A good first running of this marathon. Mostly well done, but some areas of improvement are needed, as one should expect with any first-time event.

The Good:
-Expo good for this size marathon
-Most of the course flat and fairly interesting
-Local residents were terrific in their support
-Helpful volunteers
-Nice medal
-Finish area large enough to avoid overcrowding that occurs in many marathons

Some improvement needed:
-More porta-potties at start essential
-Mile markers were not accurate, particularly near the bridge
-Clocks at selected points on the course would be useful
-Slippery surface to run on going from the streets to the high school track at the finish
-Finish area food could have been more varied, such as including cookies, snack bars, etc. Many of us crave sugar at the finish!
-The 3 miles in the woods was beautiful, but the surface needed packing down or other work to minimize the slippery, sandy conditions.

The weather has horrible, but weather happens and no one can be held responsible for the torrential rain and high wind conditions. Just be aware that this can occur.

All in all, I'd rate this as a well done marathon that has the potential to be an outstanding one with a few improvements. I recommend it.

Great first marathon. Good job!! Awesome spectators, and great medals at the finish line! I love my pale blue shirt, too. As a walker at the back of the pack, finding out that I was second in my 65-69 age group was great. The race director said they had closed up the awards program, but that she would mail it to me. Remarkable people - so friendly! Great job, race director and support people. Loved it.

I had not been to the OBX in 20 years and I didn't remember the beauty of the area.. .lots of big trees, a trail through a forest, bay-front roads, the Wright Monument, etc. I have done six marathons so far this year, and this was the BEST. The organization was outstanding; the volunteers were unbelievable to stand out in the rain trying to help; the expo was first-class - even the poster was inspirational. The shuttle to the start was fine, but the shuttle away from the finish needs work. Traffic was awful, and it took about and hour and a half to get back to the hotel area, mostly waiting on the shuttle bus to pick us up since it was delayed in traffic coming over to the finish.

The rain was bad, but I've seen worse.

I will definitely be back next year! Thanks to the organizers and to the community for all their hard work.

I enjoyed the varied course - especially the Nags Heads Woods section. The crowd support was great, especially considering the rain, and all the residents were very friendly. The volunteers at the water station stops did a great job. I wished that they had Gatorade at every stop as I trained for that. The medal at the end is excellent. I look forward to returning.

I had a wonderful time running the marathon. The spectators were spectacular. I have run big-city races and at times it felt like there were more spectators in OBX than some of the big cities. More port-a-johns needed at the start. I got there 35 mins before the start and never made it through the lines. The trails through the woods were unexpected, and I probably would have enjoyed them knowing ahead of time. The bridge wasn't as bad as I had expected which was a nice surprise. One suggestion: make the finish closer to the festival park. I went to watch the awards ceremony and the festival park was almost empty. I think the weather and distance from the finish made a lot of people shy away from the park. I thought the festival park was great and a fun place to relax and have a few beers. This is agreat marathon; I would do it again!

The race and weekend were well organized with the exception of parking and shuttles at the finish. My husband paid for a shuttle pass as a non-runner, but we ended up walking back to the car (in one of the recommended shuttle lots in Manteo) since the lines were long and we couldn't find anything to indicate exactly where the shuttles were going.

My only beef with the course was the part through Nags Head Woods - reading the online description and not being from the area, I didn't realize it would be a sandy, hilly, narrow stretch for what was I think about 3 miles. Just not what I expected.

I can't say enough about all the local support in what was pretty ugly weather. The spectators were great and the volunteers were always smiling and supportive! Even with the minor glitches, the weekend was a wonderful experience.

Overall the weekend was a great time. I brought two other runners and they agreed that the race was nice.

Here are my comments:
Course: Nice and flat to start and plenty of crowd support. Beautiful scenery in the Wright Bros. area, the village at Nags Head and Pirate's Cove (awesome yachts!!). The trail section was a surprise and not a good one, as the pine needle section was too soft (maybe due to rain?) but the hard-packed dirt road was fine. The finish was nice as Manteo is a wonderful little town and the traffic was not hard to negotiate since we had a lane to ourselves. The people in the vehicles cheered and I did not see or hear of problems with traffic. The port-a-potty situation was funny because I got in and out in about 15 minutes but most people seemed to wait until almost start time.

Organization: I felt this was wonderful. We had plenty of water, medical and volunteers everywhere. The mile markers were visible after realizing what they looked like. Though I had a watch on, I would have liked time at the 13- and 20-mile marks. Would have liked some fruit or cereal bar around mile 20.
Only had one instance of a restaurant not being prepared. All the others I visited were wonderful.

Spectators: The Outer Banks people were great. From the mile marker sponsors, the man in the hula outfit, the guy offering beer, and all the shouts of, "Welcome to the Outer Banks" that we heard from the people could not have been nicer.

I will run this again and be better prepared for the trails and weather. The cold rain and wind brought me to some halts and I walked some, but I feel good about my first marathon.

My friend Deb and I are usually the caboose of the crowd and have seen the end of several marathons. The support was great!! The crowds were great!! The weather was wet but manageable. The views were breathtaking even for the cloudy day. I highly recommend this race. We have gone to enough marathons that we are recognizing the other walkers at the end. Glad to make more friends. See you at the next one.

Most scenic and beautiful courses!! AWESOME RACE. Race directors did a great job. I ran a PR. They have a gorgeous custom design award, with a lot of attention to details. GREAT JOB for the first-year race. I would put OBX on the list of MUST-DO marathons!! Not ready for 26.2? Do the 1/2! Thank you!!

Well done event, especially for the first time. Course was interesting - I liked the point-to-point course, and the diversity of scenery and running surfaces, although that diversity made the course more difficult than the description led one to believe. Spectators and volunteers were very friendly and supportive, especially considering the weather. Need more porta-potties at the start and energy drink towards the end. Finish area could have had a bit more "energy." I'm very happy that I decided to run this marathon.