My wife and I liked this event so much that we regularly flew down for the Half from Chicago. This was my first marathon and my wife's second. The crowds are loud and enthusiastic, and they call out your name and keep you going. They use their own money to supply oranges, bananas, cookies and even beer. They were the extra "oomph" that got me to finish through fatigue and cramps. Now to the LiveStrong part. 1. Prices mysteriously rose $30/runner from the original posted pricing as soon as Livestrong was announced as "sponsor." When I challenged this (on the marathon's Facebook page - twice) my comments were immediately deleted. And the shirt? Are you kidding me? See-through white - the kind of technical shirt you get at a $20 local event. Almost no sweat reveals stomach, chest hair, nipples. Disgusting. So despite soaking me for an extra $30, I now have to order stuff online to celebrate the run. Easy right? Nope. They've been "inventorying" gear for a month now. I'm a Nike share holder, and an Armstrong fan. But these folks are pathetic. They need to work as hard as the folks who ran the race. As best as I can tell, for an additional $30, I got less caring sponsors. Thanks.

I am glad this marathon was in February, because the heat was killing me and I couldn't imagine doing it any other time of the year. The course is hilly, with no extreme hills, but just continuous hills. Do not believe spectators who say you are on the last uphill. I think I heard that 6 times.

The crowds were awesome; Austin really comes out in support. The t-shirt is only available after finishing; it's nice to know the person you see wearing a shirt actually finished.

The course was a bit boring. Maybe I have been spoiled in Alaska, but this course really lacked for scenery except the beginning and the end within the downtown area. Even going through a rich neighborhood would be nice.

I need to give thanks to the person at the 22nd mile or so who gave me a jello shot. I won't ever do that again, but I really appreciate the fact that I have a story from this marathon now.

This was my first Austin Marathon but my seventh overall marathon.

Pros: Good expo, easy to walk to the start from the downtown hotels, great city, good crowd support (for a smaller race), great medal, cool seeing Lance Armstrong run the half, and challenging course.

Cons: Tough course. They are not joking about the hills. I also thought the last 6 miles or so were not as downhill as advertised even though the headwind was a factor. The last climb only .20 miles from the finish should be removed. Hot and humid this year, but that is out of their control. Good crowd support but certainly not like Chicago or New York. Probably the hardest marathon course I've done. I would come back for the half but not the full.

Pros:
-Fantastic crowd support. I was really impressed with the amount of crowd support even in the far off parts of the course.
-Challenging course. Rolling hills; mile 9-14 were tough but the last 10K was mostly downhill.
-Great cause; 26 miles for 26 charities
-Green - they did an excellent job making this a green event
-Nice giveaways - very nice laptop bag and finisher's medal

Cons:
-The half marathoners clogged up the course and water stops for the first few miles
-Chaos trying to pick up the finishers shirt. Poorly marked and the volunteers didn't know where to point people to pick up the appropriate (half/full) shirt. This race is too big to hand out shirts afterward; that needs to happen at the expo.
- Dumping all of the runners at the finish made the area very crowded, so it was difficult to meet up with family members. They need some kind of reunion area.

This was my first Austin Marathon and I thought it was great overall. The elevation chart is a little off and the second half was really windy but wind is hard to manage. Great city, great medal, and it was great to see Lance out on the course running the half.

This was a well organized race. Big, though, with 12,000 half marathoners and 6,000 marathoners. The crowds were very supportive and the organizers did a top-notch job.

Many commented on the hills. They presented a challenge but not an unfair one. None were so long as to wipe one out. Most were on the first half of the marathon course, with the exception of a short, steep hill a half-mile from the finish line.

A sign on the course said, "If the Marathon were easy, it would be called 'Yo Mama.'" That captures it... the marathon, by definition, is a challenge and this one was a fair challenge. I liked it.

