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!

This is the inaugural edition of this race, so I list it by positives and negatives, knowing that you do cut a little slack with a marathon's first time.

Negatives:
Arriving at approximately 8:15 AM and with it drizzling outside, runners made their way into both of the 2 J+W buildings only to be kicked out by the most arrogant and rude security officer on the campus. He found me and 30 others waiting on the 2nd floor and he was angry and curt, yelling at us; I was glad he wasn't armed! We all moved to the other building only to be kicked out of there as well by the same Dirty Harry security officer. With that in addition to the drizzle, people weren't making it to the start line early enough. Retrospectively, it did get us to the start, but people sure were upset with his attitude - I mean it wasnt like we were unruly students! :)
- Race start of 9:00 AM means 9:00 AM not 9:16AM! I made sure I was all set, arriving there in time and getting my potty breaks in order for the timely start. One thing I could see holding up the start was the line of runners still waiting to use the porta-johns situated in the front of the starting line (suggestion: next year put the potties at the back of the starting line to make it much easier). Also, it looked like a few buses were very late arriving. Might I suggest announcing a cutoff on the shuttle times (8:15AM?) to make everyone committed to getting to shuttle stops earlier?
- As a back-of-the-pack marathoner (10+ minute pace), I did not get water on 2 of the first few stops, since they ran out of it. Being a 48 degree day there was no excuse to run out of water. People were looking to run into a convenience store to buy their own, as they were not sure what was going to be available down the course. The good thing is that after those 2 instances, they had plenty of water and Gatorade for the rest of the race.
- Traffic management was fair except in the last few miles, where I had to defend myself against a couple of cars wanting to move me over. That was where there were no police or volunteers to steer them around the course. In the final mile, cars were following me on the brick road - not a way to feel secure over the last mile.
- Again for us at the back of the pack, they ran out of medals at the finish! I don't know how many same-day registrations you get for a marathon, but I saw the list and it appeared to be 50+; that is almost 10% of the 595 finishers. It should never have happened.

Positives
- For me, the course layout was great! There were lots of rolling hills to break up the monotony. It is New England, so expect some hills; it makes it fun! There was also enough scenery to make it interesting.
- Every single one of the volunteers were wonderful! On a drizzly, damp day you don't have a lot of crowd support, so the volunteers helped along the way. Almost every kid with a flag directing traffic gave me some words of encouragement. To all of you, thank you! Even when I met up with some unruly drivers trying to get through the course in spite of us runners, a couple of volunteers were angrier with the driver than I was (but in good humour).
- Weather (after the first 5-10 minutes of heavy rain at the start): The weather was absolutely perfect for running a marathon - 48 degrees and overcast, with a variable wind!
- It was a good race setup running with the half-marathon group for the first eight miles. This gave me some company for the first third of the race and when we spilt up, I could start concentrating on my race with a smaller crowd.
- I liked the bike path part of the race. There was just enough alone time for me to get through the first of what seemed multiple walls.

Overall, it was a good show of a first marathon for these sponsors, and if they can change a few logistics (and give that security officer the day off next time), this marathon has potential.

I ran the half marathon, and the race itself was a major disappointment. The race could not control the weather, but other aspects were poorly planned. I was rudely kicked out of a building at Johnson and Wales, and sent outside in the rain where there were only 15 portable toilets for far too many runners. Some of the water stops did not have any water, and there were not enough water stops to make up for that. There were several intersections that needed better traffic control - a car taking a left-hand turn across the course is far too dangerous. The course itself provided a good way to see the city, but did it have to include two strip clubs? In short, I won't be back. It's a shame that a city such as Providence, which has come so far, does not have a first-class running event.

This was my 15th marathon and I've done some very large (5 Boston's) and some small. Overall, it was a nice race, and the fans I came across were very supportive and helpful. I do have one complaint: if Johnson and Wales wanted to sponsor, they should have been prepared for the weather and allowed access to the buildings. I arrived early and was abruptly thrown out of a building. (The security guard was not only abrupt, but downright rude - even going into the women's room to tell runners to "get out.") Instead we had to stand in the rain for 45 minutes until the race started. I suggest that if they sponsor next year, they be prepared to be more welcoming. That experience just left a bad impression of Johnson and Wales University.

For an inaugural race, this was a very good race. The organizers obviously could not do anything about the rain or the humidity that followed.

Some clear positives:
*Contact from the race directors was frequent via email. Good website.
*Pickup on Saturday ran smoothly
*Spectators weren't that numerous, but I have never depended on them and those that came out were enthusiastic
*I knew most of the course, which was very relaxing
*Plenty of water stops
*Some very nice stretches and a great finish downtown

A few suggestions:
*Starting late was not cool, especially because I had told friends to expect me at certain times along the course.
*Was there any food at the finish line? I finished under 4 hours and didn't see any.
*The section in East Providence was really, really long and not that scenic. This could definitely be improved.
*The medal was cool. I think it would be even cooler if every year, the organizers picked a different image (i.e., Federal Hill, Brown, etc.) so that runners could "collect them all."

I would run this race again, and I think it has the potential to be a very strong marathon for Rhode Island.