I finally ran this race. I am from the area. Nice race, though the course was tough. However, it is the south; therefore, expect hills. Cannot compare this race to flat Chicago at all.

Nor can you compare this race to the larger marathons regarding spectators. This is a small marathon, so spectator support is limited. But I never felt alone. The spectators who were out were GREAT. And the volunteers - police, race course monitors, aid stations, and water stop people were GREAT.

This was a NICE marathon and I am glad I ran it.

I recommend making the water stops at the beginning - when the half and full participants are together - to be larger. Those were tough to get through and I missed getting water at the first one. The rest of the stops after the half turned around were fine.

And why does this race have HEED as the sports drink? I suggest getting Gatorade or PowerAde. Where can one find HEED? So that makes it hard to train with the stuff. And it is not the greatest-tasting drink either.

And the post-race food was awful. Unless all of the half folks ate it before I got there. There were cut-up cinnamon type bun things and some pizza, and I think boxes of Wheaties cereal. That was it. So PLEASE IMPROVE on the post-race food or leave some so the full racers can get some.

Post-race massage was great - no wait.

Start/finish area were well put together. Start wasn't that thrilling: no gun, no horn, and no music. We need something to get us going and pumped.

But for a locally-run race, it was well put together. I'd say the course was the best part.

All of the reviews that I have read about this race have talked about hills and more hills and how hard the race was. All of the extra hill work that I did must have prepared me for all the "hills" because I didn't think it was too bad. The hardest point on the race for me was coming out of Umstead Park and heading up the long, gradual hill at mile 19. There never seemed to be an end in sight, but once you got there it was all familiar territory since the last 6 miles were basically part of the beginning of the race.

The weather was a bit brisk but not horrible. I was expecting to head south for a warm marathon and ended up with a race in the lower 30's. Other than the chill it was a beautiful day with the sun poking through the clouds for most of the race.

The course had a little bit of everything, running through rural countryside as well as downtown Raleigh. The first half had very little crowd support and the second half (from 10-23) had no crowd support. You will definitely face some mental battles through this race in which you will have to get through on your own. The finish was nice; from mile 23-26.2, you caught up with some of the half marathon walkers, who gladly stepped aside and cheered as you went by.

All in all, I would recommend running this race to anyone interested. This is one for me to cross off my list. If the opportunity rises, I would consider doing this race again.

Going into the race, I expected a lot of hills. Now that I have finished the race, I got what I expected. This course is very hilly. I have run Boston several times, and I truly believe this course is MUCH tougher but very similar to Boston. The first half of the course goes through downtown Raleigh and surprisingly was quite a bit hillier than I wanted or expected. The second half mainly goes through Umstead State Park (very scenic and nice to run in). I did not think the park or the second half were very hilly compared to the first half. Even though the temperatures where barely in the 40's throughout the race and the course was challenging, I still ended up setting a PR. Other than poor fan support throughout much of the race, I felt that this marathon was put on very nicely. I would recommend it for people who are looking for a challenging "small-town" race.

It was a chilly start. A good number of people out there. The spectators and volunteers were great. Water stations were placed just as described, except inside Umstead Park, which is about 3.5 miles of the course. The Hammer Nutrition sports drink was mixed weak, but the Hammer gels (raspberry) were great. I trained for hills, but my legs were still crying - first marathon blues. After it warmed up a bit, I was able to enjoy the beautiful day, the scenes, and the inspirational people. And yes, finish the race quickly so you can get some free pizza.

The little backpack-type bags at the packet pickup were cool. The music at Hillsborough was awesome. "Let's get it started in here..." got me going again. Coming from out of state, the sponsor hotel was great and even extended the race discount an extra day for me. I stuck with the water, since I trained with G2. The police did a good job with traffic control. I saw some incidents when they were pressured.

This was my first marathon. Nothing to compare it too, but I had a great time!

The volunteers were wonderful. They had water every 2 miles, the bag check at the beginning was effortless and everyone was very nice and helpful.

The spectators were great. Thanks to the girl at Mile 22 with the sign saying, "Just Keep Running." I think that mantra got me through to the finish line.

