This was only my second time running a first-year marathon and I think it cured me from ever doing it again. So many things to address:

The worst problem was the minimal amount of bathrooms/porta johns for the amount of runners (lines a mile long!), and the lack of shelter for runners waiting to start in the chilly, pouring rain. My next biggest disappointment was the lack of crowd support- virtually none. Then again, out of the the 4000 runners I was told by the race director had registered, only 500-600 ran the full marathon, so you were literally out there on your own. This was especially hard on me mentally as I found the course to be the most challenging (hills, hills and more hills!) of all my eight previous marathons. By mile 24 (the steepest hill on the course), I was in tears.

Another problem I encountered was the lack of water at a few of the water stops. I wear a fuel belt but only supply it with Accelerade, expecting the water stops to keep me supplied with water. At mile 23 I desperately needed water to take a gel, was told they had none and was offered grape Gatorade- horrible choice of flavors! It was sickeningly sweet and made me feel nauseous.

To add insult to injury, after finally crossing the finish line of this grueling race (in the worst condition I've ever finished), I had no idea where my car was, and no one 9(not even the policemen) could give me clear directions back to the State House parking lot where we met the shuttle buses that morning. I roamed around the city for almost an hour, and I'd guess that it was at least a mile away from the finish area. Very poor planning! If that's the only parking arrangements the race directors could make, they should have at least offered a shuttle service back to the designated lots. I would never recommend this marathon to anyone, and will certainly not go back myself.

I have completed 11 marathons, and this was the worst.

1. Shuttle bus stop is not clear at finish line. I asked the staff and police department but nobody knew the information.

2. Shuttle bus did not take my family to the finish line after the race started.

3. The start line was problematic, and there were too few toilets. There was a long line, even though the starting time was delayed. After starting, a computer chip guy shouted that we should start right away, so many people lost the chance to use the bathroom.

4. Most water stop did not provide sports drink.

5. At the finish line, they did not provide chairs. It was difficult to take off a computer chip.

6. The course (full marathon) was tough, especially after 19 miles. There were several hills.

The participation fee was high, but the organization was worst. I'll never do the race again unless they make some changes.

Not a good marathon for first-time marathoners, especially if you're going to take 5-plus hours. A lonely road. Having everyone wait 25-30 minutes out in the pouring rain at the start was poor planning. Way too many hills. Up and down the entire time. No water left at water stops until mile 9!!! You had to search for a finisher's medal when you crossed the finish line; they were on the bandstand a distance from the finish line.

This was my 47th marathon. The expo was extremely limited. Lots of very polite student volunteers who were not very informed about the race. Technical, short-sleeve t-shirt, but ugly logo from Cox. No parking at the start. No information about when the buses bringing us to the start were going to stop. The only info was that they were starting to shuttle folks over the 3-mile distance at 7 a.m. for the 9 a.m. start. I took the 7 a.m. shuttle and looked for a place to wait in the rain at the Johnson and Wales campus. The security guards at Johnson and Wales were unaware that a few thousand runners were coming. They kicked us out into the rain. Not enough port-o-johns at the start. No information on the local news or in the local newspapers about road closures, and hence road rage from drivers backed up at the intersections (and not enough police to help with traffic). Maybe start the race earlier to avoid this in the future. The course was extremely hilly throughout, but pretty in spots. I stayed at the Biltmore Hotel, which was close to the finish line and very nice to allow for late check out. My biggest complaint: really ugly, backwards, cheap medal with the Cox logo on the front and a poorly done imprint of the Rhode Island statehouse on the back. Providence is a pretty city in a great state that has a lot to offer; please fix this race for next year.

The best part of the weekend was the pasta dinner the night before the race. The culinary school at the University did a great job with the food, and the opportunity to visit with Boston legends Bill Rodgers and Geoff Smith was amazing.

For a first time marathon, I thought the race went fairly smoothly. For out-of-towners, having the Expo at a location that you can't walk to from the downtown hotels was a nuisance - I had to rent a car to get my race packet. I'm hesitant to call it an Expo, because there really wasn't anything to see or do at the Expo - I had to ask somebody where to find a running store so I could purchase a few items for the race. There were no size small technical shirts, so I ended up with a cotton shirt that was meant for the 5-K participants.

The course was somewhat challenging - many more long stretches of uphill than I had expected. The race packet didn't include a course profile, so I was caught off- guard with how hilly the course was. There was a real shortage of volunteers at the water stations - more often than not, I needed to grab my own water off a table as there weren't people to hand them to me. Many of the roads were not closed, and we were expected to run behind cones on the shoulder of the road. There were police officers letting traffic cut through between runners, which was dangerous - I almost got hit by a car that hesitated when the police officer told him to go. There was definitely a shortage of port-a-potties both at the start and along the course. The medal at the finish was pretty small and cheesy - same medal whether you ran the half or the full. Oh, and I got a Soy Joy bar and a banana at the finish as I never saw any other food, which was very disappointing after running 26 miles!

Despite my complaints, these are all easy-to-fix type of problems. The course itself is quite pretty, particularly the portion run on a bike trail along some body of water. The course was well marked, the size of the race meant you always had some company, and the temperature was perfect.

