I live in Pittsburgh and love this race. This course is as flat as you can get in Pittsburgh. Glad the course went past the stadiums this year.

Pittsburgh is a very scenic city, and the race organizers did a masterful job taking the course through many interesting neighborhoods and past many of the attractions while still avoiding any really punishing hills (which Pittsburgh has in spades). There's only one significant hill on the course, and that's heading into Oakland between miles 12 and 13. I don't know why the elevation profile shows it being so long; it's no more than a half-mile long and not terribly steep. There's also a wonderful, long, downhill piece in miles 23 and 24, which came at a perfect time for me. Traffic on the course was never a problem; all roads on the course were closed to cars. Crowd support on the course was great, with lots of enthusiastic people and music the whole way. Nice, beefy finisher medal and a good Nike long-sleeve tech shirt, plus a $10 gift card from Dick's Sporting Goods. I never saw the promised GU and PowerBar stops along the second half of the course, but maybe I had the blinders on and just missed them. Fluid stops were plentiful and well stocked and staffed. Extra credit to the race for starting on time too. Pre-race parking seemed like it may have been a bit tricky, I had my driver just drop me off half of a mile from the start once we ran into sticky traffic. Recommended race.

The Course:
I was a little torn on what exactly to rate the course. There were two significant portions of the race that went through very visually un-interesting parts of the city (West Carson Street and between Penn Avenue and Highland Park). I live here and know that there would have been a few more favorable places to go. However, I know it was routed that way for a reason. Pittsburgh is much hillier than people think, and the organization did an incredible job of finding a route that kept the hills to a minimum. Taking these routes was a necessity to do that. I did enjoy the course overall, though. Even living here, it still took me by surprise how rolling much of it was, considering it was said to be pretty flat (save for the hill up into Oakland).

The Organization:
Everything went as smoothly as possible throughout the race and I had a wonderful time. The only issue I had was with the parking, but not because there wasn't enough of it (on the contrary, there was plenty to go around for racers, volunteers and spectators). Race started at 7:30. I got downtown at about 6:15 and sat in traffic for 45 minutes to go about four blocks. We were getting a little nervous because of how close to the starting time it was getting. If we didn't get a spot at the garage we were going to, there would have been no time to go to another one with how slowly the traffic was moving. We lucked out and got one of the last dozen spots in that particular garage. Not sure what everyone who missed out did after that. There are so many garages downtown within walking distance of the start, but everyone was trying to go to the same two or three. Maybe assigning particular garages to runners at check-in would relieve a little congestion and make sure garages wouldn't have to turn people away with little time to find an alternative. Pittsburgh isn't friendly to walking to downtown, so unless you're staying in a hotel there, driving is necessary.

Spectators:
They were amazing and plentiful, even in the driving rain that persisted for much of the day.

Miscellaneous:
Race packet is nice, and the medal is a well-designed, heavy (seriously, it's like an anchor) chunk of hardware

This was my first Pittsburgh Marathon, and they did a great job! I enjoyed the crowds - what a great experience.

Overall this was a very positive experience. Perhaps three-fourths of the runners were in the half marathon and they did not split off until the 10.5-mile mark. Race organizers should study the possibility of having the half marathoners start at the 13.1-mile mark and finish with the marathoners. This would reduce the bottleneck and perhaps improve times (although I do not know how feasible it is from a technology/timekeeping perspective). Bib pick-up was a little hectic (but aren't they all?). Great bands along the way - they always seemed to appear just when I needed a boost. The fans. Wow. The fans were beyond great, especially given that it was raining for most of the race. Kudos to the course designers for snaking us through all parts of the city. Also, a big thumbs up to the city/police/race organizers for traffic control - seemed wildly logical. I'll be back....

The organization for this race was great. They did a fantastic job with the logistics, considering the growth. My only suggestion would be to consider a wave start as the first five or six miles were very crowded and I was unable to hold a consistent pace due to the high volume of people. I got to the starting line 30 minutes before the race but was unable to get to the proper starting corral, so I had to start way in the back.

The course is well planned with some small rolling hills, one steep one and a nice downhill finish. There are more than enough fluid stations.
Crowd support was great, considering the weather.

My only complaint is with the hotel. The Doubletree in Pittsburgh had the most inhospitable staff. I would not recommend this hotel to anyone. The staff were downright nasty - no late check out option, no coffee, bad service all the way around... I could go on. Run the Pittsburgh Marathon - avoid the Doubletree.

This was my third marathon. I ran the half in Pittsburgh last year and noticed many improvements this year, such as a finish line that was not under the convention center, a family reunion area, and trash cans (there was nowhere to throw trash in 2009 and there were banana peels everywhere). This year the organizers created a "VIP area" where people could get choice seating for a price, which I didn't like because of commercialism. There were a lot of runners! I was at mile 8 and the field was still fairly dense. The medal is very nice this year (the half marathon medal was pathetic last year). I enjoyed this marathon even though the weather presented me with a challenge. Living within 40 miles of Pittsburgh, I wanted to do this marathon and I am happy I did.

Very nice course though the city. Everything was well organized, and the spectators were great - in spite of the rain. Would definitely recommend it and would do it again.

Fantastic marathon! Fans were great, and the course was perfect! I did my personal best and qualified for Boston! Excellent job. I will be back next year.

I want to thank all of the cheering fans and volunteers. Without you I may not have made it through... especially the woman on the last stretch; she started to talk to me when I was at my worst. She was running on the side along with me and her words of encouragement meant everything to me. I thanked her for talking to me and she responded, "Well, I tried to talk to my husband and he told me to get away from him, haha." I wish I knew her name; I would send a special "thank you" note to her!!