I don't understand many of the negative comments about this race. Clearly, you can't please everyone. I found this to be an excellent race. The expo was good/smooth. The organization on race morning was great. The course was a little challenging, but I think it's wonderful. It was scenic enough to be interesting and the crowd support was surprisingly great! How can anyone complain about going through the church street marketplace twice. That was really cool! And kudos to the race staff for pulling off such a great race this year despite the flooding and above normal heat. My only 2 suggestions for improvement might be more port a potties on course, and perhaps another aid station or two so that there's one every mile after the first 2-3 miles. But really, overall, i was very impressed and enjoyed the race a bunch

This was my 20th marathon. The trip to VT was an ordeal - weather re-routing, no suitcases (means buying new running gear the day before?!), etc. The Vermont City Marathon made up for it all! The crowds were awesome - even though (thanks to poorly fitting clothes/bra/shoes) - I ended up way at the back. Who'd have thought so many folks would be out along the whole course to cheer on runners? Amazing - really sets the race apart, not to mention Burlington. I thought the course was nice with the exception of the out-and-back during the first 8 miles. Pretty, but a long way to be watching front-runners. (Yep, some hills, but that' s running!) The start and finish were well organized. They had food for all (unlike so many that have nada available if you don't finish in 3:30), announced every finisher's name, etc. A GREAT RUN. Do it!

I really enjoyed this race, and my non-running spectator wife did also. It has all the ingredients of a big-city marathon: pre-race email updates, large and generous expo, pacers, huge post-race party (with massages). The course was near-perfect: it took in the city, waterfront, neighborhoods, and looped through downtown several times so friends and family could cheer on. As usual, the volunteers were awesome, but the spectators here were really great. Lots of families and kids out, offering both sustenance and encouragement. The race organizers also did a great job of adjusting to pesky weather conditions, including re-routing the lakeside route where it was flooded. Lots of free food at the finish, including plentiful Ben and Jerry's!

My only complaints were minor: narrow chute between finish line and reunion area that became bottlenecked. Also, too many relay runners who created some difficult running traffic for us full-marathoners. Should the relay teams be more limited in the future?

All in all, one of my favorite marathons. Nice going, beautiful Burlington!

I want to extend my gratitude and appreciation to the race organizers for pulling off a terrific race under very tough (for VT) weather conditions. With temps near 80 and humidity in the 90's, race conditions were difficult given our cool spring training conditions. The race organizers did a great job before the race with outreach to runners, during the race with extra aid stations, having up-to-the-minute condition alerts at each aid station, and spreading extra medical staff throughout the course. Kudos to the hearty spectators that offered hoses, water, and snacks throughout the course too. And topping off the difficult weather conditions, race organizers and the City of Burlington had to deal with record flooding of Lake Champlain which borders several miles of the course. The course was in great shape. In my humble opinion, all the organizers did a superb job of adapting to very difficult conditions. Thank you!

This was my 14th marathon. I've never seen such great crowd support. They whole dang town came out. Lakeside Neighborhood sticks out in my mind. Everyone came outside and gave out drinks, fruit and anything else you wanted. They cheered, played drums, and would spray you with water if you wanted. Great job Lakeside!!!

The course was pretty good. The big hill around mile 16 is not for the light hearted. I made it all the way up but my spirit was a little shot afterwards. I kind of liked the fact that you come back through the starting line three times. That's nice for the families to see their runners over and over. On the negative side, the course narrowed too much in some places making it dangerous. We also had to run through mud at times.

The organization was pretty good. We had plenty of water but I was a little surprised the first couple of water stations were pretty spaced out. Medic Stations were plentiful and I saw helpers on bikes a lot. One the negative side, there were nowhere near enough port-o-potties on the course and I didn't even have to go. This is the first race I've seen where people just started going on the side of the road. They had no choice! The first toilets I saw was at mile 6 and of course the line was 10 people long.

The expo was well put together. One of better ones for a medium sized race. I stayed at the Sheraton. There were good and bad things about it. They have shuttles to and from the airport and the race so you don't have to get a rental. They said breakfast was at 6:30 which isn't bad for a race starting at 8 am but then the morning of the race they said breakfast wasn't until 7 am. They let you buy bagels and other breakfast stuff from the souvenir shop. I would stay there again but will make other breakfast arrangements.

Overall I would recommend this marathon mostly for its crowd support.

As usual I am posting the first review from site 21 at North Beach Campground. After more than a year of mostly trail ultras I returned to Vermont with my wife for her first marathon. I think the weather was the worst in the years I've been running this with rain, 100% humidity and high temperatures. The organization however was brilliant with plenty aid stations, medical support and of course enthusiastic volunteers.
My time was the slowest in history due to weather, lack of specific training, pacing my wife and carrying supplies. She however had the time of her life, finished strong despite what I think was inadequate training and I hope she will want to return next year with a time goal.
Overall a great experience. Strongly recommend!

This was my destination marathon for 2010. Good expo before the race. I attended a few of the seminars - one on race nutrition and one by Gary Cohen - which I felt were very worthwhile.

Beautiful setting for the race and the weather (2010) was fine. I did not think the course itself was tough, until it became a real struggle for me over the last five miles, which resulted in my disapointing time. That may have been more me than the course, however. The local crowd support was AWESOME, especially the pull up Battery Street. I enjoy running through downtown streets and this race offered that as well as more open spaces. Love the area and the setting.

Race photography was very limited so make sure your "support crew" has a camera if you want a photo. Great presentation of splits, comparisons, and overall results after the race was over. Solid shirt.

This was my 8th marathon and I picked it because I have family in Vermont. The race was not nearly as scenic as they say; you only see the lake on a few short occasions and the mountains a few times too - otherwise you are running 24+ miles through neighborhoods. You could have been anywhere. It was hillier than anticipated too, even though the course profile did show some hills. On the plus side, the spectators were great, and the small race made it easy to get to and leave from. I was hoping to qualify for Boston but did not - just a bad day, partly due to the hills and the heat. If you want a race just to "do," this could be it, as the fans were great and it was a good course for people to watch you. If you are looking for a PR or Boston qualifier, go elsewhere.

This was my first time running this marathon; after running every year for the past 5 years in the Marine Corps Marathon (30,000+ runners), I figured this would seem small. It didn't. The course from the starting area through the narrow streets and bike paths to the finish area is simply not big enough to handle the number of runners there. It was frustrating at times and downright dangerous at others, as relay runners weaved in and out, cutting off tired marathoners. The course has some beautiful spots and some bad ones: the waste water treatment facility at mile 21 was a particularly nice touch. The few spectators who there were along much of the course were quite enthusiastic, and many had their own informal water and food stations set up - which was good, because there were not enough formal ones, and several were so small that in the crush of bodies it was hard to get anything.

Overall, it was fun but disappointing, and I will probably not run it again.

This was my 33rd marathon and 1st in Vermont. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. All aspects of the race were well-organized. The drummers at mile 15 were awesome. The spectators were friendly and very encouraging. Except for the the hill at mile 15, the course was relatively flat. The cold beer at the finish was a nice touch.