (although it's a Michelob) and some pizza and oranges. Overall, a decent course that does not really stand out as great, and seems to do a good job of showcasing the city.

Water and porta-john stops: water stops were about every two miles and had ample water and Gatorade. Porta-johns were about every three miles or so.

Hotel and transportation: I stayed at the Doubletree. The location was great but the price was not the cheapest in Tulsa. The room was nice and they had a great shuttle service that went to the pasta dinner.

Support: The volunteers did a great job and I thought the Tulsa Police did a great job with traffic control.

Where are the toilets? My buddy and I kept uttering this phrase throughout the entire race. Race directors need to address this issue. Water stations were not much better. Some were too close together; others were too far apart. I expected better from the wonderful people of Tulsa, but left town totally unfulfilled. Almost forgot: what's up with the turquoise packet shirts? Weren't the finisher's shirts supposed to be long-sleeved?

My thanks to the race director for the new course. I was one last year who said I probably wouldn't come back if they left those hills at the end. I thought the course through downtown was a nice change. It is the out-and-back along the river that I thought was a little boring. The stretch through the nice neighborhoods at the beginning was scenic and the hills are manageable at that part of the race. This race is getting better each year.

Crowd support was good, volunteers great, pasta dinner great. A really neat race atmosphere.

Just one nit: last year there were plenty of porta-potties lined up along the course. This year there were hardly any, it seemed, and a line of runners 10-deep was waiting in line.

Most pre-race comments mentioned the switching of the course this year with gently rolling hills for the first 4-6 miles. The hills are not gentle and they last until 11 miles. You need to do hill work for this marathon or you will feel it later in the race. Probably one of the best, high-quality medals I have got. Nice organization pre- and post-race; it gave the race the feel of a big-city marathon.