This was my first Omaha Marathon. I really enjoyed it; however, I couldn't help but wonder throughout the course how much more of the city there is to show off. What about Happy Hollow, Elmwood Park, and the UNO area? Old Market? Etc.

Pros:

Lewis and Clark Landing was an excellent start/finish area.
Gallup, Con-Agra, the zoo, Qwest, and Rosenblatt.
Post-race festivities. Good music.
Great aid stations. It was good to see many area youth helping out.
Music along the course.
Nice crowd support in riverfront area.
Great volunteers! No race is successful without them.
Enthusiastic race director.

Cons:

Industrial north O... twice!! Perhaps the continued development north of I-480 area will help change that perception.
Weak crowd support in most other areas.

I, for one, liked the combination of the three races (10K, Half and Full). I feel crowd support might be somewhat improved if the race ran through areas where fans and family would feel comfortable parking for a while.

To address the porta-johns at the start/finish. There were easily 20 more not being used on the south side of the landing. Perhaps there could be some signage to let people know about additional locations.

It is obvious Susie and the marathon organization are working hard at making this a destination event. It will continue to improve and I will definitely run it again.

Omaha is #40 in my ongoing quest for 50 states plus DC !!!! Great city race - and I must say upfront that your host hotel is the HOST with the MOST!!! (They haven't all been.) Excellent city course - hills in the first half (where they belong) and VOLUNTEERS ALL OVER THE PLACE!!!! Some had nothing to do but stand and cheer for us!!! As a hometown race director, I'd LOVE to have that problem!!! GREAT "last five" along the river that afforded a cool breeze, even though the temp was climbing by the time I got there! The hard rock band in the Steel Factory District was a nice touch - I would have liked to see them more!! Finish area was good - well organized and efficient. The beer was WEAK, though - REAL MARATHONERS don't let friends drink ULTRA!!!!! The OLD TOWN DISTRICT has a terrific Brew Pub though, and they have REAL BEER, and a CINDERELLA CARRIAGE RIDE to DIE for!! Keep up the GREAT WORK; I'll recommend this race as "Nebraska's Designated 50 States MUST-DO!!!"

If you like playing in traffic and not having anything to eat after a race, Omaha is for you! On the first half of the course, about every 4th intersection had police. On one of the big hills, cars were going along with the runners. Two hours into the run they started running out of food. They REFUSED - that's right - REFUSED to give participants refreshments. They had a small amount under the table that they were "saving" for marathoners. Well, marathoners were finishing and not getting anything. It was unbelievable. Later they finally restocked. If the volunteers had said something like, "We are really sorry; the early people took to much. Are you feeling faint? Do you absolutely need an orange?" or, "We would really appreciate it if you can wait until we have more...." Something to show some compassion!! Next year, do a bag, put in one of each item and pass that out. At this point, I don't think I'll recommend this race. I need to see what they plan for next year to correct the issues from this year. The course was okay. Some of the areas were a bit sketchy, but every city has that. I like hills so that made me happy, but the many potholes were a challenge. The weather was good for the early finishers. The volunteers at the aid stations were great. Fan support was sparse but enthusiastic. Ps. I loved the orange "Human Cone" volunteer shirts.

This was my second marathon. I really liked the start location as far as getting dropped off and having my family come back later. They were able to park and spend time at the finish line with little hassle. My four-year-old son actually ran the last 50 yards with me. Plenty of food and such at the finish. Omaha has hills and we ran them all... at least once. :) I didn't like the loops personally, as I like to see different parts of the town and going backwards the same way I came doesn't count. But, it did allow spectators to see the runners several times if you knew where to be. Get rid of the loops (and add a mat at the half for the full marathoners) and this could be a five-star marathon.

I have now run the full marathon in Omaha twice, this year and last. I have really enjoyed it both times. I thought that packet pickup ended a bit early (at 5 p.m.), but I was easily able to pick it up Sunday morning before the race. The race was really packed for the first 6 miles, as many of the 2,500 entered in the race chose the 10K option. After 8 miles, the half-marathoners turn around to head back, so you are with the full marathoners for the next 18 miles. Not too many spectators, but I had a blast anyway. The first half of the course is rather hilly, but was manageable. I've run the Lincoln Marathon as well and most people like running that better... but after this year, I think I would recommend Omaha if you need a Nebraska race.

I've run the Omaha half twice, once on the old course and this year on the new course. While the volunteers are great and the race coordinator is highly visible and happy to help, I wouldn't run this race if I had to travel to it. Lincoln's National Guard Marathon is still the best pick for 50 Staters - I've run that one a couple times and Lincoln is fantastic!

Pros for Omaha:
* Real Gatorade that isn't watered down - so much better than the new-fangled Tang other races push.
* Fun, fully stocked water stops. I was running with the pack and there was always tons of water and Gatorade that was easy to get to. Add pace clocks before or after these pit stops and they'd be perfect.
* Human cones were major spirit boosters. These kids were playing their random instruments along the course, which really broke up the monotony.
* On-course entertainment: There were some amazing musicians along the course - I wish there would've been more!
* Packet pick-up was easy and the expo is expanding, which is nice. Packet pick-up should probably last as long as the pasta dinner, though; it would make more sense.
* Porta-potties: There seemed to be plenty and the one I stopped at was in decent shape. No lines along the course and no one was ducking into the bushes.
* Chocolate milk at the finish - yum!
* You could easily walk to the start from a dozen downtown hotels - no need to rent a car.
* Last but not least, the weather. The race director must be half-sisters with Mother Nature because this race ALWAYS has perfect weather. It was 50 degrees at the start with a breeze to keep you cool once the sun comes up, perfection.

