This was my first marathon. The course was great except for miles 17 - 19 (the road was under construction). The weather could not have been more perfect. The spectators were few but they really cheered you on!

Well organized, with a course more pleasant than I'd expected given some comments from previous years. Staff and volunteers were excellent. The only fly in the ointment was the apparent cluelessness of some walkers and slower runners, lining up near the front of the pack at the start. In some cases I found myself struggling to get around clusters of walkers who clogged things up to the chagrin of more than a few runners. This was by far the worst such nonsense I've ever seen, compounded by the attitudes I heard from a few of them when runners made their frustration known. I'm not an elitist about having walkers on the course, but this is supposed to be an athletic event, not a Saturday stroll. Apart from the irritation factor, somebody's going to get hurt one of these days trying to get around these folks. A few announcements at the start, telling walkers to move back, would be a good first step.

1st time in MB. Grungy town, not scenic, but the mostly flat course and the AMAZING VOLUNTEERS made up for it. The traffic control really helped with this looping course, that I think is a good place for a BQ if you don't need to run in a pack. The water-station volunteers were fantastic: they cheered everybody - regardless if I was the only one passing through. They deserve a 'thank you' for every kind word - and that's a lot. Otherwise, the fruit punch flavored Powerade in the first half was vile, nauseating slime that was not mentioned in the info section. They only mentioned lemon-lime - big difference for me. Otherwise, beautiful weather with a cool start. Many sites for spectators, except tough to park at the finish for non-runners.

This was my first marathon. I had heard that it was a flat course. It was! The first 8 to 10 miles are nothing but hotels and pancake restaurants. The second half of the race gets pretty boring. Fans are scattered along where there are hotels and at relay points. Water stations need help. If you wanted sports drink, it was almost impossible to get. They need to better identify water and sports drink so that you can get what you need. Next time I will take my own. Bad decision on my part. Course was flat and fast. No hills!

At the finish, the line for fruit and food was very long. The organizers should have it to where you can walk up to the food without lines. Very frustrating when all you want is a piece of fruit! Plenty of massage tables! GREAT JOB!

Otherwise was a good race and a great place to spend the weekend.

Had a great time!

This was my first marathon, just wanted to finish. Loved it. Scenery was good on Ocean Blvd. Great volunteers really cheered you on. Drink stations every two miles were perfect. Nice and flat most of the way. It was about 30 degrees to start but warmed up to around 40 to 50. Not much wind this year (happy about that). Overall great experience, will defintely run it again.

We could not have asked for better weather. The course was flat and fast. The race was organized and well run. I did a personal best by 10 minutes. Crowd support was small, but enthusiastic! I enjoy having the half marathoners and relay people start at the same time. It helped to have more people around than if it would have been just marathoners alone.

What a wonderful time! The salt in the air, a great group of runners, and weather that couldn't be beat. This was my first experience at Myrtle Beach and I must say I was not disappointed. The temps at the early 6:30 a.m. start were brisk but by mile 4 were comfortable. Lots of runners decided on wearing tights but really never needed them once the sun came out. No wind! Only one early aid station fell behind handing out hydration. All of the volunteers were friendly and enthusiastic. Thanks for being out there. You made a difference. Of course, the local police officers did an awesome job with traffic control and encouraged the runners - way to go guys!
I especially enjoyed running through the 'brick wall' at mile 20 and the 'pirate themed' gel station towards the end. All good fun.

The land of beach music and shag dancing definitely knows how to put on a good marathon. You can't go wrong with this one (Heck, even if you have a lousy time running, you're still at the beach!). See you next year...

Ran the half course. Can't wait til next year to do the full one!!!!

This was my first marathon and overall I was pleased/impressed with the event. Packet pick-up was a bit hectic. You had to go through a line first to get your number, then another line to get your chip and finally another line to get your shirt. The expo was ok. The pasta dinner was expensive at $15 per person, regardless of age.

The race started promptly on time. The course was as flat as the pancake houses we ran by and the weather was perfect (for me). No appreciable wind to speak of.

Crowd support was ok by my standards - too much crowd support is annoying to me - so crowd lovers would probably be disappointed.

Police/traffic control was great.

Course markings, split timers every 2 miles, aid stations and volunteer support was excellent.

Overall, 5 stars for the course, 4 stars due to the packet pick-up method and 4 stars for spectator support.

The weather this year was much better than last year. In fact, it was nearly ideal for fast times (30 at start, quickly warming into the 40-50's and virtually no wind). I will say I was a a little surprised to need my ice scraper at 5 am, but for a snowbird like myself it wasn't too bad. What's not to like about an early, fun marathon without snow and ice??

OTOH, the start was a slow mess as usual. The problem is they don't have corrals or make any significant attempt to encourage people to line up at the appropriate places (aka - why are walkers/9-10 mm runners lining up at the front?). I know self-seeding always has problems, but it seems like most races at least make an attempt to get people to seed themselves correctly. At the very least, they ought to have put up pace signs.

Spectators still spotty/non-existent. I give it to the ones who were out there, but don't expect a big crowd.