I'm happy with finish 3:29:52 in CIM.
I've done back to back to back marathon,San Diego Marathon (1-20-02),Huntington Beach Marathon(1-27-02),and Las Vegas International Marathon (2-3-02),also I run Los Angeles Marathon,106th Boston Marathon,Palos Verdes Marathon,San Diego Rock'n'roll Marathon, San Francisco Marathon,25th Chicago Marathon,Santa Clarita Marathon.
My 1st marathon was Nov. 12,2000 Long Beach Marathon clocked 3:48:53, next year's San Diego
Marathon (1-20-03) will be my 20th marathon and I'm excited to run there with PR.

Ran the 2002 Sacramento CIM with very little training and had my best time in years. Course is more 'rolling hills' than 'net elevation loss'--seems like you're always going up or down.

Water stations were a bummer. If you go next year, bring your own water! Water stations used hose water that darn near made me choke. Plus, first water station was at 3 miles and second at 5.5. What's that about drinking early and often? Not here!

Weather was perfect this year but it rained hard the year before. Expo was smaller than expected.

On the plus side, the marathon relay runners keep you company. Seemed like 25% of the field was running the relay. Very surprised at the crowd support along the course. Many people drove along the course to meet their friends/relatives at various points.

All in all, I'd do it again.

This was my 4th marathon and I just ran it yesterday. Luckily, it was dry, but mostly hazy with temps in 40s and 50s. After reading last year's comments, I was praying that it wouldn't rain and it didn't. Instead, it's raining today! Phew!

The t-shirt is great. Not because of any particularly good artwork (although this year's was nice), but because it's a good quality dri-fit fabric that you can actually use running! In fact, since I got a long-sleeve shirt and 40 degrees is a bit chilly for me, I wore mine during the race. It was perfect. Plus, the back only has one sponsor's name on it, the Sacramento Bee (newspaper).

The organization of this race was top-notch. The bib pickup and expo were painless at the Convention Center; the start line had a nice pre-race buzz; EVERY mile marker was clearly visible with a tall red or blue flag and almost every one was staffed with a volunteer or two calling out both pace and overall times; there was well staffed (and well trained) aid station (water and Ultima) near almost every mile mark; traffic control was very good; the finisher's chute was well directed (separate men's and women's) and staffed with a bib tag remover, medal presenter and space blanket giver. Running without a hitch!

The course wasn't quite as dull as I had expected taking us through some
pleasant rural areas and neatly manicured suburban neighborhoods sans the multitude of strip malls that I had envisioned.

CIM is billed as 'The Fastest Marathon in the West' because it has a net elevation drop of 350 feet for the 26.2 mile course. The keyword is, net. There were several rolling hills along the way so the net decline was imperceptible. As a CIM runner commented last year, 'There are no easy marathons.' HALLELUJAH!! Even though I PR'ed this race, I couldn't agree more.

Given that this race closes off so many suburban intersections, I was surprised how many supportive locals there were along the course. Great attitudes and the majority of them knew what to cheer: i.e., none of that, 'you're almost there' stuff.

After you finish and collect your medal, there isn't a whole lot to do, but bundle up in your space blanket and enjoy the view of the nicely restored State Capital.

This was my third marathon and I was hoping cool weather and a flat course would result in a fastime and a relatively easy experience compared to efforts on other courses. The weather turned out to be unbelievably tough and the course is definately not pancake flat.

Two big lessons learned:

1. There are no easy marathons
2. I signed up and ran with a pace group but as it turned out our pacer went out too fast and lost everyone but me and another person by mile 16. It seemed to me that the pacer must know what they were doing so I kept going. At about mile 18 the pacer bonked and I was on my own. I ended up being off by about 15 minutes. I am definately not mad at the pacer who I think felt really bad. Rather I should have been smart enough to back off.

One slight bit off satisfaction for this 4 hour + racer. The weather was so bad that I saw many elites and otherwise serious looking runners on the sag buses as their low low bodyfat systems could not handle the conditions. Sure they would normally finish 2 hours ahead of me but in the sufferfest that was the 2001 CIM I finished and they did not.

The biggest thing that encouraged me were the maniac fans, that must have been even more miserable than the runners, that were so supportive and turned out in great numbers.

Only peeve with race organization was that some buses kicked people off to stand in rain at prerace and others did not.

Bussing to a start not that unusual but no protection from the freezing rain and wind for the hour wait before the start. Few aid stations 1st 20 miles and most blown over by wind so only water and ultima until mile 20. The organizers should have made sure the aid stations were there and stocked..The gu tables were gone before the 9 minute people got to any of them. We(my wife and I) will never do any race at any distance where ultima is the proud sponser, that stuff should be outlawed. We purchased some for training and read the label. 1 envelope to 20 ounces of water. 80 calories in 20 ounces, so thats about,what?,4 calories in the little cup at approx. each 3 or 4 miles? As long course triathletes we had running belts with 2 bottles and 2 6 ounce gel bottles but many people were really suffering. The course is really great and people are cheering you on the entire course but doesn't make up for the aid support.

I was worried about the weather prior to the race. While running, it was raining, not hard though and just a few gusts of wind. I was warm and very prepared with layers as I was taught by coach, his famous words 'can't change the course or the weather, however you can just prepare yourself'. Thanks to all the fans who came out to cheer us on, it was colder for you than us runners.

This year's rainstorm made this race quite a challenge which resulted in wonderful bragging rights.

This was the second time I have run CIM. Sad to say I did not do as well as the first time. The very bad weather conditions put a damper on my enthusiasm and I made this more of a survival event than run for time. The spectators were simply fantastic. I come from San Francisco and in our Marathon there is nothing here to faintly compare itself to what I experienced in Sacramento. Thanks for the cheering sections, they were a highlight for this event that will be remembered for a long time.

Overall the course was great-however the schematic drawing of the course was very misleading and NOT as downhill as expected --many rolling hills --did not notice the 300 ft downhill in the 26.2 miles. The weather absolutely sucked with the heavy downpour for the whole 25 miles for me and light drizzle in to more rain. The wind was a head wind (25-30hr) for approx 22 miles making it most unbearable with the downpour rain and the blended frequent wind gusts of 50mph. The bus was a fee, most places do not charge. There WAS NOT A Computer Chip for accurate race time- and this was for an International marathon????? Now how could anyone really get a accurate time for Boston qualifications??? Very very bad. The expo was too small and crowded--everyone buying needed rain/wind gear including leggings, jackets, earmuffs, dri-fit shirts, ponchos, trash bags, etc. However the longsleeve shirts were dri-fit and the course was lined with many beautiful spectators and dedicated volunteers to be there so early in the freezing cold. Plus there were excellent recorders yelling the split time and overall time in the howling rain and having pace setters was excellent. I don't think relays should be with the marathoners, very disturbing to the mind -seeing the runners speeding by you. Also there should have been something warm to eat, not just dry cookies and bagels, or even to drink.. JUST water.. and I finished with a 8min pace. I would never do it again. The worst weather in all marathons- even to Bostons 100th....

This was my first marathon and was a good one to begin with. There were liquids every mile for the last six. Fan support was good considering there was 25 mph winds and heavy rain during the entire race. There was a net drop of 300ft downhill. So over all it was a good run.