The course is not easy. Vertically challenging. I ran the first half at 7:30 minute/mile pace and the 2nd half at 8:30 minute/mile pace, which I think was largely due to the hills.

I thought the organization was great. My only complaint was the queue to park pre-race. There are several ways into the campus. Perhaps give directions to several different parking lots to cut down on the traffic.

Good food/drinks at the end. Perhaps some music at the end would be fun?!

Was not expecting to be as impressed as I was!

First, I loved the course! Gentle, rolling hills... nothing bad at all. Not a spectacular course, but really there were no ugly sections. Very pretty! Well-marked, good mile markers, etc.

Second, everything seemed to just happen easily. No traffic congestion at either the expo or race morning.

Nice, convenient parking.

Adequate number of porta-johns (you can never have too many!).

Aid stations - well supplied with fluids and gels.

Excited volunteers everywhere!

Prompt results available.

Only suggestions would be 1) to drop the HEED sports drink and switch to Gatorade or something that tastes okay; and 2) improve the shirt design (and shrink up logos!).

I will do this one again!

Great job by Raleigh Running Outfitters and all of those involved with the City of Oaks Marathon.

ORGANIZATION: As a runner, I always knew exactly what was going on. Timely announcements were made before the start. Every turn was clearly marked and staffed with great volunteers. Every aid station was well manned and treated the exact same way (water first, Heed second). It was nice not having to ask volunteers what was in the cups.

COURSE: Absolutely fantastic. A great mix of urban and scenic. Some challenging climbs, but I would much rather have a pretty course than something flat and boring. The three miles in Umstead were some of my favorites. The half runners missed some of the best parts

POST-RACE AND AWARDS: I love the 2010 medal. The acorn design is fantastic (actually a better design than their race logo). The post-race food was so-so. They had hot pizza and some bagels. Coffee and sodas would be nice. Some other salty options at the finish would be good too.

GENERAL: Overall a very well organized and challenging race. The volunteers were excellent throughout. The start/finish location sets up perfectly for a marathon. If flat and easy is your only goal, this is not your marathon. If you want a well run race with a gem of a race course, come run the Oaks!

I knew this race would be very challenging because of the hills. However, this was much harder than the San Francisco Nike Women's Marathon. The weather was in the 50's with pouring rain, gale force winds, and muddy conditions - especially in Umstead. This is, as someone said, a "humbling" marathon. Although I ran a personal best, it was not my favorite. The first half of the race comprises rolling hills (still challenging, but not like the second half), but after mile 13 it is all uphill until the last 2 miles or so. It is fairly scenic in the first third and last third of the race, but there's not much to see in the middle. The best thing about the race were the FANS!!! To come out in that weather (when you weren't running!) to cheer us on was truly inspiring! If you are looking for a challenge or a training ground before a PB on a flat course, this is great.

I got up early on the Sunday of the race ready to go. Seemingly it wasn't early enough. Traffic heading into the parking area of the marathon start was pretty bad. Make sure you leave really early (or know the backroads from being a life-long resident).

Once at the starting line it was misting/raining and I pretty much knew what was in store. The first part of the race is through downtown and is fairly flat. It tempted me to go out too fast (and I did) but I was pretty amped up because this was my first marathon.

Heading down to the turn-around for halfers, it remains flat. From there on out you better be ready for some serious hills. The torrential downpour throughout those hills made this a very difficult race. Footing was difficult on the gravel/dirt path on Umstead Park but that was only because of the rain.

This was a great race. I'm not the one to ask about the tech shirts, expo, medals, etc. Those sort of things are kinda pointless to me.

Food at the end included pizza, fruit, etc. but I was pretty dazed by the end and definitely didn't feel like anything.

Support along the roads was surprisingly good. I mean, there was some serious rain coming down and people still were loud and energetic. I was proud to be from Raleigh. That's not to say this was New York or any other huge marathon, but if you want you can go there.

This marathon is very well run and I would run it again if I weren't training for another. Give it a shot and hope for better weather!