I really enjoyed the race and think that the race organizers did a pretty good job putting it on. For my own experience, things went really well, but I definitely heard some grumbles from people a bit farther back than I was.

Course: 5 Stars - Great route. Roads could use some repairs, but I enjoyed the hill placement.

Organization: 3 Stars - Good, but a lot of room for improvement.

Spectators: 3 Stars - Spectators were awesome, but there weren't very many. And it seemed like everybody that was in town who wasn't a runner or a spectator had a stick up their rear end.

This was my 3rd marathon this year, and I was a little disappointed in the "Providence" (if it can be called that) Marathon. The course itself was challenging. which was great, but the route left a lot to be desired. It was confusing running on the right side, then the left side, then having to cut traffic off to cross MAJOR intersections.

Mile 4 ran out of water after I passed because the volunteers, by no fault of their own, could not keep up with filling the cups on the table, so all the runners were grabbing the small bottles and taking off. From what I could tell when I went through, there were only about 5 cases in total.

Although the course roads were open, there was no way for people to get through (as I said before) because we had to keep criss-crossing the road. My spectator couldn't get to me again from mile 3 until mile 22, and the volunteers (traffic control) were not able to give her information on their current location or how to get where she needed to go.

The best part was the last mile or so which was the only time we were in Downton Providence. I'm not sure about the post-race refreshments etc, since I didn't stick around.

One last thing: The medical tents did not have vasoline,which was a key item to have.

For a first time race, all in all, I think it was okay. There are just some things to consider for next year.

I have been to many races, and this was the worst managed race I have ever been to in my life!

I am really trying to remain objective here; I understand that this was a first time event, but it was such a mess all around that I just can't help but share my feelings about how bad it was. It was actually so bad that I don't even know where to begin.

I'll start with the bathroom situation: There were over 2,000 runners and their family members at the start (maybe 2,500 people total) and only 15 portable toilets! 15! That's over 160 people per toilet. At an average time of 2 minutes per person, that's almost a 6 hour wait per toilet. I am sure there were toilets inside all those college buildings; too bad the security guards would not allow us in the buildings to use them.

Oh yes, and it was raining (on and off), and there were no shelters for us. I would have waited in my car, but they wouldn't let us park near the start. I had to drive about 20 minutes away and take a bus to the start.

When the race finally started, it was well over 10 minutes late!

Then there is the "fast, flat, and scenic waterfront" race course (at least that's what the website said when I registered). The website said the course was scenic! Where was the scenery? Perhaps it was referring to the scary ghetto neighborhoods we ran through? Fast and flat? The course was NOT flat! Some of those (SEVERAL LARGE) long, steep hills had a gradient of more than 15 degrees. Flat? That is a downright lie! Oh and waterfront? I didn't see much of that either.

Do I even need to remind anyone about the drink situation? There were two water stations that were out of water and/or Gatorade. There are less than 1,000 marathoners and you run out of drinks? What is this, Chicago all over again? There was also nothing to be had at the finish either!

Let's talk about traffic control: There was none! I almost got hit by several cars in some of the intersections because there was NO ONE providing traffic control at some of the major road intersections.

When I finally finished this Godawful event, I had to chase down a volunteer and demand a medal; they were not putting them around our necks as we finished. I also had no help taking off my chip. I just ran 26 miles and could barely stand up or move, and I had to deal with the chip. Every marathon I have ever been to has had people that take care of that for you.

There were supposed to be awards somewhere, but none of the people working at the race knew where that was, so I finally said, "enough is enough" and left.

If you are looking for a race to run next May, I would highly recommend that you find another race besides this one. The people who put on this race have no clue how to run an event!

The race was well organized, but did not have enough Gatorade drink stations. I expected energy drinks to be present every 2 or 3 miles after the 8-mile mark, but I found only 4 stops (mile 6.5, 8.5, 19.5 and 23.5). The post-race food was great. I hope next year will get better. A good lesson to be learned.

It's nobody's fault that it rained. It is, however, someone's fault that there weren't enough buses to transport runners to the starting line on time. It is someone's fault that due to the afore-mentioned delay, runners waited in the rain for a 10 minute delayed start. It is someone's fault that the cops kicked runners out of buildings so that runners had nowhere dry to wait. I checked the weather two weeks in advance; why couldn't the race director? Also, the line to the port-o-johns was as long as the marathon itself.

The high points of the course were along a bike path and the last mile in downton Providence. Traffic control was lacking, as in some spots it consisted of a pre-teen child holding an orange flag and wishing runners good luck from the sidewalk.

It was nice to have the half-marathoners diverged by mile 8 so marathoners don't get sucked out too fast.
The spectators were few on such a dreary day but the one's out were terrific. A group with yellow "Cat" shirts were especially encouraging and boisterous.

By far the best part of this race was the Gatorade rainbow. Almost every marathon, half marathon, and ultra I have ever run has had lemon-lime Gatorade; I am so sick of lemon-lime Gatorade. This race had a plethora of Gatorade options including purple, red, orange, and I think I even saw blue once. Rock out!