I will start by saying this is my 11th marathon and first HUGE marathon. There were some definite nice things about this marathon BUT overall this marathon is OVER-HYPED in many ways.

The good:
-It is solely for marathoners, and over 20,000 at that, so you will always be running/walking with someone. We finished in slightly under six hours and there were still roughly 1,700 people behind us (a neat feeling to be slow and still have people around).
-The monuments along the course are really great, as there is a lot of history to appreciate and reflect upon.
-The trees are just perfect in terms of changing colors, and we enjoyed the beautiful scenery.
-Tons of photos will be taken of you on the course.
-Some fans are really great, like the 80's rock 'n' roll girls!
-It was inspiring to see so many marathoners dedicating the race to someone who had been injured or killed.
-The finisher page that each runner gets after the race is really great. It provides all your splits and all the photos of you on the course. You can then e-mail your finisher's page to friends and family.
-The finisher's medal and finisher coin are both good, although the patch and shirt were simply okay.

The bad:
The expo had numerous vendors and was enjoyable. What was disappointing was the workers at the expo who were not very helpful (no information was provided on where to go next after we picked up our bib, and the volunteers were generally unenthusiastic and unhelpful - but maybe they were simply tired). I have also received better goody bags from marathons that cost me $35 to enter.

Also, the hotels gouge you on cost and a late checkout will cost you a half-day stay - what a joke.

Note that all of my remaining comments are based on finishing in 5 hours and 55 minutes.

You must get up very early so that you can make it to the parking garage in time to catch a shuttle to the start line. My wife and I woke up at 5 a.m. and arrived at the starting line with two minutes to spare (7:58 a.m.), and we left the hotel at 5:50 a.m. Also, it was a ridiculously long wait after the marathon to get back to the parking garage (I'm guessing 90 minutes).

Wheelchairs were stuck with runners, and because of the vast numbers of runners, the wheelchair participants could not get by. Completely unacceptable, especially since this is the 34th time this marathon has been done.

I have NEVER encountered spectators so unenthusiastic in the 11 slow marathons that I have completed. Several exceptions on the course existed, but overall the spectators were only interested in the person they knew running the race. I cannot count the number of times I told spectators that it looked like they hit the wall. There were people on the course really hurting late in the marathon and people would not cheer them on. I am consistently in the back of the pack helping someone finish a marathon, so I have seen enthusiastic spectators late in a race. What I experienced was absolutely pathetic. Another reviewer said they were a back-of-the-packer and felt like he was an elite runner based on the spectator support; this absolutely SHOCKED me and my wife, as we did not witness similar support.

The volunteers were numerous, primarily because of the number of marines who volunteered or are required to attend. Of course, I interrupted countless marine volunteers with a thank you who were busy having a conversation with each other rather than volunteering. I recall five marine volunteers who were enthusiastic and really uplifted a number of runners. Most simply stood there and did what was needed to be done and the rest would have rather been somewhere else.

After finishing, my wife who did this as her first marathon, wanted so badly to get a massage. We rushed over to the area that was, I will guess, three-fourths of a mile away from the finish line, and the lady told us that they were not offering any more massages. Fine, we were disappointed, but hey, there was still a free beer that my wife was looking forward to. On the way to the free beer, the race director was chatting to the crowd through a microphone so I told one of his assistants that he should announce that there were no more massages being offered so people wouldn't have to walk all the way up the hill for nothing. I saw her tell the race director the information and you know what? He did NOT announce it, even though there were 1,700 people who finished behind us, and plenty more who were either lost or had not got to the massage area yet. To me, that says a lot about the race director. So, we thankfully got our beer in time to watch them stop serving beer 10 minutes after we got ours.

Food at the finish? We got a bag with a bagel, raisins, banana, and granola bar. If there was other food offered, it was not there when we finished.

Overall:
This race is over-hyped and I am shocked by all the rave reviews about this marathon. I can easily say that, if the Marine Corp lowered the entry fee down to $10, I would NOT do this race again. Many people say this race is so great, and my question to them is: what makes this race so much better than other marathons out there? My guess is that these rave reviews have little to do with the race itself and more to do with support for the marines (which is fine, but that should not simply translate into providing near-perfect review ratings).

