Pros:
(1) This course is absolutely beautiful and you run through the BEST parts of Atlanta. It was awesome to pass Ebenezer Baptist Church (where MLK held services) in mile 3. The homes in Druid Hills were beautiful and the view of downtown from the top of Freedom Parkway was fabulous. If you want to run in a race and really get a feel for the city... run this one.

(2) I thought the mile markers where large and easy to see... I didn't miss one.

(3) Fan support was good, but a little smaller than I expected for such a big city. The guy offering beer cracked me up.

(4) I don't know if the computer chip and e-mail updates are standard for all big marathons, but I liked that and so did my family and friends. Your family can sign up to get text messages of your time as soon as you hit the 10K, half marathon, and 20 mile markers. That wasn't available in the smaller marathon I ran previously.

Neutral:
(1) This course is hilly. Not necessarily steep hills... but long inclines and lots of them. I do NOT recommend this for a first-time marathoner. I ran my first marathon on a flat course in 3 hours, 32 minutes. I trained harder for this one and did it in 3 hours, 40 minutes. Not a pro or con... just a fact... this one is hilly (including at the end).

2. I found the "non-denominational" prayer at the beginning a little odd, mainly because it didn't seem non-denominational based on some of the things that were said. I also got the "this race is so hard you're going to need to ask God for help" vibe, which literally made me laugh out loud. Not really a confidence builder 2 minutes before the race.

Cons:
(1) One reason so many people are writing about the PowerAde is because the announcer right before the race specifically reminded us to not just drink water at the aid stations... but to drink plenty of PowerAde. Kind of a challenge when there is no PowerAde. This was pretty annoying... enough for me to knock organization down to a 3 and almost a 2. As a University of Florida alumnus, I have to comment that perhaps PowerAde itself is the problem. Everyone knows that GATORade is the better drink anyway.

(2) Avoiding the walkers, particularly from mile 20 and on, was a challenge. Running lanes just seemed too narrow at some points, particularly in the Highlands. I didn't consider this a major problem, but I did notice it.

(3) Some of the water stations were too small and they needed a couple more tables per station.

I'll write the organizational problems off to what I'm hoping are first-year kinks (easy for me to say because I didn't pass out from heat exhaustion). I would still recommend this marathon for anyone looking to run a beautiful course in a great city.

Ok, so the PowerAde wasn't there and that was a MAJOR mistake - especially with the heat. If PowerAde had been there, though, the majority of comments would be positive:

1) Nice technical shirt.
2) Great expo - one of the best I have attended.
3) Beautiful, beautiful course.
4) Two Clif Shot stations.
5) Supportive fans.
6) Nice medal.

Some ideas for improvement:
1) Clocks at the mile markers.
2) Separate 1/2 marathon walkers from marathoners after the merge.
3) PowerAde, of course. Also more volunteers at each of the water stations.
4) Have a water station directly after the Clif Shot station.

Overall a great firsty-year marathon! This one is only going to get bigger and better. Put it on your marathon TO DO list.

Decent overall for an inaugural event. It's easy to nitpick everything they did wrong, but I'll start with the positive points:

The Good:
1) Good expo, but late in the afternoon on Saturday the line for the 1/2 marathon pick-up was literally out the door and around the block. At least a 45-minute wait. Ouch. Thankfully there was no wait for marathon pick-up.
2) Surprisingly good crowd support.
3) Nice to see parts of Atlanta I otherwise would never see.

The Bad:
4) Porto-pots were nowhere to be found at the start. Lots of folks relieving themselves on buildings though. After the race I found where a few were hidden - how about giving an overview of the start area in the race packet showing where the amenities are.
5) How about locating the gel stations before the water stations, not after. The directions even say to take them with liquid.
6) Missing water stations. At least one station (around mile 5-6) was missing, even though there was a sign on the course saying it was ahead.

The Ugly:
7) MARTA - lots of folks missed the start because the public transportation was overwhelmed and couldn't handle the number of people. As much as they'll try steering you to MARTA, drive and pay to park. Traffic didn't appear too bad.
8) No PowerAde. Only the stop at Mile 3 had it. Worst part was signage for all of the stations on the course even said "PowerAde," but none was there, not even at the finish. PowerAde is made by Coca-Cola, who is headquartered in Atlanta. You'd think the race organizers would be able to get their hands on some PowerAde.
9) Tough hills. If you are not used to hills, either start training for them or find another marathon to run. This flat-lander from Florida will not be returning to the mountains of Atlanta.

I had heard that this was a very hard course so I was expecting the worst. Harder than I even expected. The first half was hilly but enjoyable. The second half was GRUELING! I have never seen so many long, gradual and continuous hills. It was really ridiculous. I will say it was a beautiful course, but whoever planned this course must have been driving in a car! It was unusually warm too. All the race organizers had to do was pull up the weather and prepare for it. Absolutely NO PowerAde along the course and two of the stops had NO WATER either. NO excuse. Too bad the organizers could not have come up with a better "running" course and followed up on organization. Atlanta is a great place to run!

Pre-Race:

- The expo was great, though they ran out of "goodie" bags and certain size t-shirts around 4 p.m. on Saturday.

During the RACE:
- The fans were fantastic; they were so energized and pumped up the runners. Thank you fans!
- Needed PowerAde or sports drinks. It was advertised on the race map; where did it all go?

Post-RACE:
- They needed to have food with SUGAR! Green bananas, water, white bagels, small mini-muffins, pretzels, and yogurt tubes were not the best options. People need sugar! Having the VIP tents all in the open with the wonderful "real food" with Moe's burritos was like a darn tease.

