This was my first San Antonio and my first Rock & Roll Marathon. I was delighted by the new start's downtown location, as I experienced none of the hassles from prior years. The bands were good and the spectators were excellent. The reason I have given them only 4 stars is that the full marathon has many long miles on the sparsely populated area surrounding the municipal airport.

My first R&R Marathon was disappointing. No 4-hour pace team, they canceled the pasta dinner at the last minute, and there was a poor layout for after-events, below average expo, average medal and basic lanyard. They also gave the same shirt for half and full runners, and how about that train that stopped runners for up to 4 minutes? Wasn't awful but I expected better for the money. I won't be doing R&R in the future.

I don't know... maybe it's just me, but this event is fine for a half. The second half was "let's see how we can find another 13.1 miles." There was ZERO corral control. It was as if you could get into any corral you want... I have never seen so many turns in a course. Crazy. The fans were fine and the water stops were too. Nice support by the city, as they do a great job.

This was my first race, and my first marathon. I was scared, but it went great. Well marked course, challenging, fun.

I made a mad dash down to sign up for the race... getting there in the last hour. No lines; everything was pretty empty. Sweet! Paid for close-in parking. Life was easy. Too easy it seems. I got no results. Life sucks sometimes.

With the first good weather for this race, I can't say if I like this route any better. I miss all of the historical stuff, but was so happy that it was cool and cloudy by the airport; that section is a whoopin' beyond a whoopin'! Sunday it was just another easy part of the course. Amazing what 15 degrees cooler and no sun will do to change your attitude about a course.

I still hate Rock 'n' Roll events. At least I now have a San Antonio that wasn't a miserable experience. I love the town. San Antonio is fun place to go for a race; I just wish that the weather would be nice so that the race did not destroy you. This weekend I got my wish. I had a great stay in San Antonio, and great weather. It doesn't get any better than that!

Probably the worst organization for an R'n'R event that I have ever seen... they do a great job, but this was not a very good showcase for them. They had a few muffs.

If this was your first R'n'R event, sorry. They are a better organization that they were Sunday. I hate their races, but they make a great event for a first-time runner who needs a lot of support and distraction. If you are looking for a first race, these are great events; otherwise, you decide what you like and what you dislike about a race and read the comments about them.

I've run this race twice. Even though it doesn't start and end in the same location, it's still close, unlike some I've run where you finish 20 miles or so from the start. The scenery is nice. There is definitely more support from the crowds on the first half, but I didn't mind so much because the second half you run out and around the missions which is peaceful, and I wouldn't want enormous amounts of people there. The event is large, the expo is crowded and the race is crowded until the split. I've done large and medium races, and I'm starting not to like the large ones as much though. San Antonio is beautiful though, and the weather in November is nice, so give it a shot.

This race has so much potential, but R'n'R promoters don't have a clue. Cytomax is for bikers - not runners. The start and finish are in different locations. This race takes you out to nowhere and back. The crowd was great; but the course and bands should be replaced. I won't ever do this race again.

I finished the full in 2008, and then the half in 2009. While I have definitely been on prettier courses, I've been on uglier too. I keep coming back to this race, because it is still awesome!!! If you want to avoid the shuttle bus problems, join TNT. I walked out of my hotel and on to a bus; 15 minutes later, I got off of the bus and then chilled out at the start line until the first 13 corrals had gone across the start line. The walk to the start line isn't so bad... try walking to the start line at Disney! The bands could be better and it could be more slow runner/walker friendly, but it's still a great race!

This was my first RnR Marathon, and after just completing New Orleans for my second, I had to post my comments here as well as for RnR New Orleans.
I am still unimpressed, and given to high entrance fee, quite disappointed. The main three issues I have are the same as for New Orleans:

1. The lack of necessary information! Starting with the website being EXTREMELY difficult to navigate and find useful information on (at times it was even contradictory - spectators: don't come to the start, there is nowhere to park... followed by listing the start as an optimal spectator point), the start area being terribly difficult to navigate, the placement of the gear check almost a half-mile from the lead corrals and having no indication where the gear check is upon arrival at the start area. Even the course map included in the race packet was missing GU locations on the course.

2. The fact that the Competitor website is even created as a subsidiary of Active's site, forcing us to create yet another login to register. I couldn't register through my Active or ActiveAdvantage membership so I had to pay an exorbitant service charge of $8! (?) For what? This added to the level of confusion both during registration and in trying to decipher the details leading up to the race. Additionally, if you are going to charge me a service charge, at least you can MAIL me my confirmation card instead of expecting me to find a printer, print it off (at my expense), and then not allow a relative or friend to pick up my packet... especially since you closed the packet pick-up so early the night before the race.

3. It is apparent that RnR focuses on halfmarathons, and that is fine, but if you really are only going to support a half marathon, keep it just a half marathon. Having the back portion of the course run through and around a park are fine, but promote, emphasize, and encourage fans to move to places to spectate where they are needed: the back portion of a marathon. Sticking a band out in the middle of nowhere every mile is minimal motivation at best. This brings us to the obvious point that unless you are running something like Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, where the last 9 miles are gradually entering more populated and spectated areas, a loop course is a much better idea than a point-to-point course. No one likes to start in the middle of the dilapidated, slum part of town (San Antonio), run through more of the slum part of town (both San Antonio and New Orleans), only to have the back portion of the full marathon be run in the middle of nowhere (both SA and NO).

Bottom Line: Stick with half marathons or use the ridiculous entrance fees to hire a director who understands how to run a world-class marathon.

Sorry for being blunt, but I have quite a lot of experience running marathons and know the difference between a marathon-focused race and a half marathon-focused race with a marathon thrown in seemingly as an afterthought to increase the number of participants.

Given the fact that there were about 30,000-plus runners, I felt it was very well organized. I have been part of organizing large races before and I know how much time and energy goes into preparation. I think this is one of the best and most fun events. With that many participants, there are always going to be a few minor problems. But I was unaware of any major problems. Best of luck, and keep up the good work. The most fun is getting together with friends and family both before and afer the race.