Some of the comments below rate the race negatively due to poor planning on the runner or runner's family. If you paid attention to any of the previous years' comments, you'll see that the Rosslyn Metro station is NOT worth the wait and that the finish area is a crowd of families. So, plan on taking the free shuttle back to Crystal City to catch the metro. It took about two minutes to get on the shuttle and about 20 (due to road closures) to get to the station. Much easier - plus if you stayed in Crystal City, then you'd be done.

The race is great. All of the hills are done by Mile 8, and other than the bridge at Mile 20-22, the course is flat and fair. Wonderful organization, on-course support, and experience. Expo was a breeze, pre-race porta-potties are plentiful at the Pentagon (DO NOT USE THE BROOKS VIP - WASTE OF TIME) and the scenery is amazing.

RUN IT!

Really friendly people, nice race, good support. I did not like the first few miles; it was a bottleneck, and when you cross over the finish to the post-race area, it was too crowded and cramped. Other than that, I enjoyed the race.

This race was a thrill of a lifetime for me. This was my first marathon. I ran for the Sempi Fi Injured Marines and Sailors. My father, Col.Paul R. Bean USMCR, helped start this marathon in 1976. He was at every marathon volunteering until he passed in 1991 volunteering. Everyone came together for a day for the same reason: to finish the race. It made me proud to be an American, and even prouder to be the daughter of a Marine. The USMC did a wonderful job! Thank you, USMC!!!!!

My first marathon, and I will never forget the Marines who made it special. Well-organized. Great spectators, except for few people around 10-13 and on the bridge before Crystal City. Otherwise, a fun and entertaining route through DC and VA. I ran with Team in Training (I beat lymphoma earlier this year), so it had special significance for me - crappy first half of the year, and great finish.

This was my third marathon and I was blown away by the Marine and spectator support on the course. Yes, the finish was tough (last .2 miles straight uphill), but you should read the map beforehand to know how the course is set up. I almost don't want to run this again because of the great experience I had. I would highly recommend this to anyone.

Pros: It started on time; aid stations were on both sides; helpful Marines/military personnel; nice run through the capital - passing all of the major monuments and things that people want to see when they go to DC; and there was a nice, big expo that was fun and had neat stuff.

Cons: The crowd was pathetic for over 30,000 runners - there was an entire two-mile portion with maybe 10 people on it to cheer you on; like most races, the PowerAde was watery at some stations and concentrated at others - one day it'd be nice to get consistency; tons of people werer clogging the way; getting to the race was more complicated than it needed to be - they didn't have an escalator open at the Arlington Station and it took 15 minutes to get off the train platform; and there were not enough port-a-potties (I went in the bushes twice).

Overall, it was an enjoyable experience. I probably wouldn't do it again, but it was fun. I've got DC out of the way now.

Fantastic course and fantastic experience. On a crisp autumn day, running this marathon was more of an event for me than just a race. Beautiful course and great race. Very friendly people.

This was my third race and first MCM. Overall, it was a great race from fan support to the scenery. Logistically, it was a bit of a challenge. The metro was a mess to and from. The city should just open the lines. DO NOT GET off at Arlington if you take the train. We had to walk about a mile to drop our stuff off at the UPS trucks, and then rush back to the start line. I would recommend you get off at the Pentagon, although not many did. Post-race was worse than the start. Everyone was trying to enter the Metro and it took an hour on very tired legs for us to get on a train. It was just impossible to get around. As for the race, it was really crowded for almost six miles with runners of much slower pace seemingly ahead of us in the 3:40 shoot. Not sure how that happened, but I felt like I was dodging runners forever. I posted a PR, so I was pretty pumped and still am. Post-race, I never did find the food tents and just wanted a soda. I love a cold beer, but wasn't up for it after the run. Oh well, heard the tents were great, but couldn't locate them. Overall, DC and the MCM make for a great experience. I would recommend it, but they could use some logistical help to make it a first-class run.

The expo, start line, and course attention to detail could not have been better. These areas had flawless attention to detail. I was disappointed in the lack of coordination and general confusion post-race after exiting the restricted area. It was a mess and a mob scene. The walk from the finish line to the "finish festival" was way too long, and we had to fight a sea of spectators coming the other way. Then it was another 20-minute walk fighting crowds back to view the finish. We stood in a mob for 40 minutes trying to gain access to the Rosslyn metro station. I'm sure if the Marines concentrate more on the post-finish, they can make this a perfect event.