This race was a fisaco from the beginning. Packet pickup was a mess - not organized at all. Race morning was even worse; the course was poorly marked. I ended up doing 18 miles instead of a half marathon. Some of the water stations were out of water. As for as post-race snacks, there were none. Downtown was a ghost town. Maybe next year will be better. I will not be back. I think their main focus was to attempt to generate money for the City of Beaumont. It needs all the help it can get. But not from me on any more runs.

Thanks to the original poster for confirming that there was indeed something wrong with the short figure-8 loop that the marathoners had to complete on their second lap. We missed the 2.5 mile loop as well, not because there weren't any marshals but because there were barricade horses blocking the loop. I question whether any of the marathoners actually completed a full marathon. They ran out of water at the third aid station 30 minutes into the race and they had pulled up several of the aid stations before you started the second lap of the marathon. Packet pickup was equally bad, with no organization whatsoever.

Poor, poor job on this one. The course was confusing and poorly marked; and many competitors inadvertently cut the course or ran extra. I love the volunteers, but they should have been instructed better. They were filling cups as they went along instead of having the cups filled long before the runners arrived. Speaking of water, as hot as it was, many water stops ran out of water. Race-day instructions should have made it clear that if you parked in certain parking lots, you would be prevented from leaving before most of the marathon competitors finished. I signed up for the full but I was so disgusted with the race that I stepped off of the course prior to reaching the timing mat for the start of the second lap.

We arrived the night before and stayed at the MCM. Packet pickup was confusing at first. After a couple of hours they seemed to get a system going. The next morning, weather was warm/muggy. The stations were pretty much at every mile. All of the volunteers were great, with the exception of the last station before the finish. When I came through the first loop, one of the volunteers was saying, "Ashley's finished with the half - let's go party!" When I came through the last loop on my way to finish, they were gone. The only thing left were masses of empty cups on the grass, a couple of banana boxes, and canisters of PowerAde.

On the second lap I was asking the volunteers what mile it was. I got so much misinformation I quit trying to argue with them. Mile markers would have been great.

Once I finished, I was able to grab a bottle of water. Jason's Deli had some great food. Pasta salad, and PB&J sandwiches. When I got to the beer line, I was lucky to get a foamy beer. The kegs were floated. We waited around for the results for an hour but no one ever posted them. Since we had to be out of the hotel at 1:30, we left. I really feel for the guys out there taking longer than I did.

These people need to learn a lot about running a marathon. The course was silly. Running a 2.5-mile loop TWICE? Running past the starting line 4 times? A lot of people missed the 2.5-mile loops the second time because no marshal was there to tell us where to go, so we all - 20 of us at least - had GREAT times.

Oh, and when I ran by (mid-3-hour range) the last 7 aid stations had no water. Not smart. Give them a few years; maybe they will get a clue.

Since it was the first, I'm willing to cut some slack, but there were a few shockingly bad aspects to this race. First, running out of water for miles at a time in 100% humidity is, to say the least, dangerous. Second, the course was far too complicated. They messed up somewhere along the way, and when we got to the end and crossed the finish line, they said we had to do another two miles. Thinking you've finished a marathon only to find out that you have another two miles is HORRIBLE. They didn't figure out their problem until after several people finished, so the first few people only ran 24 miles. I ran with two people who had run 27 and 35 marathons, respectively, and they both said it was the worst one they've ever run. I think they need to rename it and start over. Serious marathoners won't do the Gusher again, so if they want it to be a serious marathon, start over and rebrand. Call it "The Swamp" and own the fact that it's going to be humid. People can then have bragging rights that they ran it, sort of like the "Hottest Half" in Dallas.