It was a warm day, but Austin is always a blast and I just run it for the joy! The expo was fantastic as were the speakers, and there were so many booths this year - it was great! The schwag is not to be beat, the medal was Texas HUGE, and shirts were nice - even though it took awhile to find the booth. The spectators are one-of-a-kind, and way to go for having the heads up to have water every mile! It was great! The hills are an adventure! Thanks, Austin! We will be back next year!

This is a great race to challenge yourself with. The hills are seemingly never-ending, but they do finally end (with 100 meters to go). No kidding.

Great organization, great water stops and fan support, but...

...and it's a big but: you have to kill yourself getting around the walkers who line up on the front of the race. Austin does not support strict, time-related starts, and I cannot tell you how many walkers were right at the front. People are so determined to shave a few seconds off of their "7 hour and 2 minute" time that they make a dangerous situation for everyone. People who finished the half in over 3 1/2 hours do not need to be 2-3 minutes off of clock time. Likewise the full - if you're going to finish in 6 to 7 1/2 hours, hang back at the start, for God's sake. I honestly found people with 7 hour-plus times who started within seconds of the gun. We started back about 20 minutes so as to not get in the way, and it did not keep my partner from winning her age group, nor me placing in the top three in mine. But it did hurt our times with so many (barely) moving for the first few miles.

Austin needs to have wave starts now that it increased the cap on the field by 50% to something like 12,000 halfers and 6,000 fullies. Please give the marathoners a break and separate them from the halfers at the narrow and congested start.

I was really looking forward to the Austin Marathon. It was my eighth marathon and has been on my list for years. However, I found it to be an average race overall. My basic requirements for a marathon are to have appropriate support on the course, enough room on the course to get around and decent food at the end to appropriately refuel within the critical first 10 minutes. I don't need expensive swag, tons of crowd support or even a great expo.

There were way too many runners on the course, especially for the first half. The roads cannot handle that number of people. The water stops on the first half were "self serve" - I had to actually go find a cup and stand in line at water jugs to get water while trying to run a marathon - this is ridiculous. This was less of a problem after the half marathoners split off, but with 20 years of experience the race organizers should be able to provide water stops with water for the runners.

Finish food was ok. I cannot handle Gatorade Recovery drink and there was not anything else offered in the way of protein.

While the course itself was ok (I love hills) the scenery was kind of boring - I would rather be routed to the countryside than run through neighborhoods that all look the same. The spectators were good - I saw some great signs along the way. And the police support along the course was also good.

The messenger bag is nice, but I am not going to use a race bag for work and it is not the type of bag that can hold my enough of my running or cycling gear to make it worth carrying around. It will sit around until I donate it to a charity.

Next year, the race directors should skip the expensive swag and use the money to recruit an appropriate number of course volunteers!

There's a lot to like about this race, and very few things that even approach the category of "negatives." Here are a few observations:

Course: Hilly? Yes... the first 15 miles or so are the toughest, although the final hill in the last half mile will certainly perk you up for the finish line photo. But the last 5 miles include a lot of downhill. And it isn't as bad as one might think. I was actually a bit ahead of pace at mile 16; and even then I slowed only because of a nagging health issue. In my opinion, the constant incline changes seemed to spread out the leg fatigue on muscles that don't usually get as much work on a long run. (One other point: The course is rather crowded until the half marathoners split. It is really hard to get into any kind of consistent pace. A wave start would be a good addition for this race.)

Organization: Nearly flawless, from expo to finish line. A few more port-a-potties the first 10 miles or so (when full and half share the road) would be nice. A little better selection and quantity of finish line food would also be great. (A one-bottle limit on water seemed out of place.) On the plus side, the medal is great, and the free bag and belt put this race high on the swag meter.

Fans: This race offers the best fan support of the 17 marathons I have done. Not only were there good crowds throughout the course, but a lot of people in the neighborhoods were offering food. (Lots of oranges, pretzels, and gummy bears, and even some Girl Scout cookies.) Austin is a great city with nice people.

If you're into big races with a lot of fan support, and you don't mind a few hills, Austin is definitely for you.