For ANYONE coming from the airport, skip the rental car and take Marta. I am from Chicago and have no way to train on the magnitude of hills this course provides. You must be mindful of pace, do your long runs and especially tempo work. The course is NOT boring and in part that is thanks to the hills. Great spacing and frequency of aid stations. The hot water and food bag at the end are disappointing. I will run this again, as Atlanta is so easy to get to. Next year the race is on St. Patrick's Day, I wonder if the parade will be happening during the race or will alter the course?

This was the hilliest race I have ever run. Every time I thought, surely these hills have to be finished soon we would turn the corner and there would be yet another hill. Running to the finish line uphill was killer!! Hills aside, the entire race/expo/registration process was very organized and well done. I had a lot of fun at the expo. Some of the water/gatorade stations got overwhelmed backing runners up but nothing too bad and every volunteer I met was extremely helpful and friendly. Not a ton of spectators but the ones who came out were amazing! The finish line area was awesome too; plenty of food, support, and things to do. Plus my hotel was right across the street; you can't beat that! I would recommend this race for sure.

3rd time running the Georgia Marathon and the best one yet! Very well organized, good maps and directions for race start, great support at the finish. There was plenty of water and sports drink on the course for the hot day. Instead of heat sheets at the end, they handed out sweat towels. Hats off to Publix and the Georgia Marathon!!

With Publix as the title sponsor I expected better finish line food. They offered a little canvas bag with mini cookies, M&Ms, pretzels, a banana and a granola bar. Come on, I ran a tiny little marathon in Mississippi and they did better, just give me pizza, a bagel and banana and I would be happy.

That being said with the exception of the food this was a great race that I would do again. The course is hilly but the city did a great job entertaining the runners along the course. Especially through Decauter, I loved the signs. The water stops we were well manned and plentiful. I would also like to praise the 4:10 Pace Group Leaders. thanks for getting me to a 25 minute PR. You guys rock!

This was my first FULL marathon- I ran it with my sister. It's a challenging course- lots of people complain about the hills and how it ends on a three mile uphill. Do people not check out the elevation chart??? I knew what I was getting myself into, and you know what I did?? I trained on hills! And I had a wonderful experience!! Great course support, loved the 'hydration stations', beautiful, interesting course, great volunteers..perfect first marathon!! Run it!!!

I have now completed all 6 of the Georgia Marathons and Publix has certainly improved the race. It was a lovely but warm day and the race went well. It is a charming up and down urban course through university campus, upscale neighborhoods and overall a very enjoyable run. The last mile is in an old industrial area, but at 25 mile who cares?

The start had corrals to separate runners, but everyone started right behind the other. It made for an extremely crowded first couple of miles. A start wave would be nice. The volunteers did a great job on the course and were super friendly. There were pockets of crowds to cheer us on. There was a record high of 84 the day of the race, so it was hot. All the hydration stations had luke warm water and gatorade. They were well stocked, but something cold would have been nice. Mile 16.5 to 18 are brutal and uphill. It was a killer, especially with the heat. At the finish line is my only complaint, they did not have cold water or gatorade. Just a warm bottle of water, but they did have a cold chocolate milk, which I did enjoy. Did not see any issues with food as which was the case last year. They had pre-packed bags of food which was nice because there was no previous year worries about lack of food.

I had a hard time but I love a good challenge! I wish the last bit was not all uphill though!

Georgia 03.20.11 - A great challenge for a flat course runner with 18 miles of hills and 6 miles of near flat terrain. Half marathoners started at the same time but split at mile 6. Plenty of room in the streets to handle the crowds. If you're into crowd support, don't be! I must have been delusional to think Atlanta was flat in all my business travel. The last hill ended around mile 25. The finish was the best. Within 20 feet of the medal was the photo area and the post-race food and two blocks to the hotel. Perfectly organized non-major marathon with volunteers exemplifying the best Southern Hospitality.

After experiencing the 2007 inaugural Georgia Marathon (running out of water on the course was a big negative!), I swore I would never be back. Over the next few years, I kept hearing that it had improved tremendously. The reduced entry fee "registration blitz" convinced me to give it another try.

The start location has changed and less congested and more convenient. Also, the course itself has been somewhat modified and is a significant improvement - still hilly but more scenic. The course begins on wide streets and was not over-crowded; there is plenty of room to run.

The finish line has much room for improvement. I finished the marathon in the top 10%; yet, when I got to the finish, most of the food was picked over and gone. I saw halfers hoarding fistfuls of food. It would be nice if there were a separate refreshment table for runners in the full who really need it more. Many races hand out a pre-packaged bag of food items items to each runner. This approach would ensure the marathoners have the support they need (and paid for) at the finish. This is a challenging course, but filled with great scenery and friendly spectators. It just needs some logistical tweaking.