- I would probably do the race again because the course was great, and the fans were awesome. I might recruit a friend to be at the finish line with real food.

Water (the Holy Grail) of a marathon was hard to come by. I couldn't even get water until the 8-mile mark due to missing or inadequate water stations.

The expo was a disaster. I had to wait in line for an hour to get my number. I also spent 30 minutes looking for a parking spot in downtown Atlanta and still had to pay $5 for it. Why can't they just mail numbers to participants who really don't care about an expo. Do they think I'm going to buy something because they forced me to go to the expo?

Pre-race instructions were non-existent. Some people said they got e-mails but I got nada except my reciept from Active.com.

MARTA (the Atlanta subway) was unprepared for the number of people counting on it to get to the race. Many people didn't arrive until 20 minutes after the start due to MARTA issues. If you do this race in the future, drive yourself or take a taxi. Don't get stuck in the MARTA trap.

The course is challenging with most of the hills coming between 12 and 26 miles. You do get to see the best parts of Atlanta but I'd prefer the hills to come early.

Tip to ING: hire the Atlanta Track Club to run your race - they know how to put on a race and you don't!

What was great about the event: The Mizuno t-shirts, the great spectators rooting for you even if you are dragging in after 4 hours, the other participants, and of course THE VOLUNTEERS who showed up early and stayed late and handled all the important stuff that just isn't glamorous!

The trip to Atlanta (from Connecticut) for this marathon was my Christmas present this year. It was worth the trip for a good, tough, honest race, but I probably won't be back again. This is a REAL marathon... not smoothed out and straightened up to be the fastest one out there. The hills are constant, if never longer than 400 yards or so. Very few level spots. The scenery OK... it wasn't "spectacular," as they proclaim in the race promo material. It's a suburban race, mostly, with a mile or two of urban running thrown in.

What I really liked was the uphill finish. You gain 200 feet over the last three miles, just when it hurts the most. I passed a bunch of hurting folks at that point.

The expo was one of the best I've ever seen. Tons of great displays and as someone mentioned already... food samples everywhere. There was a long, long line for packet pick-up for the 1/2 marathoners, though.

I have only two real complaints about the race, and they've been touched on before. First, there was only one PowerAde-stocked aid station. There were signs at most stops that said, "PowerAde station ahead" - but there was only water. It was a little rough in the heat. The aid station at mile six did not exist (they were supposed to be every other mile). So early in the race there was a four-mile gap with no support.

The second problem I had was with the last seven miles of the marathon course being shared with the half-marathoners. I'm not a road hog. I like to run with other folks. But for the last seven miles I was forced to run most of the course on the wrong side of the cones. Why did you have only half the road closed? The running lane was shoulder-to-shoulder with people walking 10-15 minute miles, while the early marathoners are trying to navigate around them going almost three times faster. And the volunteers (following instructions of course) are screaming at me to get back inside the cones?

You MUST close the entire road next year once the 1/2 and the full marathons come together after the course leaves Freedom Parkway.

Another funny thing... once on Peachtree for the last two miles or so, there was a separate lane for the 1/2 and for the full. The 1/2's were on the right and the full's on the left. Then about 200 yards from the finish, it became apparent that the 1/2 marathon finish chute was on the left, and the full marathon chute on the right! So you had to cross through a sea of people to get to the correct side.

All these issues seem like they should be easy to remedy. I'd recommend this race if you want a challenging course to really sink your teeth into. More likely than not, next year will feature a finely polished product without the first-timer slip-ups.

Some things are out of the control of the organizers, like the record high temperatures, the humidity and the off the charts pollen count but& how do you screw up aid stations? On a day that has been forecast for weeks to be in the 80's, how can the organizers not make the safety of the runners job #1? We needed fluids and electrolytes, not dehydration! Mile 2 (water), mile 4 (water), mile 6 (a sign but NOTHING to drink), mile 8 or was it almost 9 (water). The most important fluid replenishing is at the beginning of the race. Get behind and you never catch up! Unconscionable!

The elevation map and course description did not match the course and the scale did not give an accurate picture of what the runners would encounter. I quote the race course guide for spectators "Mile 25 - It is in this mile, that runners will get their first look at the finish line and the large Coca-Cola sign. From here, the race is downhill." Downhill? You have to be joking!

The website needs a lot of work on organization. For instance, try to find the full marathon course map. Now try to find the elevation map.

Unlike the Alpharetta Marathon three weeks ago, this one is worth salvaging. Rework the course and fix the aid stations and go from there.

Oh, Mayor Franklin, when the world comes to the streets of Atlanta - fix the potholes first!

I am from Ohio, and had grown up in the Atlanta area. I still have family living there so I took the opportunity to use this marathon as a way to visit my friends and family. The course of the marathon is beautiful. The port-o-potties were plentiful; however I have to say where it went wrong was with the lack of enough water stations and virtually no PowerAde. Coming from the north the heat and lack of fluids really distracted from what could have been a great race. I think all those port-o-pots weren't needed since there was nothing in us to come out. Also, handing out used cups is just disgusting! I will do it again next year in hopes that this will all be corrected because it has the potential to be a great race, but beware of HILLS!!!

This is a marathon that is destined for great things. The course is beautiful and challenging, with good neighborhood crowd support. The lack of PowerAde on the course is inexcusable - especially in the home of Coca-Cola - but that's bound to be corrected. Very good expo, good start and finish areas, and a cool-looking medal and technical shirt.