My 12th marathon, 12th different state, first time in Omaha.

First of all, I was extremely pleased with the city. It's very walkable, and the Old Market area is a great place to drink/dine/shop.

Second, the organization for this race needs some serious correction:
-The expo was small, but making people enter/exit though one door is crazy.
-The start of the race was shown to be by the Qwest Center, but you couldn't walk from the parking lot to the start line. I was among the many runners jumping fences and running over railroad tracks trying to get to the start of the race. All the hotels on Cumming Street need to clarify how to get to this area, or put something in the expo packet.
-Never start a marathon with Michael McDonald! Seriously? Michael McDonald to get me pumped up??? C'mon!
-Break up the half/10K runners from the marathoners at the start. The narrow road made just running for the marathon tough.

I loved the hills and the course. I would consider running it again if they have a dedicated start for the marathon.

Overall, it was a well run race. The first half has a few challenging hills (10th Street north from the zoo) but there was great volunteer support cheering us on the way up. Course support was good and the Omaha police did a excellent job with traffic control. There were live bands every few miles and cheerleaders at the Carter lake turn, and everyone was friendly. Some have commented that spectators were sparse in areas - which was the case in some parts of the final 10K - but the peace and quiet along the shore of Carter Park/Lake was nice as well. I plan to run it again next year.

The good parts:
-The bands along the course were awesome. It really does pick you up when you come to one of them. The polka band around mile 19 was great and put a smile on my face.
-All of the volunteers were great. Between the "human cones" and the cheer teams, they all provided great support, which was needed on the last eight miles (which can get pretty lonely with the runners all spread out).
-There are some nice parts throughout the course, like ConAgra, the riverfront (the new finish set up was much better), behind the zoo, and Rosenblatt Stadium.
-Since there is some duplication of the route, it's good for spectators since they can see you quite a few times over the course.
-Maybe this was just my experience, but once those of us who ran the marathon split off from the half for good, the runners I came upon were quick to give you a "Great job - keep it up" or other words of encouragement. There were just a lot of good, friendly people out there on the course with us.

The bad parts:
-Not much crowd support outside of the volunteers, especially once the marathon splits from the half for good. If you really need a lot of crowd support, this might not be the race for you.
-Overall, the course isn't that scenic. Don't get me wrong - there are a some nice parts (those I stated above, by Carter Lake, etc.), but over a third of the course is in some blighted areas that I wouldn't travel through at night. I live here and there are so many great areas the course could wind through (and still finish on the riverfront), but it doesn't give a good view of our city.

Overall I think it's a good marathon and it seemed to be a little better organized this year than last year. The hills are as advertised and I liked the challenge, but you definitely have to train for them. I'd recommend the race to someone who's run marathons before, but probably not to a first-timer (based on the technical nature of the course). On a side note, the post-race party was great this year. Between the band, the food at the end, and the nice day on the riverfront, it was awesome. The finish line is also set up well for your family and friends to be able to see you finish. I'll be running this one again!

I have previously completed half marathons in Lincoln on multiple occasions and ran my first marathon yesterday in my home town of Omaha.

First off, the volunteers are SPECTACULAR - always enthusiastic and cheering even late in the day. They made me feel like a champion.

As with so many previous comments about this race, portions of the course are nice but some leave something to be desired. As one that has lived here for 10 years, there is a lot more to showcase other than portions of the "North Loop" that the run covers at least once. The first half of the marathon course is far better (hills and all) then the second half.

Spectators can be non-existent for long stretches, which really didn't bother me that much as I frequently run alone. The upside to this is that it was easy to spot my family as they cheered me on.

I will probably run this event again because I live here but hope that the course is changed to highlight more of Omaha's finer points.

