Overall I had a good race experience. Getting to the start early was the key. Several people in my group didn't get to the start line until the gun had gone off and they arrived at the shuttle location at 6 a.m. The course was good until the marathon split away and became a little boring. The worst part of the race was the finish. There was a fairly steep hill at the end of the race. I was disappointed with a cotton t-shirt for registration and almost all of the apparel was sold out early Saturday morning at the expo. I would run this race again if the race officials are a little more detailed.

This was a great race. It was very well organized and the support from the volunteers and the spectators was amazing. I have also run RnR San Diego, and the bands were much better in San Antonio. One bad part: do not stay at the Drury Inn and Suites; late checkout is at noon, with no exceptions.

Once again marathon organizers went after the all mighty dollar and failed to consider the results of their actions. If you want walkers to sign up for your races, have separate events for walkers only. I waited 2 hours for bus transportation to the start. I arrived at the start after the race had started. I finished the race and waited 30 minutes to get by bag. Then I had to wait another hour for a bus. If you are going to allow this many people in an event, you need more organization and more space. I'm never running a Rock and Roll event again.

I will start on a positive note. I actually liked the course and there were quite a few enthusiastic spectators in certain areas. The bands on the course were good and the cheer squads did a great job. There was plenty of water and Cytomax, which is not my favorite but I can live with that. There were also plenty of porta-pots at the start line. The medal was also very nice.

Now for the bad news. In my opinion the race should have been limited to about half of what they allowed to enter. It was obvious from the very beginning that the organizers were not prepared for the number of runners that were there. Everywhere we went we had to stand in long lines. I have run in large races and never had to stand in lines like these. The packet pickup and expo were the worst I have ever attended. We had to wait for 15 minutes in line just to enter the expo. Once we did get in it was utter chaos. Lines were going in 2 different directions and very long. I wanted to get some information about parking but there was about a 35-minute wait at the information booth. On top of that, the race shirt was slightly better than what you would get at a local 5K race. Finisher shirts were nice, but at a cost of nearly $50.00. The shuttles to the start line were OK if you got there early enough although I heard some horror stories about what happened later in the morning. Once they dropped us off we still had to walk over 1/2 mile to the start village and another 1/2 mile to the corrals. There were not any nice hotels near the start so that was never an option. The start was a joke. I was in corral 17 out of 32. It was exactly 30 minutes after the start of the race before we were allowed to start. After the race I opted not to have a post-race picture because the lines were horrendous. The lines to pick up gear were even worse. But the absolute worst part was trying to catch the shuttle back to the AT&T Center. Again there were extremely long lines and absolutely no organization.

In my opinion this could have been a very nice race if the organizers would limit the number of participants. There were too many things that took away from the race experience and there wasn't much to enhance it. I will not run this marathon again if the numbers aren't cut in half.

Very well run race - the best I've seen in 4 marathons. Great spectators, great bands, and the weather was just about perfect! It seemed to me that the course was a little bit long though....

The spectators were awesome. The course had a nice mixture of park and urban running. Great marathon.

Only complaint: Bag pickup was slow and clustered because they did it by last name in a confined area.

Too bad the Rock and Roll people couldn't treat runners better when they have such a beautiful course and perfect weather. Course support was good but everything before was on the cheap. Cheap cotton t-shirts were the only thing you got for your registration fee. I was told by one Elite Racing official that "people complain if we give them a tech shirt." ...give me a break! I've never met one marathon runner who would prefer another 5K-type cotton t-shirt instead of a high-quality tech shirt. No names printed on bibs... even though I registered a year ago. No massages at the finish; they say that it's not good for you to get a massage so soon. How thoughtful of them... not! This can't be a world-class marathon if they're going to act like a small-town 5K. Doesn't make me want to sign-up for another Rock and Roll Marathon anytime soon. They should take a visit to Akron to see how a world-class marathon treats their runners, with a high quality tech shirt for everyone and free running shoes to all marathon finishers.

The Good:
Efficient Organization of the expo, the corrals, the finish and the water stops (including ice at every water stop)
Enthusiastic volunteers
Interesting, flat course throughout San Antonio
Fantastic weather

The Not-So-Good:
There apparently were some glitches in the shuttle system from the parking to the start

The course was flat as advertised and displayed some quite enjoyable scenery, which, along with the great crowds (especially once those who ran the full marathon got back in the city), made for an enjoyable running experience. Getting to the race was another story. The race staff and website pushed using the AT&T Center for parking like crazy, and it seemed to be a good choice since it was free and had continuous shuttles. However, getting into the parking lot and waiting for a bus was an absolute nightmare - we left our hotel for the 10 minute drive to the parking lot at 6 a.m. and did not arrive to the start line until 7:45. I was late starting the race and had to join another corral. If they had had more than just one free (or at least more moderately priced) option for getting to and from the start/finish lines, the experience overall would have been enjoyable. However, this race was just too big for me; I prefer smaller races that have less of a corporate feel.