The course is mostly on the highway that runs parallel to the American River and is pretty wide and lined with oak trees. The race is fast, but the rolling hills mean that it's not as fast as many say. All in all, it is a nice course.

Spectators lined the streets and welcome runners at every small community and almost every intersection... really friendly and supportive.

Lines at the starting line porta-potties were astronomical. The electrolyte drink was awful. The post-race food was adequate, but not anything special. Aid stations were poorly marked and none had Tylenol. The medal is really nice. The staff at the finish line was friendly and helpful.

It's the people that make this race fun.

The course is downhill overall, but the first half is MUCH harder on the body than a relative novice like me was really ready for. The hills are set up to really pound your legs - be prepared! This tour of Sacramento is well-organized, well-laid out, attracts some very friendly runners, has a perfect staging area in Folsom and an inspiring ending at the state capitol (though the split-gender finish area seems pointless and confused the people who finished right in front of me... but I digress). I will definitely be back to run this again - my compliments to all involved in the 2006 CIM!

This was my second marathon after San Francisco and I was impressed. The course follows suburban and urban streets that offer a few ups and downs and little scenery. I ran 45 minutes faster here than San Francisco. The crowds and entertainment were almost overwhelmingly good. The marathon was a good size and well run.

This was marathon #8 for me and the first CIM. Overall I don't think you could ask for a better day! I know the organizers had nothing to do with it but man... gorgeous!

Expo: Small but easy to navigate and plenty of places to buy stuff. Good location also.

Shuttle Service: This is a point-to-point race. The organization of the shuttle service was fantastic. It was easy on and off. They even let us stay on the buses to stay warm before the race. I can't imagine another marathon event that could do better than they did. Kudos!!

Race: I was expecting much of the course to be downhill, but it was far more rolling than I expected. It definitely doesn't make it a bad thing, but I was surprised. Despite the rolling, the race was fast and probably could be the fastest course in the West (even for a turtle like me!!). The spectators were very supportive and there were more than I thought there would be on the course. The actual course wasn't bad but I'd probably have preferred to turn right or left a little more. I believe we were on Fair Oaks Blvd. for 15 or so miles with not much turning.

Finishing: This is my only real complaint with the race. Nobody would help me with my chip removal so I had to do it myself. Not a huge deal except right after the race, I really didn't want to sit down until I had a chance to stretch a bit. Also, the corral had no refreshments and it was a free for all with spectators outside of it. For me (a 5:20 finisher) I was unable to have any food or drink at the finish since there wasn't any I could find. There may have been some available but nobody was there to help me. It was far different than what I was expecting since most races have the stuff right at the finish. Additionally, having someone who could give directions back to the host hotel would have been nice.

All in all, I'd recommend the race as the good far far outweighs the bad. I probably won't do it again since there are so many others to do but if you want a great California race, this one could be for you!

I love reading these marathon reviews. It's so interesting to discover what different people expect from marathon organizers. Here's my take:

Start with the website. I thought the "Runner Info" page was well organized and contained a lot of good information - even some "runner's etiquette" suggestions. Their website asked the fast runners to be sure and leave some food for the later arrivals. To their credit, apparently the faster runners were able to resist the culinary temptations of boxes and boxes of bananas and bagels.

So maybe the earlier arrivals found something more than dried-out bagels and under-ripe bananas. But hey, I don't run to the finish for the cuisine. Post-run food: minimally adequate. (But if they had better to offer, they should know to put it out as runners come in, not as the food disappears.)

Hear me loud and clear, marathon organizers: NO HOSE WATER. There was one water stop that had the cheap stuff. The rest were fine, and all had enthusiastic staff. And the staff wore plastic gloves (so no finger water at the CIM).

It seemed like there was one leg of 3 or 4 miles with no restrooms (about mile 10), but can't swear to it. Otherwise, restrooms were good and lines often short. Note for next year's etiquette page: Line up for the potty parallel to the course, not across it! (Perhaps this is a popular course for first-timers?)

Prettiest finisher's medal I've got. Nice work. And from the "We'd like to thank the participants for their donations" column: not without humor, either. The obverse has the name of the sponsor, "Organs 'R' Us." (After a guy died in the SF Marathon I ran last July, this couldn't pass unnoticed.) Maybe next year they can add their phone number for a speedy pick up?

