Shuttles from downtown sucked. If you are going to have 30,000 runners, make sure you have a good plan to get them to the start. Our group waited for an hour and 15 minutes for a bus, and we missed the start. How about a technical shirt!? Runners want them. Lastly, they need toilet paper in the porta-johns. Good stuff: Water stations, volunteers, expo, finish line food and San Antonio in general.

Met my expectations for a first-run marathon. Volunteers were great, with plenty of water/Cytomax to go around. I'm a fan of Cytomax, so I was glad that this was offered. The first half of the marathon was pretty scenic - Alamo, downtown, beautiful tree-lined stately home neighborhood. Lots of crowd support in the first half. Pretty desolate through much of the second half, though. Needed more bands during the second half. Nasty incline at the end of the race. Thoroughly enjoyed my visit to this historic city. My advice is to book a hotel room way in advance - I had a major problem getting a decent hotel room booked (and paid through the nose), even though I reserved the room in early June.

Even with this being the inaugural RNR event for San Antonio, they did an excellent job hosting, and it was a pleasure to have spent the week in the city. The only downside (and it didn't apply in my case because we stayed roughly 1 mile from the finish line and our hotel gave us a complimentary shuttle ride to the "start village") were the lines of people waiting for the exiting shuttles. I'm sure they'll learn from their faults and I would highly recommend it to anyone as a must-do.

Ok, maybe it's because this is my first marathon, but I've run plenty of other races and this one was rather well organized. Let's see... 30,000 people expected and some people seem to think they can arrive at the bus shuttle area 1 hour before the planned race start (7:30 a.m.).

I was at the shuttle area at 5:45. Got on the shuttle at 5:50 and was at the starting area by 6:25. I can't vouch for shuttle lines back since I ran a very slow 6-hour run. When I got done there were no lines.
If you expect to run a race with 30K+ people, then plan to need to arrive early, bring toilet paper (as I do) just in case port-a-potties run out, and don't check gear (try garbage bags or goodwill clothes you can chuck).

As for scenery, hey, the back end of the course along the river was pretty nice (go compare to Phoenix's industrial nothingness and write back). Course support, especially water, Cytomax, sponges, medical aid, etc. were well supplied.

No, this isn't New York City - so don't expect spectators along nearly every mile (although there were plenty of people cheering everyone along).

I ran the HALF marathon and found the course to be nice, but I wished more of it could have been run through the pretty downtown area. The shuttle service was a disaster. Our hotel was roughly a mile and a half from the finish, so we walked back after the race; and after reading prior comments, I'm glad we did that! It was so disappointing to miss the official start (I moved from corral 4 to corral 6 to be with friends, but we didn't make it to the start line until corral 10, so the corral thing didn't even matter in the end). It was really tough to pass the slower runners/walkers as the streets were so crowded. It didn't thin out until we split from the marathon group. I felt the course support was decent and I really enjoyed the bands. This was my first Rock 'n' Roll event and I was looking forward to that aspect. The post-race concert didn't disappoint either. As far as the City of San Antonio, they were very kind, friendly and hospitable, and I am still amazed at how they expedited the post-race clean-up. We couldn't tell there had been 25,000+ cups, GU wraps etc., all over the street. Great job!

This year we were blessed by unusually cool weather, and the new course was a bit hillier than the previous one, which is O.K.; but I was disappointed by the way this marathon was managed compared to previous years.
The good:
- The corral system was a plus.
- The water stations were great and well manned.
- Clocks at every mile were helpful.
- The bands along the course kept us going.

The bad:
- The venue was not big enough for 30,000 runners and their friends/relatives; 20,000 should be the maximum allowed.
- The shuttle system was poorly planned, and this caused delays. Many got to the start line late because of this. We had to stay in line one hour to ride the shuttle back out.
- No technical shirts were given out, you had to buy it if you wanted one, just ridiculous! even small marathons give you these.
- The bag drop-off/pick-up was poorly manned; more trucks and space was needed to avoid the long lines.
- The expo was fairly small for an event this big.
- Marathoners and half-marathoners started out together; they should be separated.

I`m glad I registered well in advance, paying less than most for an event that had that many flaws. It sure was well below my expectations. If Elite Racing wants to make this one a quality marathon, they need to come to my home town and check out ours, because they have a long way to go.

The course was easy, and the weather was good. Porta-potties could have used toilet tissue. You need to get yourself an early start to the buses to make sure you aren't late. I was at the parking lot of the finish by 5 a.m. I left on the bus by 6 a.m. Allow plenty of time at the start.

The first R&R at San Antonio was worth the trip.

First of all, San Antonio is really cool city to visit, especially if you stay downtown. The river-walk area and visiting the Alamo made the trip worthwhile. Also, if you stay downtown, the expo, post-race area, and night concert at the Alamodome were within walking distance so that is not bad at all. No need to rent a car here if you stay downtown; SATrans has a shuttle that will take you to any downtown hotel for $32 round trip from the airport.

As for the course, SO MANY TURNS! WOW! They were primarily in the 1st half. To my liking, it was kind of boring overall, though it was cool to run by the Alamo. Great weather - a cold start, but perfect during the race. The pre-race shuttle was a disaster, as someone else mentioned. If you got to your shuttle pickup after 6 a.m., at least at my spot on St. Marys/Houston you were doomed to start the race LATE! Good thing this is chip timed. But if you are in a fast corral, you lose time and expend energy dodging and weaving into your own pace. Post-race, who ever heard of a hill at the last 0.2-mile mark?! That sucked. And offering only one beer per entrant post-race sucks too.

I've run all of the Elite racing marathons and half-marathons at San Jose and VB; they do a great job, but something was left to be desired with this first SA event. Hope it steadily improves.

If you go to SA, definitely eat some Mexican food; there are some great places in that town for that cuisine.

The BAD:
The Cult has the headliner at a Rock 'n Roll event? Give me a break - they could have booked a better band.
Shuttle Bus to start: got in line at 6:20, but by 7 a.m., it was apparent that there were not enough shuttles, so I jogged to the start about 2-3 miles. Nothing like an extra few miles when you have a marathon to run! I did arrive as the national anthem began.
The expo was too congested. Grabbed my packet and attempted to visit vendor booths to no avail. People squeezed in tight aisles.
The "goody bag": The cotton T-shirt was way too cheap for the price of registration. Nothing much else in the bag unless you frequent Vallero service stations and get 32-ounce fountain drinks. There were plenty of coupons for that.
The Mission Trail - while beautiful - was somewhat desolate/solitary in the later miles.
The HILL at the finish.... You round the corner at mile 26 and then charge up a short but STEEP hill!

The GOOD:
The fans/spectators were very encouraging and supportive. The bands on course were great and they do help keep you motivated.
The course up to the marathon/half split is nice, offering a good "tour" of the downtown area.

OVERALL:
Disappointing for a "Rock n Roll" event... but I haven't ruled out a return trip. San Antonio is a great city to visit.

I loved the Rock 'n Roll Marathon. Despite the great cold of the day, the running was good, with great support from the spectators and generally with a good organization. The course is very fast and in the future I hope to get my Boston qualifier right here in San Antonio. I love this city so... I will be here next year!