The pre-race details are not crisp and professional yet. On course, everything runs beautifully, which is what really matters to me!

Great volunteers; great police support! Varied and fun course, and I agree that it can prove to be fast. I really need to make this a target race one year as I think I could easily garner a personal best here.

Thank you for a wonderful day. For next year, figure out what time the dinner is actually going to start, plan for table turn-over at dinner (!), and provide access to a detailed course map with street names to help with family willing to go all over the course to cheer! Thanks! Had fun!!!

I had very low expectations after reading comments about this race several years ago. I decided to run the half this year as a tuneup race and was very happy with it. Nice, flat course (a lot on the boardwalk); good traffic control; and an excellent start/finish area with easy parking. Amenities were great, with plenty of post-race food and a great band. Yes, there are some bugs to work out like the kids' race (disaster!) and delayed awards presentation, but overall this was an excellent mid-size race and I will be back for the full next year!

This was a very nice race but it does need to have a few improvements. First, packet pickup was a little disorganized. There needs to be a separation between those who are pre-registered, and those who are not. Also, the information that I received said it was on the 5th floor of the hotel; however, it was on the 6th floor. Not a real big deal, but that should be accurate. Also, all notices said that the dinner was starting at 6:00 when in fact it started at 6:30. The dinner was very good and had something for everyone. They also said that there would be discount coupons to local vendors but there weren't. The course is very flat and easy to follow. The only complaint regarding the race is that the available water for finishers was 20 feet from the finish line. I didn't grab any water because i was worried about being run over. That water needs to be moved out to allow for more room. Overall, it was a good marathon that I would run again.

The only truly bad thing about this race was waiting in line for a solid hour to pick up my packet at hotel registration the day before (they only had two people working the desk). Otherwise I was very pleased.

The dinner the night before was EXCELLENT! The food was amazing, with live music, and all complementary for half and full marathoners!

They need a better sound system at the starting line. It was hard to hear directions. The course went by some seedier neighborhoods and highway exit ramps at the start, but once it got out to Margate it was beautiful. The water stops were spaced out perfectly and staffed with enthusiastic and helpful volunteers. There was barely any crowd support along the way, even on the boardwalk it seemed most people had no idea a marathon was going on.

The post-race amenities were great. Plenty of water, mango juice, hot dogs, bananas and oranges, bagels, etc. I wasn't crazy about the shirt (size M practically comes down to my knees) but the medal was very nice.

The only thing the race directors can't do anything about is the wind. It was a beautiful sunny day in the 50's, but I spent much of the race running headlong into gusts of wind.

Overall it was a nice change of pace from big-city marathons. If you want a small, flat marathon at the beach, give this one a shot.

Atlantic City was my first marathon (1998) and that year I was very disappointed with the race.

In 2009, I returned to Atlantic City for my 100th marathon (plus 36 ultras) to see if anything had changed.

This year I had a wonderful time. I enjoyed running around the pedestrians on the Boardwalk, and the view of the ocean was really something special (much better than other, more aggressively marketed New Jersey marathons). The parking and race day packet pickup in Boardwalk Hall was extremely convenient as well. Traffic control was excellent. They even gave me bib #100. What more could I ask for?

I will recommend the Atlantic City Marathon to other runners, and I look forward to returning for the third time in 2010.

I like a no-frills race. If you're old school, this one is for you. Flat as a pancake. Multiple out-and-backs. Running on the boardwalk. If you're expecting Boston, NYC or Disney amenities, stay away. If you're looking for a nice, little, no-hassle, flat marathon, come on down.

Considering that this race changed management and dates at the last minute, it is not a bad event at all; and given the short time frame the new race director was given, it ended up being a really well executed event. All four races (marathon, half, 10K and 5K) were well marked and the majority of the races were along the famous boardwalk of Atlantic City, which made for easy access to the start/finish from any casino hotel along the strip. The post-run food was better than races three times the size of this one and the volunteers were extremely friendly and helpful. The awards ceremony was very nice and the prizes were among the nicest I've seen. The only real negative was that the packet pick-up was the morning of the race. It would have been nice to have that the day before just to avoid the anxiety that morning; however, the volunteers were quite proficient in getting people their packets quickly. Now that the new race director has this one under their belt, this event will only get better and better. Given the fact that it is held in mid-November, the weather might be an issue but this year, it couldn't have been better with temperatures getting into the mid-60's by noon. If you need a New Jersey race, I highly endorse this one.

I hadn't ever run this race, but I'm from New Jersey, so I figured I would give it a shot.

The good things about this race:
1. It's easy to sign up in the NY area AFTER the major marathons. If you ran NYC or Marine Corp and didn't do so well, then here is a race to try and still get a good Boston time. Philly used to be that way, but now they are closed out early. Changing the date to mid-November was a good thing, and for their sake I hope they keep it that way.
2. GREAT pre-race meal. The highlight of this event was the pre-race dinner. Good band, GREAT food, $5 DONATION! One of the best meals I have had before a marathon.
3. Simple and flat course; if you get good weather (like we had this year), you could really do well here.
4. Crowd support. Light but enthusiastic.
5. Spectator-friendly course. Your significant other (or other friends and relatives) can run in a shorter race with you (and turn off at their turnaround). Or you can recruit your family and friends to spread out on the course and be there at sections with aid. If they stay at the start to see you off, then go to mile 9 where the marathon turns unto Atlantic Ave.; they can watch you pass five times (start, mile 9, 15, 19 23), but then they need to scoot to the finish! A bicycle is great for this!

The bad things about this race:
1. Long stretches between water stops. Don't depend on getting water in the first seven miles. I was shocked to run past the start/finish at mile 6 and NOT be given water! Expect to have to run stretches of five or six miles before getting water. It appears a couple of the water stops never materialized.
2. Mile markers: They were small, orange, cryptic numbers on the street. To run this race with accurate splits, you need a Garmin.
3. Directional signs. Few and far between. And the ones they had were small. At turn #1 there was no sign and just a person to tell you to turn around. However, she forgot to tell me until I was 10 yards past her and THEN she shouted to me to come back! That blew a few seconds.
4. They should have had signs to tell runners to stay on the right. I almost hit at least a few runners coming in the opposite direction. Remember, you are going up and down the same streets four TIMES! You have no idea who is on what lap after a while. I was stopped by a fellow runner at one point because she was confused what loop she was on.

UGLY:
1. Medal: The medal is what makes some difficult marathons worth it. This medal was a default, store-bought, running-shoe medal with "Atlantic City Marathon" engraved on the back. No date. I can honestly say that this is the worst marathon medal I have ever received of the 35 marathons I have personally done.
2. Crowd control: As I neared the finish, I had to weave through the boardwalk crowds walking three or four abreast. There were no cones; it was a mess. I ran into a cyclist at one point. This is a serious injury waiting to happen.

I can live with the bad points I referenced. But the UGLY points will cause me to stay away. I hope they address those areas.

I have run this race about 10 times and had run another marathon a month ago when the original race was canceled. As a last-minute decision, I signed up for the race when the new organizers announced the rescheduled date. The course was the same, but the overall organization was much improved. It was a snap picking up the number, the gift package was the best ever, and the race went off without a hitch. The after-race refreshments were the best I've ever seen (I have run 59 marathons, including 10 Bostons and 14 NYC). Parking was easy and close by, and awards were given out immediately after the race - no long wait. I highly recommend the race. A couple of improvements for the future would be to add water in the first five miles, and awards at least three deep in age group categories. But overall ,a great experience! Thanks, JCC and Tropicana, for continuing the race!

The race is very beautiful; however, there were not enough restroom facilities along the course.