I'd still prefer a flatter course in order to make me want to run this on a regular basis. There are just too many other faster courses out there that are more appealing. The parking at Gallup was as easy as advertised, the volunteers were very enthusiastic, and the bands were a nice touch. I have two suggestions, but these are aimed at all marathons, not just Omaha: Order more medium t-shirts. Yes, runners come in all sizes, but by and large, marathoners are not Clydesdales with gorilla arms. Why organizers cannot figure this out year after year is beyond me. Second, don't make age-group winners wait two or three hours for their awards and then wonder why 50% or more go unclaimed.

An odd combination of good and bad here.

The course:
-Moderate hills at the beginning/middle, but fairly flat with some stretches of downhill after the halfway point.
-Starts downtown, which is pretty, but winds through some pretty sketchy neighborhoods and not-too-pretty parts of town. The final miles run through some sort of park, which is also pretty.
-Although not much of the race took place on busy streets, when the course DID, there were some big intersections that were not supervised. Some exhaust was inhaled, and some dodging of cars occurred.
-The race was pretty small, so starting the 10K, half marathon, and full marathon at the same time wasn't THAT much of an issue, although the space allotted for the runners along the course got a little tight at times. The 10K runners peeled off at mile 5 1/2 or so, and half marathoners split at about 9, with certain last parts of the course again shared.
-A pretty complicated course. A few turnarounds, hairpins, etc. Also saw some scenery quite a few different times.
-Signs were SMALL to make sure runners turned at the right spots! I actually saw a half-marathoner miss his turnaround and go at LEAST 5 extra miles because the turnaround sign was so small and there wasn't a volunteer there to make sure all knew!

The spectators:
-Very few. The ones that were there didn't seem too enthused, either. In some parts of the race this fact made the course seem serene and peaceful, and at other points made it seem LOOOONG and painful!

Aid stations:
-Average. The first few of course were very busy and difficult to get the drinks.
-They served water and yellow Gatorade only. Only once along the course was some GU provided.

Volunteers:
-Mostly GREAT! Many were hollering and cheering the runners on.
-The intersections that WERE supervised were done so very adequately.
-BUT!! I was very turned off when I saw some who were supposed to be guiding runners in the right direction and cheering them along, but were sitting on the ground talking amongst themselves instead.

Medals:
-Kind of plain... no color or anything, but good enough for me!

Shirts:
-Really cool! Long-sleeved with the option of buying short-sleeved or tech shirts. I liked the shirt a lot; it was red with a nice, colorful logo along the back and on the front-left chest. It also says "marathon" nice and big on it.

Expo/Pasta Dinner:
-Unfortunately I signed up late for this race and decided to forgo the expo and free pasta dinner. Late packet pick-up the morning of the race was a very swift and easy process.

Porta-Potties:
-I thought they had an adequate number for the size of this race, but they didn't have hand sanitizer in them! Also, they were pretty far from the finish line, and most of the toilet paper was gone if you needed to go after the race!

After-race snacks:
-Eh. Bananas, bagels, oranges, water.

Weather:
-Beautiful. Nice and cool in the morning, but got a little steamy for the last few miles. Wind was pretty minimal this year, but as a Kansan I know wind in the Midwest is hit and miss and can get pretty brutal.

Parking:
-The start and finish line was held at a large convention center of some sort, and there seemed to be adequate parking for most.

Spectating:
-I had 5 spectators who thought it was difficult to access the course except in a handful of spots. This is because the course ran along the river on one side for awhile, next to the zoo and a dead-end street for awhile, and in a park sort of thing with minimal outside access for awhile. They did enjoy the fact that when they COULD see me, it was usually at a turnaround where they could see me twice at one spot, although just a mile or two later.

The City:
-OK. The downtown area was pretty neat, and there was a lot of good restaurant choices in that area. It's also home to Rosenblatt Stadium (which you get a GREAT view of during the race) and Creighton University (which you run past briefly).

Would I run it again? Honestly, probably not. No offense, though. It was a good try.