Cons for Omaha:
* This is my home town, but I wouldn't claim it based on the race course. If bigger cities can cut off their major thoroughfares for marathons, so should Omaha. This course spirals around the Habitat for Humanity neighborhoods and a glimpse of Rosenblatt and the zoo for marathoners, but nothing else. Take us through UNO and Memorial Park, add a jaunt through Loritzen Gardens, take us through the Old Market, and let us have a view of the river. I feel like apologizing to those who traveled to run this race - this is not what Omaha is really like!
* Spectators watch you, but only 1 in 10 will actually cheer. It's kinda creepy. However, the people who were by volunteers seemed to catch the spirit and encourage everyone - maybe more volunteers cheering along the course would help?
* Schwag? Your local 5K will have better schwag than this marathon. The t-shirts are cotton; there is no finisher shirt, and the medal is weak. This could be fixed with a Dri-Fit shirt, some kind of finisher acknowledgment (the cotton t-shirt would work here!), and upping the design for the medal - the cowboys roping runners logo from a few years ago was fun; what happened to that?
* No split mats or pace clocks along the course. I have a GPS and several other runners asked the time, pace, and distance throughout the course.
* Cyclist support: the bikes are good about talking the lead runners through the race, but they don't announce who they are pacing. If they shout out, "lead woman half-marathoner coming through," we can all cheer her on. They used to do that; I don't know why they stopped.

I would happily run this course again because it is my home town. It still has a lot of room to grow and improve. Omaha is such a friendly town that I think this race will be a true destination run in a few more years. They just need to tweak the course and the schwag - the fundamentals of a friendly city with seasonable running weather are already there.

Having now run other marathons of similar size (and even larger) since the first time I ran the Omaha Marathon, I now realize that the extras provided at Omaha for a race of this size are exceptional. From the quality of the expo, to the music and vendors at the finish line, and even the number of water stations on the course, you would think this was a much bigger race. Most of the second half of the course itself was a bit dull (the first half was hilly but enjoyable), but the finish was great.

I definitely can't agree with m.s.'s comment on the expo being lacking, but I guess that's because I was there while it was open.

"The good, the bad and the ugly" sums up the 2008 Omaha 1/2 Marathon.

The good: The second half of the race was easily the most interesting portion. The extended uphill leg offered a really nice test of the old cardio system. It was steep(ish), sustained and rolling. It was just the right thing to throw into the middle of the race course. Naturally, the run back down was enjoyable.

The bad: At 2:10, I'll never be accused of being fast; however I (and runners of like ability) should have been able to get more than one bottle of water. With the bananas gone, one lonely orange slice and five apples left, I was a bit surprised that the organizers were so... erm... disorganized. I wound up buying a hamburger at the finish line. Of course, the port-o-let situation was grim. The start line johns were crazy-busy. Organizers know that they should double their projected numbers.

The spectator support was fair at best. Don't get me wrong - there was a decent turnout, but it seemed that they were there to cheer on specific runners. Oh well, the glory and adulation will be left for another race! Since the Corn Huskers lost the night before the race, perhaps the general populace was still asleep or nursing hangovers!

The ugly: The northern loop took us through a rather skunky, funky industrial/residential neighborhood. I'd run through it with a couple thousand friends, but not alone.

Enough complaining! I still enjoyed the run, as did the members of our visiting running club. So long story short, it was a race to run once, but not one to repeat. The race organizers just need to tune up a few items to make it memorable.

This was the second year I did the Omaha Half Marathon. The only thing that keeps me coming back is the organization of the thing. The course is okay at best; it starts out winding through downtown and then sends you into a lower-income neighborhood and by some junkyards (real pretty impression of Omaha). After the first 6 miles. you get to see some prettier stuff around ConAgra, but that's about it. Spectators were pathetic this year... few and far between, and aside from the TNT people who were loud as always, it was mostly people standing in their yards staring at us. Water stops were plentiful and well stocked, which was nice. Still, last year people were dressed all crazy and having lots of fun, while this year everyone was in volunteer t-shirts and just handing out the water/Gatorade.

It just seems to me that Omaha's a big enough city that they could design the course to showcase the nice areas in town. It seems weird to me that Omaha's twice the size of Lincoln, yet they can only get few more than 2,000 people for their Marathon/Half Marathon/10K (while Lincoln gets 6,000 people for their Marathon/Half Marathon). I don't think it's strictly because the Omaha course is hilly.

Well organized race and a nice course. The expo was lacking and the 5 p.m. closing was not convenient for those arriving late on Saturday; however, there was staff there at 5:30 when I arrived and I was able to get my packet. Only real negative I have for this race is the pasta dinner, which was included in the race fee, but was not real great. The splits for the 1/2 and 10K could have been better marked. If you do not pay close attention, it would be easy to go the wrong way. Overall, a race I would recommend doing!