The good:
Marathon day weather was nice;
Wave start system (even better than Houston);
Friendly volunteers;
Lots of water and Cytomax stations;
Very nice city;
Fans.

The bad:
Overall organization;
Shuttle system;
No free finisher/technical shirts;
Finishing area too crowd - hard to get in and out;
Hill at the finish - would love to have last few miles generally flat or downhill instead of uphill, such as in Austin or Houston;
Not as much music as expected.

I'd rank this as the lowest of the big marathons I've done. Shuttles to the start were a pain, bag drop and pick-up areas were a nightmare, and the finish area was congested. It's an R'n'R event; what happened to all of the promised entertainment? Essentially zero fan/entertainment support from miles 14 to 20. If you were not downtown, then forget about it. Lastly, I hope Cytomax paid a bundle as a sponsor because they deserve an award for providing the nastiest-tasting beverage ever. What happened to readily available, good, ol' Gatorade?

This was an amazing race. I love the Elite Racing organization. The people were friendly and supportive no matter where you are from. I only wish my feet didn't blister up so badly or I would have qualified for Boston. This race was fast and pretty flat and it was very pretty. Again, great fan support and an awesome water staff.

My only problem with the race was the post-race shuttle service, but I understand that there was a lot of people and it was handled as best as possible.

Good:
When there were fans along the course they were awesome; the volunteers were extraordinary; the food at the end wonderful; the medical tent helpful; pre-race information was excellent. Felt like everything was going to go off without a hitch.

Bad:
For a Rock 'n' Roll Marathon, we sure seemed to hit a lot of bands on their breaks - what's up with that?! No technical T-shirt - are you kidding me?

Ugly:
The hill at mile 26 is just plain mean.

My wife and I had a great experience. The turnout was huge, so we got to the parking at the AT&T Center early. We're glad we did, as we didn't experience the traffic jam; our review might not be so positive if we had. The start area was great, with free bagels, water and sports drink (Disney charged for any refreshments at the start area). The corral system was a good idea. I didn't notice the turns as being a problem. The course was a big improvement over the SA course in '05. Support on the course was great. The later stages of the course saw the fans thin out, but I never felt like they were completely absent - very supportive throughout. The snacks at the finish were well stocked. The expo was nice and getting my packet was a breeze - a lot faster than other marathons I've been too. I agree that the t-shirt was pretty cheap; I guess that is supposed to be an incentive for us to buy more stuff. Overall, a good event and I plan to be back.

Things got off to a pretty poor start at the expo. It was way too crowded. We neded up leaving because you couldn't maneuver the tight walkways. Then came the shuttle to the race. There has to be a better way than what they did. It took us over an hour to get 2 miles. The race itself was good for the first half until we split from the half-marathoners. The second half was desolate and sparsely populated with spectators. All in all, they need to get their act together. I also had an issue with my timing chip, which did not record my time. I emailed the administrators to ask how I can receive credit for finishing and the email has not been answered.

Visiting from the UK to run this marathon, I found the organization to be faultless, support fantastic (better than anything here other than the London Marathon), and the bands and course great - not crowded (unlike London). I got a 30-minute PR and qualified for Boston to top it all off. I have run marathons in New Zealand and Canada, among others, and this was definitely the better organized and had the best expo. I thought that the t-shirt was eye-catching, and it fits - here we usually get a third-rate shirt, often in just one size! With regard to the shuttle bus issue mentioned by others, we arrived at the bus stop about 5:40 and had no problems. I always try to arrive at a race start at least an hour prior to gun time, and merely planned ahead to allow for the number of other participants - after all, if you have put the training in, you don't want to spoil the race by being late. My husband ran the half-marathon and he too found the experience a huge improvement on UK races. San Antonio itself was fantastic, a jewel in Texas' crown. We're now looking for another US marathon to match this.

Miles 16.5 - 20 were lonely, with no crowds, and no bands. No finisher's shirt. There's a hill after 26 miles. Parking was a mess. Too many people at the start. Will not be back. Dallas is better. Run the Rock!

UP
-One more of the Rock 'n' Roll
-Nice course
-Wave start (good idea)
-Lots of music and spectators
-Lots of water and Cytomax
-San Antonio finally has a real marathon

DOWN
-Shuttle
-T-shirt (cheap)
-Finishing in a parking lot (BAD idea)
-Crowded expo

It was my first marathon and I was so excited about it that I couldn't sleep. But it was for good, so my wife (half marathon) and I could catch the shuttle from downtown to the start line by 6 a.m. without any problem. The start line corral system works good, the people cheering were great, the cheerleaders and bands were amazing, the course was scenic but with some turns in the beginning, and the final part through the missions was fine but with few people on the sides. My only two complaints were that there were no technical shirts at the end (I have seen them in 10K runs - why not in a marathon?), and two uphills in the last KM (each one about 300 meters after 42KM or 26 miles). They caused me a lot of stress. But the finish line was okay, and I enjoyed my first marathon a lot.