Pros
-Pasta dinner I have run in over 60 marathons and this was one of the best pasta dinners with great food, different selections, and a nice venue
-Long shelve shirt w/ a nice design and NO sponsors, the medal was small, however good quality
-The volunteers, traffic control were very vocal and friendly
-The pace teams were awesome especially the 3:35 guy, although he was a little fast in a couple of early miles he settled in nicely and hit the mark
-The race staff listens to suggestions and wants to improve their event for the RUNNERS benefit
-Course had a few overpasses and a tunnel during the beginning; however you run mi 8-16 on the boardwalk and mi 22 to the finish back on the boardwalk, these miles were different than running on asphalts
-The 3rd oldest marathon in the US 53 yrs!

Cons
-Gatorade sooner on the course, and have an electrolyte drink at the finish, H20 only is unsat & more food
-GU 100yds prior to the H20, sounds picky h-ever spreading these out makes less of a crowd and optimal use
-Louder PA announcing system for the start with more directions
-Less wind, just kidding I know you can't control the weather

Overall, I would run this race again. Although casinos are the main attraction there are things for families to do on the boardwalk during the run. If you are looking for a fast fall NE marathon add this race to your list.

Expo was okay, very small not many vendors. Stayed at Bally's Hotel, will not stay there again. Knew we were in trouble when we checked in and the staff at the desk was very rude when I asked about late checkout, she said absolutely not and would not even consider the late checkout time. Up all night due to partying in room next door, called front desk with no results. Start line for the race was too crowded, if they ever did the national anthem we could not hear it. Not many spectators on the course at all until you hit the boardwalk and then they would not move. Organizers need to mark the boardwalk if they can. You had to dodge the pushcarts, Sunday strollers and walkers the entire way back on the boardwalk. Very difficult to maneuver. Was a little concerned with the hot weather that there was no gatorade or powerade on the course before Mile 13, water only. Saw alot of runners walking after this point, not sure if it was from the heat and not hydrating. Post race was good and it was nice sitting inside the casino while we were waiting.

Where was the gaterade!?!... Or gels?
No electrolyte replenishment in a half marathon!?...
Runners need to be roped off on the boardwalk...

Registration: Very smooth.

Expo: Packet pickup for a breeze for me. Some other folks said that they waited a long time. Vendor opportunities were a little limited

Race T-shirt: Very cool long sleeved technical shirt

Pre-race support/setup: No issues here. You can stay in the casino out of the wind until race time

Weather for 2011: Cool and sunny for the first half of the race. As mentioned, the wind was a big challenge for the second half of the race.

Course: one only hill to speak off - it's a highway ramp in the first 5 miles. Otherwise, flat. Nice views of the beach, casino, Lucy the Elephant.
Spectator density is on the low side (especially for the second half of the race) but they are very friendly. Water/Gatorade/GU were plentiful. As mentioned, the wind, the wind and the wind will determine your performance.

Post-race support: Plentiful and un-congested.

Medal: Nice size and colors.

Location: Parts of AC can be seedy. Catch an indian summer day and you get a sense of a old time, Boardwalk empire AC

I chose to use this marathon as preparation for NYC 2011, I really enjoyed the course, the spectators and volunteers really helped keep me motivated ( especialy in the later miles), well organized, I did not find the expo too impressive, overall great marathon, plan to return.

i took 2 years off from this race cause it has been horrible, glad to see diferent people running it this year, great job, well orginized better metals and its about time they got away from those cotton shirts, nice shirts also this year, the only this is they need gatorade, it was all water. i will continue to do it if they keep up the good job.

I love visiting AC more than a few times a year. We stay at Borgata - which I highly recommend - and then cab to the start. I liked the new course this year. I loved running up the one hill over the freeway. It's fun to pass the spectators outside of the casinos. The boardwalk is wide enough there to accommodate spectators as well as runners. Once you leave the boardwalk, it is a long race. Turning off the highway to run though a few neighborhoods felt like a maze from which I would NEVER exit. it is also exasperating to dodge sunday strollers the last few miles, who seemed to have no idea a race was taking place. I would do this marathon again because I love AC and Borgata takes good care of us.

I am a local girl (Ocean City) who has shied away from this race because of its bad reputation as disorganized, boring and poorly run. However, I knew there was new management and a lot of people were pretty encouraged by the changes, so I decided to give the half-mary a try. So glad I did!! Excellent race!

PROS
* very well organized
* great shirt (that actually fits - I love when they don't run too big!)
* amazing post-race food (blueberry champagne and chocolate fondue among the deliciousness to be had!)
* enjoyable course along the boards and through AC
* raffle to win $25K
* the chance to stand inside before the race to keep warm - although the day was absolutely beautiful and wasn't needed this year, I could see that being a plus on a blustery/wet year

CONS
Can't really think of too many - the water stations could have been a little better organized, but that is a very minor complaint

Great job, race organizers! You have really turned this race around and I will definitely be doing it in the future!

I thought the race was very well organized. Check-in took a little longer than I am used to. Probably stood in line in Bally's for 20 minutes. The other negative was that the start was a bit cramped but that is because the boardwalk was under construction near the start line; this should not be a problem next year. My last complaint was that the last 3 miles of the race were along the boardwalk, which was awesome; what was bad was that there were so many people walking along the boardwalk that you were constantly dodging people - not something you want to do the last 3 miles of a marathon. It would have been nice if they had a few volunteers to keep the path clear. The amenities were perfect, course was beautiful, weather was great, and water stations were well stocked and well manned; they could have used some GU or something, but luckily I brought my own.

I ran the half marathon this year and was most impressed with the course setting, half of which was on Atlantic City's spacious boardwalk. The non-boardwalk section between miles 1.5 and 8 left the Trump Plaza and Trump Taj Mahal behind to head inland to visit... the Trump Marina. But hey, it just wouldn't be AC without The Donald's name everywhere, and the only spectators at all on this barren section were Trump employees offering some encouragement.

The course is flat, although some will probably count the one freeway overpass as a hill.

The support along the course by the AC police and volunteers was impressive. The police were out in force, and despite the growing traffic jams in this busy resort, I never once was concerned about traffic or my safety.

Some things that need to be improved: Packet pick up was extremely slow. Also, there weren't any vendors at the packet pick up location. I would think that, with 3K runners, it wouldn't be difficult to recruit some vendors, especially since UA and Nike have stores within a half-mile of the pick up. Mile markers need to be placed accurately. The second mile marker was actually at 1.82 miles. (Yeah, I know this happens occasionally even at the "big" races). Lastly, timing mats need to be placed more strategically to ensure that everyone is running the full distances of their 10K, half and marathon courses. Too many distances, too many fluid game-day plans, and too much temptation for some, I'm afraid.

I'll be back for the half, although I probably won't run the full. When I finished at 9:30, the boardwalk was still mostly deserted, but I felt a bit sorry for the marathoners coming through in the following hours having to slice their way through pedestrians over the last mile or two. People were clueless that they ought to show some courtesy to this string of runners, running on fumes at the tail end of their marathon.