My very first marathon and it was a great experience. Fantastic job all around!! Love, love, love all the hydration/junk food stations!

This was my first half-marathon; I had a blast.

This was my 6th marathon and 1st after a 2.5-year marathon sabbatical. I have run Boston, Chicago, NYC, and Louisville and I'd have to rank this course as the most difficult of the 5 courses I have run. This does not mean that the course was too hard or unfair - just more difficult in my opinion than the others I have run. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and would recommend this marathon to anyone - provided each is trained properly to achieve their respective goals.

I don't know why this race has such a great reputation. The course is just okay - not as flat as some make it out to be, but no major uphills (the Lee Bridge is nothing to anyone who is used to National or MCM). The downhill finish is more painful than fast. There is a long stretch through forest along the river with few spectators that may or may not be to one's taste. And sometimes you share the road with vehicles going the same direction, separated only by orange cones. The medal is hideous. The shirt is not bad, but everyone - full/half/8K - gets the same shirt. The expo location is inconvenient (but the indoor track surface is easy on the feet!). The best feature is how they organize the races to keep the full and half runners out of each others' way.

This is a great race! I have run it twice now. The course is beautiful. It is not flat but certainly not what I would call a hilly course. It does have some rolling hills and a pretty good uphill grade at mile 11-12, but that's about it. I stayed at the host hotel, and this was super convenient. I would definitely run this marathon again.

Touted as the friendliest and rightfully so. Great spectator support the entire way. Great course with enough hills to challenge you and flats to keep you moving. The downhill finish was a plus! Would highly recommend this marathon to everyone!

My first time for Richmond and I definitely enjoyed it. It's smaller than the megas, but well organized and friendly for sure. The course along the river was amazing; it felt like the gentle uphills went on and on! I do like the staggered 8K, half, and full starts... this led to a less crowded finish area since many of the halfers had gone. Aid stations were well stocked; however, they did create some choke points with table placement. My 4:00 pace group was perfect for me and brought me to 21 on time after which I was able to break off for a negative split.

I picked Richmond because it was easy and inexpensive to get to, plus there was a lot of hype in Runner's World magazine. I was pleased with this race. The organization was great, though the expo was a long-ish shuttle ride from the host hotel. The weather cleared up right in time for the race. I was near the back of the pack due to cramping, but still felt a lot of support from spectators. The hills were not that bad. (In fact, I haven't encountered hills as bad as those in Atlanta in any of my 5 other marathons.)

This was a great race with wonderful support. I would highly recommend it.

Richmond's claim to fame is as "America's Friendliest Marathon," and while I have no real complaints about the friendliness of the spectators, I would certainly not rank this as the "friendliest" or even a runner up compared to other marathons I've run or watched.

The course was fine, although nothing spectacular. I enjoyed running along the river, and would have enjoyed running across the bridge if not for the lethal headwinds. It was a well organized race and my friends were able to use race-provided directions to find 3 different spots along the course to cheer for me.

While certainly not a deal-breaker for me, I know many people do care about the race extras. The medal was the most hideous I have ever received, and while I did not mind the shirt (or at least appreciated the long-sleeve tech) my friend who saw it thought the design was atrocious. The expo was decent for the size of the race.

For those in search of a BQ or PR: I did think the course was pretty fast, though more rolling than I expected, and as nearly everyone else comments, the downhill finish is absolutely magical.

What can I say? The 2009 Richmond was my first marathon (at age 50) and I loved the experience. The course, the town, and especially the great spectators were so much fun. I know that the great southern support helped me through. I can't wait for next year