This was my first time running the Omaha Half Marathon and my wife's first marathoning experience. It was perfect weather with a fairly flat course with one long hill to climb, but that's okay because not long after cresting you turn around and get to go right back down it. We only had to run next to moving traffic for a very short distance, and the aid station competition made those stations highly entertaining and excited (most of them made us laugh). There was plenty of food at the finish, with good music, and my favorite: Robert's was handing out bottles of chocolate milk. The night before, the packet pick-up was easy and the pasta dinner was good (not restaurant quality, but that was not really expected). Overall, a good course, though not the most scenic, and fun for the runners I think.

I actually liked this marathon, contrary to what many others have written! It might have something to do with the fact that I PR'd here, but really, I have no big complaints.

The expo was small and well-run. The post-race food was fine, but I didn't eat much (and never do).

The course was definitely challenging. Quite hilly but not the toughest I've run. There is a mile-long hill after you leave the zoo (mile 12, I think) that can seem daunting, but the organizers were smart to put a loud (!) group of cheerleaders at the top. Very cool. It is an urban run, if you enjoy that. Plus, you get to run through the zoo and ConAgra's campus which were both very nice.

The crowd support was middle-sized but my family was easily able to watch the finish without having to strain to see me. It was just the right size.

I can imagine that heat might play a factor since this marathon is in September when it can be warm in the Midwest, but the day I ran was quite pleasant, with temps in the high 70s/low 80s at the finish.

More than anything, it was emotionally special to me. It was my 8th marathon on my daughter's 8th birthday! The stars seemed to all be in line on this day, and it was nice.

Good luck if you do this; I really think you will enjoy it if you have the right mindset!

I've run quite a few half-marathons now (this one twice), and this is the worst one I've done so far.

For the price, I thought it was ridiculous that that ran out of t-shirts for last day sign-ups. I can understand they may be out of some sizes, but they said they had none and wouldn't be ordering more. Sorry, have a nice day.

I even emailed the race director to ask to have my name on the list if some more were ordered and I never even got a reply back at all. That's just rude.

Then, no pace clocks, and very few mile markers for us half-marathoners. And a terrible route. And that expo? Pathetic. But really, that's been an ongoing problem with the Omaha Marathon. Nothing new there.

It wasn't all bad. I enjoyed the bands, and the finish line area was nice. I liked that chocolate milk.

But, really there are so many areas that could be improved with this race. The items I've already mentioned, and a new location away from the poor, industrialized areas of town would be good. Blocking some roads would make things safer too.

All in all, I think I'll just find other fall races to do and take a break from Omaha for a year or two. Hopefully they can get their act together and produce a better race soon.

Omaha is a great marathon if you're looking for a friendly, organized race but aren't terribly concerned about a PR (it was my slowest marathon ever). Here are some brief observations from my perspective:

Course: This was my 8th marathon and certainly the most hilly. The hills require some planning because they all come in the first 14 miles; go too hard the first half and you'll pay later - I speak from experience. But the hills weren't the reason my rating isn't higher... a challenge is a good thing. There is a lot of concrete, which is hard on the legs. Also, the course is somewhat open to traffic, and I saw a number of cars rush past volunteers (and even police) to get through intersections. The Omaha police are awesome, though... the friendliest I've ever met at a race. In addition, the last few miles are unshaded and directly into the sun, which is tough. And I echo so many others in saying that the course hits a lot of less attractive parts of the city.

Organization: It was very well organized from pre-race to post-race. I liked the shirt, though it is cotton. The medal is fine, although my wife was disappointed that the half medal was just a smaller version of the full (it didn't say, "half"). A couple suggestions: Keep the water cold at the aid stations. That was huge for me; the warm water was not good. Also consider starting the 10K later to minimize congestion at the start.

Fans: The aid station volunteers were especially enthusiastic. I really enjoyed the music, especially the polka band at mile 20. Everyone was extremely friendly.

All in all, Omaha is a good marathon and a worthy choice if you are looking for a race in Nebraska.