Mostly on bike paths, scenic, and some rolling hills at the start.

Volunteer groups were really well attended, might have had every kid in town at a stop somewhere.

Last 3 miles are pretty through a residential area on a bike path, but something like 8 bike bridges - up and over roads - in the last 2-3 miles wore on me.

Great finish announcing, massage, and food in a neat location town center.

Though it was my first marathon and I don't have others to compare it to, I certainly have some critiques. The race opens pretty straight forward, but eventually, it gets a little sketchy, interrupted, and quite boring. The markings were decent, I never felt lost, but you had to pay attention (I've already read one review of someone running a 16-mile 'half marathon'). They tried to keep all the miles nearby, so many times you are running over ground you have already covered. In 1 case you ran 3 miles out, circled a cone, and ran those three miles back. Another issue with this race is that you have to repeatedly cross over highways via bridges, which means you need to make an abrupt turn and ascent to get to all the bridges, which ruins rhythm. I also was less than impressed with the water stations. I prefer to drink every two miles, but when I went to grab some Gatorade at a hydration station, the cup was less than half full. When it's late in the race and you need some sugar, you don't want to be handed a cup with 4 oz. of Gatorade, especially considering not all of it gets in your mouth sometimes! This forced me to grab for fluids much more than I planned on, which slowed my finishing time.

I really enjoyed the little local 2-3 person bands that were scattered sporadically in the race course. It's great to see some locals take the time to entertain the runners, way to go.

Some compliments I have are, first of all, the Hyatt hotel. Great hotel, very accommodating, and literally right next to the starting line, not to mention the expo was right in their grand ballroom. I had originally planned on running NY, but when I saw on TV that morning all the runners sitting on the grass, just waiting around in the cold for the race to finally start, I was more than happy to be in sunny Santa Clarita, knowing the starting line was just a short walk away from my hotel room. I also really appreciated some of the nice people I ran into during the race, and who can forget 'Barefoot Ted'? Hats off to him.

All in all, a decent marathon. If you're looking for a small, convenient, hometown-type marathon with fantastic race weather, maybe even your first marathon, this is a good one, but if you are looking for a great course layout with scenery and speed, this is not the race for you.

This was my fifth SCM and first on the new course. While I really liked the starting 10-mile descent on the old course, I actually enjoyed the new, flat, loopy course too. Very strong support from the Girl Scouts and others was wonderful. The views of the surrounding mountains were spectacular.

The first 20 miles of the course were fine. Good spectator support and I had no problems figuring out where the course splits were between the 1/2 and full marathon. The last 5 to 6 miles of the course were tough. A long stretch along a deserted riverbed on a bike trail with the only people at the aid stations. The pedestrian bridges the last 3 miles are tough. Good water and Gatorade stations - every mile with great volunteers and enthusiasm. This was my first marathon in 28 years but I'll be back. Great small marathon.

My third SCM. Start's good, well supported, plenty of porta-potties, started on time. The first few miles are easy. The problem with this race is the number of convoluted twists and turns that the course designer uses in order to have the half and full meet exact distance requirements and also end in the same place.

The bit where both miles 9 and 12 run southbound on the San Francisquito Trail and the faster half marathoners have to elbow slower runners out of the way is terribly confusing. I would rather see more of the race on roads than blending two segments of the race together and expecting runners to understand the confusing directions.

Also, as many others have mentioned, I would be much happier if the paseo bridges didn't come at the end. I'd rather have the paseo portions earlier in the race and do some road running at miles 23-26 than have those bridges in the last 10K.

Volunteers were great and the shirt is a nice one. The only request for future years would be ice chips for all the aid stations. One station (mile 24) brought their own bags of ice chips to hand out and those were great on a hot day.

It was a great day to run: Cloudy and cool for most of the time. The course was changed from last year. I'm not sure it was for the better. There did seem to be a bit of confusion with one juncture of the race where if you weren't paying attention, you would have missed a mile or so of the course. The only other 'minor' complaint is all the bridges to cross in the last few miles. My legs were fairly hammered already, and then to go up and down the bridges with a few 'U' turns tossed in didn't help. Other than that, it's definitely one of the more enjoyable local marathons around. Everyone is very helpful. The race organization is excellent. I highly recommend this marathon.

I had such a great time Sunday at Santa Clarita's 1/2 Marathon. Everything was great, although I do agree w/ the course being a little confusing at the 9-mile mark. One guy trying to explain whether to split or not for the 1/2 or full marathon did not quite work, especially when I had my iPod on full blast. But, I did figure it out somehow. Anyway, I'm trying to find the 1/2 marathon results but all I can find are those for the full.

To understand why the Santa Clarita Marathon is a piece of gem or to appreciate its beauty, you have to run it. Congratulations to all who ran, organized and volunteered! Great, great race. It had a small-town feeling to it. Priceless! Keep up the good work, Santa Clarita!

I ran the half, but I figure since I ended up running 16 miles or so instead of 13.1, I figure I ran somewhere in between a half-marathon and a full. Unless you have someone to follow closely (which is not always an option,) you need a map, a GPS, and a compass to follow this course. To say it's 'confusing' would be an understatement. The u-turns are very annoying too. After mile 8, the half runners are supposed to run another loop, then go straight at the same intersection. This is confusing enough as it is, but the half course joins the full right after that, so you spend that part dodging slower marathon runners. At that point, remembering something like, 'go straight where you turned before,' is difficult, because you're tired and surrounded by people in a different race on a different course.

The volunteers are great. I think this event has it's heart in the right place, but the course is truly awful. After doing 125% of the half, I will definitely not be doing the full... or the half again.

The race was wonderful. The course was incredibly well marked with cones, yellow tape, and/or volunteers at every corner. The aid stations were spaced every mile and staffed with friendly and energetic, costumed volunteers. The after race festival was well planned but dampened by the rain that began about 3 hours after the race started. Post-marathon showers were provided at a nearby, fancy athletic club and included warm towels. My only less-than-positive thought was the course terrain. Coming from pancake-flat Dallas, the hills of Santa Clarita challenged me. They are in NO way steep hills, but they seemed to be a constant during the race. But as the marathon starts and finishes in the nearly the same place, what goes up does comes down and the net elevation change is near zero. A few hill repeat workouts in preparation is all I was missing. A good race with excellent planning and execution.