This was my fourth marathon, my mom's first, and I'm glad none of the negative comments about the race from 2001 deterred me from registering. As someone previously posted, maybe they were more efficient than last year. I thought this was one of the friendliest, best-organized marathons I've done. Yes, there is traffic; that just means you need to plan ahead, as you would with any marathon. I came in with the 3:30 finishers; had no problems dealing with the crowds. My mom came in at seven and a half hours, and said the course support, gel, water, etc. were still going strong. The only thing that threw me for a loop was the course; after all the comments I expected the first 13 miles to be the most strenuous, the second 13 easier. Unfortunately, I found the hilliness of the second half to be a bit of a challenge, after running a strong 19 miles. I didn't meet my time goal, but I still had a good time.

Comments from prior years about logistics at start and finish are true, but they can be avoided. Stay at a hotel near the finish (Oldtown) and you can walk back to your room. My hotel had a shuttle to the start. Course weaves through many parts of town and is sort of interesting, if not that scenic. Crowd and support in 2002 was fantastic throughout the course. This is not a race for the hardcore crowd. Lots of fun though.

This was my second marathon, and after running the L.A. Marathon, I am surprised that I allowed myself to run another urban marathon. To say the least, I did not enjoy the L.A. Marathon scenery, and I was disappointed to see how unattractive portions of my city really are.
But...San Diego isn't your average urban center, and I enjoyed the course immensely. There were stretches with ocean views, a portion through the nice Gaslamp district of downtown and even stretches on the Freeway! Weather was great, ranging from about 60 degrees and overcast to high 60's and sunny towards the end of the race. I will definitely repeat.

This was my first time here. I almost decided not to run this race due to the negative comments I had read on this site about the organization. They must have made a lot of improvements, because I found the organization excellent. In particular, had no problem with the shuttles. Drinks along the course were plentiful. Same with the food/drinks at the finish.

The course was not nearly as flat as some made it sound, but really not bad either. There were, however, several extended stretches of crowned/cambered roads (not just on 163) which was a bit unsettling.

As for the bands and crowd, I don't really care much either way, but no major complaints.

I had read things about the TiTs (or TnTs...), but found them to be no different than other runners. I'm not sure why anyone would have a problem with them.

Weather was good until 10:00, when it started being a bit warm. (But that made for a very pleasant post-race environment.)

The logistic design for the event is very poor. The finish area is a mess. Friends and families were stuck in traffic trying to reach the finish line. It was also hard for runners to get to the starting line.

I ran this race in 2001 and it was my 7th marathon. San Diego is a great place and it is a great vacation spot. Don't expect to see a lot of fine scenery aong the course and most of the course is deserted. It doesn't appear that the city supports the race as well as other big city races. Most of the poeple we ran into didn't know about it. The hype is the biggest thing about this race. The finish is BAD and chaotic. The military volunteers are five stars! If you are looking for a great vacation were you can have a nice run--this is it. Probably not a good cadidate for a PR, too many people.

No complaints till the finish as many have said. Up to that point it is a great race but I will not be there again because of the torture of trying to get out of there at the end. It took me several hours to get back to the parking lot where my car was and then to be able to get out of the lot itself. The bus ride back was very overcrowded and people were getting sick and vomitting on the floor of the bus. When I got back to my vehicle the traffic was at a stand still, felt like screaming more that once.. I hate to be such a whiner but it really really sucked, and I see this year they want $85, well they won't get mine. See you in Buffalo....

This was my first marathon and it was a decent spot. I thought there were not enough bands and the course and the finish line area was poorly picked. Additionally, San Diego has a lot of beautiful places to view and it would have been nice to see more of those. A very good thing however, was that there were no hills (really) and temp. is perfect for a marathon. An okay first marathon.

Ran this course in 1999 and 2001. Great start, great course, horrible finish areas both times. Race organizers have moved the finish area around in failed attempts to improve it - and unless the course is entirely revamped, don't hold your breath for a major improvement at future races. Each year my wife spent over 2 hours stuck in traffic trying to drive less than FIVE miles, only to arrive long after I crossed the finish line. If I run this marathon again, she'll go shopping and meet me back at the hotel.

This was my first marathon. While it was an exciting experience (enough so that I'm training for another), there were a lot of things that I felt misled about. First, the music is way overhyped. I felt the bands were pretty infrequent. When you do come across a band, you hear music for about a minute and then you're gone. It's pretty silent for a lot of the race. Second, it is by no means a flat course, as many of us were led to believe. Fortunately, I'd done a lot of hill training but it was still unexpected and some nasty hills popped up at some tough moments in the race. Third, the traffic is atrocious. My boyfriend was a saint and sat in traffic sometimes for 2 hrs. He missed seeing me cross the finish line. When you DO cross the finish line, there was no 'Congrats' to any of us from any of the volunteers, just pushing to get us through the finish corral. Maybe that's whiny of me, but finishing is to most people an extremely emotional experience and a little pat on the back would have been nice rather than feeling like cattle being herded. Medical and water stops are plentiful and they didn't run out of anything. Many people were out on the course passing out pretzels and additonal food (THANK YOU!) I had a good time but I don't think I'd do this one again.