Cool "Technical T" and we had a choice at registration of long- or short-sleeve. I chose the long-sleeve and for the first time I actually wore the shirt they gave me for the marathon. It's the first one I've got that looks nice on me. Like the medal - nice work people.

Bus to the start ($10 at registration) worked well, as did the sweats bag pick up and delivery. I suggest you use the sweats bag opportunity; it's cold at the start.

Excellent running weather in 2006. Clear and cool. I felt fine in shorts and their long-sleeve T, and I was glad to easily get my sweats back at the finish to warm up. My GPS watch agrees with the CIM: They say you start at 366 feet, and finish at 26 feet above sea level. My watch says I climbed 3,907 feet, and descended 4,248. But what others say is true - gentle rolling hills. I didn't see them as a factor.

A special mention of the belly dancers about mile 24, on both sides of the course. Thank you, ladies. I needed a smile about then.

This was my fourth marathon, and while I'll do more, I'm not focused on repeating venues just yet. But when I do, I'll be back!

This was my 18th marathon, and first CIM. The weather was cold but perfect for running. I don't know where people get the idea of a "fast" course from. Although it is a negative elevation gain, it was rolling hills the whole way, and I found this course to be one of my more difficult runs (and no training didn't help matters, either). The water stops with the volunteers were wonderful and the crowd support great. Having wide open streets with fall colors was nice. Overall, it was an enjoyable marathon (if you can call any marathon enjoyable)! Definitely worth doing once.

This is my 15th marathon and my first here. The route is great on the legs and the spectators were teriffic. Passing through the small towns reminded me of Boston! Some good food at he finish would be my only suggestion.

Expo is well organized and convenient. Packet pickup was fairly easy, though it was confusing to have to leave the expo to get shirts and goody bags and then return to continue shopping.

Bus pick-up was smooth and fast. Glad the buses were at all the listed hotels.

Start line was fairly well planned, and though the porta-potty lines were long (as usual), it was nice to be able to wait on the buses (though the lungfuls of exhaust were not nice).

Good course. I have to say the 5:30 pacer meant well but was incompetent. We went out in a sub-12 minute pace and the pace should have been 12:36. At 3 miles we were at 35 minutes and I dropped back, knowing I'd already gone out too fast. Course is nice and rolling, though I wish it were on the river parkway rather than on Fair Oaks Blvd.

Finish line was NOT good. They ran out of medals again. I walked a mile back from the hotel to find out that they'd been out of medals for awhile and hadn't told us. It's not a big deal for me, as this was my 17th marathon, but for the first-time completers, I'm sure it was a big disappointment.

I'll probably be back, but I won't trust a pacer again for a while. Again, not such a big deal for an experienced marathoner, but going out at that pace could be disastrous for a first-time racer.

After running away from the CIM weather reputation to various southern marathons for the last three years, I ran the local CIM for the first time this year and it was a perfect run on a perfect weather day. Temperatures in the low 40's at the start with no wind or clouds led to ideal conditions. Smashed my PR by 9 minutes running with one of MANY pace groups.

The course has rollers throughout the first half, but that keeps the legs fresh and none of the climbs are of any significance.

Crowd support not on par with the big boys, but there were loud pockets of support scattered through the course and in particular at the relay exchanges.

Great design made for a beautiful finisher's medal. Separate finish lines for men and women are a nice touch too.

Finish line was well organized with massages, hot soup, food, and sweats all available within yards of the finish.

Net downhill course has quite a few rolling hills for the first 2/3 of the course, but none are that steep or long. After a short hill, it was encouraging to see long stretches of declines. Most of my training was done on completely flat terrain, so my quads did get quite tired and sore during the marathon.

Cold (32F) at the start, but the sun warmed things up throughout the day to about 55F. Bus ride to start was well organized and is must for all runners. Bit more crowded throughout run than expected - didn't really thin out till mile 14/15. Wish the water stations were closer to mile markers, but at least they were plentiful.

The small towns and scenery were nice. And spectators were great - best of the three marathons that I have run (LA, SF, CIM). Finish was really well done, and the spectators lining the way into the capitol building were energetic. Bag pick-up and food locations were a little hard to find. But food at finish line was good: Clif Bars/recovery drinks, two kinds of soup (lentil and tomato), apples, bananas, bagels, and Starbucks Gingerbread Lattes.

Good course to run for a fast time. Was hoping to finish in 3:30, but instead finished in 3:43. Still lowered my PR by 40 minutes.