This marathon was good only if you need it to qualify for your 50-state club requirement. The expo was minimum at best...what do you expect for a small race. The course is an out and back, mostly on a trail. The weather was good but very little scenery...although we did see some hot air balloons. The course is mostly flat and the aid stations were very nice. The food at the end was again mimimal. Evidently the money raised is not given back to the runners with a good array of food. I would not run this race again but I did like the town. My wife ran the half marathon and did not receive a medal for finishing...they didn't give out medals for that race!

The course is on a long asphalt bike trail, which is pretty, and out of traffic, but boring as can be. Some of the mile-markers were way off so it threw me for a loop. Plenty of good water stops but no fruit, no food, no gels, no candy...nothing except water and AllSport drink. There were only pace teams in half-hour incrememts, so those of us who were aiming for 3:45 were isolated, and the lone 4:00 pacer passed me with a mile to go since nobody was following her. There were nearly zero spectators on the course, and I ran the second half pretty much alone. The expo was quite enemic, and the finisher's medal was rather lame. The organizers and runners were very nice and friendly, but this race needs a lot of work.

First time in Albuquerque, since I was attempting the 50 states challenge. So, I chose the Duke City Marathon as my NM race. I was dismayed at the course. I should've known better before signing up, but it was the largest marathon in NM, so I figured why not. The course was essentially an out and back along a bike path. While the scenery was nice, it got boring when the miles got too ardious for my own good. They ran out of the original medals, so they probably gave out last year's medals to the rest of the finisher's, including me. The time limit is 7 hours. They used local ROTC to man the aid stations, so that was cool. Other than that, it was just a smaller than normal race versus Chicago. They had the turn around points for the various races marked by construction cones. No real course support and spectators. Almost like a training run, but with a finisher's medal waiting for you at the end.

I and about 20 other women behind me lost five minutes of time because at the 20 k turn around they sent us, under the bridge, up the hill, to the porta potties, and over to the other side... This was no cool at all!!!! I can deal with the bike path, the scenery and fighting to get around people but about 8 people were manning this site and all and I mean all of the including the man in the truck just watched us as they pointed up the hill and under the bridge. You would think after 28 years they would get at least this step right. This was the only turn around and water station that didn't know the xxx from a hole in the ground.

This is my sixth event, and it was one of the worst courses I have been on. Albuquerque is a very pretty city and the course should have been taken through the city instead of a two-lane bike path. It was very difficult to pass slower runners when you have on-coming runners coming your direction. The mile markers were too small and need to be bigger as a runner can easily pass them and not know how far they've gone. Also the scenery was terrible; you saw the same trees and brush for miles, which makes it feel like you haven't gone very far when in fact you have. The organization was terrible, on the day of the race there was no direction as to where to line up for the starting of the event. Also, as much as you pay for registration, half marathoners don't get a medal, and for first-timers this can be discouraging.

This was my third DCM. I don't know why I keep going back, except that the course is nice and the weather is usually good. My biggest complaint (this year) is that my time is still not showing in the results. I've e-mailed the timing company twice and received no response. I think something was terribly wrong with the timing this year, which might be due to the fact that they have multiple races going on at once: marathon, marathon relay, half marathon, half marathon walk, 5K, and a 5K walk. My other complaint would be that a few of the aid stations at the end ran out of cups when it was still early in the race. There is no excuse for that. A few minor things: No size-small t-shirts at the expo and not a very good post-race food selection. A few nice things about this race: the spectators are fun (they're mainly there for the relay runners), and the convention center has nice bathrooms. I'm not sure I'll run this race again.

This was my first marathon, and I was absolutely pleased with every respect. I have run 5K's and half-marathons, and this was the best-organized event, from registration through to the finish! The marking of the trails, the ham radio club, and the FREQUENT motivation stations made this a fun and safe marathon run. And you can't beat Albuquerque for the wonderful Bosque view!

Course was very nice, however marathon leaders had to run through the slower half-marathon runners from 20 miles to the finish. On the bike path, this created quite a dangerous situation as many halfers were running with headphones. Most halfers were courteous and encouraging as we passed, but there were several who actually stepped in front of approaching runners because they could not hear warnings. At the aid stations, the mix of slower and faster runners caused collisions and dropped cups. It was very difficult for the faster marathoners to get fluids during a critical time in the race.

I enjoyed this race. The Convention Center let runners hang out in the exhibit hall, which had two sets of bathrooms, so we didn't have to use porta-potties before the race. I did my warm-up inside and didn't go outside until 10 minutes before the start. There were aid stations about every mile with plenty of water and Gatorade. I liked the scenery (mostly trees with some views of the river). The choice of a soft or paved surface was great. I had never done an out-and-back. It was nice to know what to expect on the way back. The course is mostly flat. There were enough people to keep it interesting.

The only negatives were that it was hot during the second half and there were no massages at the finish. My previous 6 marathons offered free massages at the end (even the small ones). If the DCM can't find businesses to offer free massages, I think many runners would be willing to pay. It helps so much with recovery. I was more sore than usual the next day.

If you're looking for a big marathon, this is not it. But given that there were fewer than 300 marathon finishers, I thought that the organization was great. There was plenty of water and Gatorade at every mile. Also, some of the water stops offered bottles so you could carry it along, and that was very nice. The trail along the Rio offers the ability to run on gravel and dirt for much of the race and offers shade for the first half of the race. And free parking in the parking garage downtown. Decent fans along the way, especially at the relay points. Lots of people doing the half marathon, the half marathon walk, the 5K, etc. made the finish nice - plenty of folks around. The only major con is the lack of food along the course (none) and minimal food at the finish (just some bananas and oranges and water).