The Rocket City Marathon was a wonderful experience. Last years race (2011) was a good race also... but I was less prepared for the distance and it colored my feelings. Now, five marathons later... I have more perspective. From the race directors to the spectators, the volunteers, the runners, the expo, the city, and the course logistics... I thought this was a class marathon in every respect. With less than 1500 runners, it had a sort of 'family feeling' to it. Bill Rodgers gave a fun speech the night before... and we all had a fine sphagetti feast. Having a tailwind for the last 10 miles was very helpful this year, and it perhaps offset the warmer temps. The first 16 miles required some teamwork (rotating geese formation) to conserve energy. For me, it was the ideal race set up. It could have been cooler (but I won't be greedy). Congratulations to everyone involved! I plan on coming back next year.

I drove about 2 hours from the Chattanooga area to run this race with a buddy who lives in Huntsville. The expo was nice (especially the opportunity to buy leftover previous years' shirts and hats for cheap). Pasta dinner and speaker were great. Weather was cool but not bad for December. Spectators were rather sparse but very enthusiastic! Medal looks great! Really my only knock on the race is the course itself ... not very scenic unless you think generic suburban neighborhoods are scenic :) And there are lots of turns (probably the most I have ever seen on a race course) so you are almost guaranteed to run the course a little long. The gel stations at miles 12 and 19 were very helpful. Overall I'd do it again.

I ran Rocket City for my Alabama marathon as I pursue the 50 states. Overall I was very impressed with the experience. I loved that it was only a marathon and no other races were involved. The most amazing perk I will highlight now in case you don't read the rest of my post: stay at the host hotel (Holiday Inn) if you can because the race starts right out in front of the hotel and finishes in the hotel parking lot! I was able to use the bathroom in my hotel room at 7:55am and get out for the 8:00 start! And I could immediately walk right up to my room after the finish for a shower. (Alternate choice: Embassy Suites is across the street).

Pros include:
-nice little expo
-great swag from previous years available for sale at deeply discounted prices
-all miles very well marked with giant flags that you could see from far away
-spectators were AWESOME, much better than expected
-nice post-race food (including ice cream sandwiches!)
-the medal is AMAZING, perhaps the best I've ever received
-helpful race packet online before the race
-they offered a post-race dinner the night of the race that didn't cost much and was a nice touch
-they had Dick Beardsley as a speaker and guest this year and he was great

Cons:
-need more aid stations; though they did tell us ahead of time where they would be, many of them were more than 2 miles apart. At the very least, put an aid station every mile during the last 5 miles.
-men's shirt was MUCH nicer than women's shirt (women's was white and paper thin and see-through and you couldn't even read the design; they did generously let me switch to a men's shirt after the race)
-section on Bailey Cove Rd. (?) was a long stretch on a busy road and a bit dangerous (a volunteer was hit and badly injured...prayers to him/her and family)
-need to better control runner traffic at the finish and just inside hotel on the way to food. Runners literally stopped ON the finish line and also clogged up the hallway just inside the hotel door. Post-marathon 101 is that you need to keep moving and it's hard to do that when people get in the way by just standing there. There were plenty of volunteers at the finish...just put 1 or 2 more to help direct traffic just inside door.

Overall, this was a GREAT race and I give it high marks. I urge you to consider this race. You won't be disappointed!

This was the 35th Rocket City Marathon so it's not surprising that the race was so well organized. With all the turns thru town, I can certainly agree with the no headphone rule- although some real weird thoughts go through a person's mind when they're used to having one. I gave 5 stars to the spectators not because of the quantity of people but quality... I wore my college 'Huskies' shirt and had countless shout-outs (and the 'Course Liar' was hilarious). Post race food inside the Holiday Inn is another plus. In spite of the cold temps and breeze on the last half of the course this was a wonderful marathon.

Saw more kids (high school down to toddlers) out cheering along the course then I've ever seen before. Saw a lot of Santa's too.

Spectators were few and far between but where they were, they were great. If you need crowd support, then look elsewhere. Course is very residential but also very nice. Lots of turns, only on one street did we run more than a mile straight. Very friendly runners too. I think this race could compete with Richmond as far as friendliest.

I give it a thumbs up!

Started on time!

Advice: don't stay at a hotel off University Dr/Pkwy. Traffic was horrible (didn't have a problem getting to race in morning but going back to hotel after race was awful). However, lots of restaurant choices off University. If I run again, I will stay at a hotel closer to start/finish.

Very nice race. Not the most scenic I've run, but nice overall.
Expo.: Small but nice. They had all the supplies you needed.
Fast packet pick-up.
Weather: I don't usually comment on it: because you get what you get, and we all enjoy it or suffer in it ?
But: cold for Alabama folks (33 w/wind chill of 29 at the start, low 40's by the end but sunny) perfectly fine for me !
Easy to run in shorts, short sleeve tech, and long sleeve tech over it, with a pair of cheap knit gloves.
I was plenty warm.
Parking on race day. We arrived 45 minute before the race, and had no problem finding a place to park, and only 200 yards or so away from the start ?
Course: Mostly neighborhood running, which was quiet and peaceful. A bunch of turns, but I like that
better than some of the 4 mile to 6 mile straight boredom runs I've done.
The best part was, the miles seemed to click by pretty fast.( 24th marathon w / 3:50 finish)
Spectators were light, but I don't have them when I train so I really don't them.
But when they were out, they were great, especially Mr. & Mrs. Claus, plus the 'Course Liar'
yelling from a chair in his front lawn. He said there was free beer at the end. Ha-Ha-Ha !
With the race limited to 1500 runners you were never cramped or having to dodge other runners.
Water stops were well staffed and serviced. The only thing in this race I noticed, or failed to notice
Were port-o-lets ? Luckily when I started to need one there was a home remodel that had one in the yard.
The host hotel was the staging area for the start and finish. Everyone stayed inside until 5 to 10 minutes before the race,
which was about 100 yards away from the front lobby.
The other nice thing was the runners actually policed themselves for their proper pace time.
Kind of nice not having the throngs of half marathoners in front of you either.
As for the course elevations ? They felt like were short little incline ramps, not hills, so this is a pretty flat course, with these short
inclines to freshen the legs from the rest of the flat running.

Volunteers: Were wonderful and trained well. The emergency staff were everywhere and on the ball.
I tried to text friends, with gloves on, to let them know I was at 23 miles, and I had to stop,
because my gloves were double punching letters. As soon as I stopped to get the text right,
Emergency staff was right there asking if I was OK. Now that's service !

The finish was great. Seemed like each runner had their own person handing out the blanket catered to that runner, and walked you back to the finishers area.
As soon as you left the finishers area, you were pretty much back into the hotel.
The post race food spread was amazing. The best I've been to !
Overall a great time. I'd recommend this to anyone.
Great job HTC ! Keep up the great work !!!!

The Huntsville Track Club (HTC) seems to be very dedicated to producing a high quality event each year.

I've run this race twice. 2010 and 2011. While is usually cool and windy the course is remarkably flat and fast.

The pacers were awesome and very supportive. Eric, the pacer I stayed closest too did his best to set a steady pace and help everyone there run the best race they could.

The aid stations were great. Seemed like most of the local boyscout troops came out to man the aid stations. They were all super supportive and excited.

The only downside to Rocket City was the fans. Because it's a smaller race (capped at ~1500) and it's cold there aren't tons of spectators. You run through a group of people cheering for you about every other mile or so. Which is enough for me.

All in all, this race is an extremely good time and well worth the money and effort.

I was very impressed with this race. It was incredibly well organized from expo to finish. I stayed at the Embassy Suites across the street from the start, so it was incredibly convenient. We walked to dinner at a better than average Italian restaurant the night before the race. Packet pick-up was like clockwork, and I was mostly pleased, if not a little terrified, to see that I was listed on the board as a top seed. Nothing like a little pressure to perform. The course was mostly flat, winding through neighborhoods before a long straight stretch before returning on a long straight stretch several blocks away.

This prevented getting congested on the same street as happens in so many other marathons. Also, this was only a marathon, so there were no half-marathoners clogging the roads, eating all the food and tying up the massage tables. It was a chilly 35 degrees at the start, and it didn't get over 40 while I was on the course. There was a stiff headwind all the way back from mile 15 on, but that's not really something the race officials can control. Mile 17 was where many good marathons died today, and mine was one of them, although I still managed a 3:05 and took third in my age group.

At the finish, I had two volunteers greet me, and one stayed with me even when he saw I was okay. He was patient and waited until I had enough water before handing me a finisher's hat and medal, both of which were pretty nice quality if you don't mind bright orange. The long sleeve technical shirt was also pretty nice. Post-race buffet was indoors at the Holiday Inn, and there was no line for massages (granted, I finished 43rd, so I'm sure it got more crowded later). There were ample baked goods and other post-race foods, and I appreciated the minestrone the most after such a cold day. Age group awards were nice medals, and they were awarded five-deep after taking out the top three overall and top three Masters, so there was a pretty good opportunity to win an age group award.

My only criticisms are minor: the 3-hour pacer did not show up, although I have never heard of a 3-hour pacer before. It might have helped to have him to cut the wind for me, but I don't think a sub-3-hour race was in the cards for me today. Also, water stops were as much as 2.9 miles apart, and they were spaced irregularly, so it was hard to gauge when to take energy gels. I generally hope to see water stops every 2 miles, so it was a bit mentally challenging to figure this out, as the water stops also weren't quite where they were advertised to be. That being said, I didn't get dehydrated, so it was not of much consequence to me.

This race was also a real bargain for the price, especially with the convenience and superb organization of this race.

Fast course, superbly organized, great race. We came in wondering about this race as our emailed questions were never answered and there were tons rules (such as no headphones), but I must admit, the race was great, seemed to go off without a flaw. I can see why there is a no headphone rule; streets are open and they get closed to traffic just before you cross. Local cheering was light but great. Great shirt and medal. If you want a fast, fun race, this is it. Very fast! TO THE RACE DIRECTOR: ANSWER EMAILS PRIOR TO THE RACE PLEASE! And great job on the event!

As good as it gets. Thanks to MG, I picked this one for my AL race over Birmingham and Mobile and was so glad I did. The attention to detail was outstanding. I gave the fans 3 stars which brought rating down to 4 1/2 but actually they had more fans than most small races, so this is a 5 star race.

Positives:

Where to begin? The web site, the low reg. fee, the closeness of the airport, the start/finish at same place; the closeness of hotels so you didn't need a car (I stayed across street at Embassy Suites, which I recommend: they opened the breakfast at 6 a.m. for us runners and you can get a late check out if you ask nicely and free shuttle to/from airport plus lots of room to spread out) and literally left at 7:55 a.m. and jogged over to the start in plenty of time; the expo at the Hilton was small but they posted final age group seedings so you could see what your chances were (I was pleased to take 2nd in mine), never seen that before, and last year's shirt and cap sold cheaply; wonderful volunteers; a nice small town/local running club/this is a race for runners, not bucket listers or rock n rollers; great swag: not just an attractive l.s. tech shirt but dry fit cap and good medal; nice pasta dinner with good speaker (Dick Beardsley); not having a half or other races so the course was never crowded, but never lonely either; lots of pace groups who were all right on the money; decent crowd support; excellent aid stations and 2 GU hand outs; excellent traffic control (although I heard an aid station volunteer got hit by a car, wth?); kinda boring course but only a few small hills and never ugly; announcer calling out everyone's name at finish; volunteer meeting you and attending to your needs; only a 50 yard walk to the inside of the Hilton, where a lavish spread awaited and free massages and nice award ceremony a few hours later. Really, everything was great.

Negatives:
None
Well, I would have appreciated the RD having less wind or at least having it for the first half. J/k.

THANK YOU ROCKET CITY RD AND VOLUNTEERS, YOU ALL ROCKED.