Don't miss the Charleston experience! One of the coolest towns in the US for certain. I made the mistake of running this marathon twice when I was a green horn. Ultimately any two lap marathon lacks inspiration. Very little crowd so if you need more outside encouragement for your first marathon go somewhere in a city to run. There really is not much nature to observe on this run - mostly nouveau decadence - want scenery run Big Sur. December is a great time to visit the low-country. Medal and T-shirt are average - I have definitely seen worse. This marathon is middle-of-the-road at best and I am even from the area. Truth.

Our Galloway Warner Robins Georgia group stumbled onto this marathon and fell in love with it! For our 2004 marathon, some of us will be using the race as a training run, for some of our runners it will be the object of their training. The island is a dream, it remains in its natural state, other than the multimillion-dollar homes along the course, which are a sight for sore eyes! The natural environment made me feel that I was running one with nature! You won't be disappointed at this race. It is not crowded, a relaxed atomosphere, and you may be able to have someone bike alongside you if you play your cards right.

I really enjoyed the coastal scenery as the race passed marshes and waterways and the fantastic homes and yards. The weather was perfect for me and I could have stayed out there all day. Good race support and volunteers till the end. Might be nice to get a Gu sponser or similar to provide some course edibles, at least for the marathoners.

This my third marathon in the past 12 months, with the other two being Honolulu and Rock N' Roll. Compared to those marathons, Kiawah was the right size with its limited field. The course consists of two loops (out and back) and tends to get boring on the second leg. A large part of the course is on bike or cart paths and tends to get crowded. Overall organization was good, with the 30-minute start delay a negative. The best part was sharing the race with the Rock Thrillers. Once is enough for this race.

This was my third marathon and my worst. Great course for a 1/2 marathon or the 5K, but 26.2 miles through a neighborhood is tough. At the start I did not realize it was out and back on the SAME road, so doing the same boring road 6 times is a little much. Wind was very strong and the spectators that were there, were not going to cheer for anyone but friends and family.
As far as food at the end, I never saw it. It was so far from the end and the hallway was filled with people eating everywhere I gave up and waited to the nearest gas station. Parking.. yes another buzz kill.

Most of the race workers were great, although if you were a 4-hr+ marathoner there was not much going on for the last 10 miles at the drink stops. Maybe one person saying, 'Gatorade' like they are about to fall asleep.

Anyway, lots of people on the couse seemed to be having a great time. I would do the half again but not the whole.

This was my first marathon on Kiawah. This race is first-class in every respect. The entry fee may be a little high and the accomodations on the Island are not cheap but you are rewarded in many ways. Benefits of this race include: able to start as close to the front as you wish, runners thinned out nicely after the first half-mile and you could run your own pace, with the double-loop course it seemed there was a water station every mile, several runners had friends or family who rented bikes and followed them through most of the course, the course varies enough that you really never get bored (neighborhoods, streets and paths, nice homes), nice food bar at the end with no lines, great long-sleeve shirt (no advertisements).

The few negatives included: strong headwind towards the end of the loops (miles 6 & 19), fewer fans during the second loop (can you blame them?), slight delay at beginning waiting for buses, limited dining options on the Island (hey, it is a golf resort, what do you expect?).

There is a reason why this race fills up in such a short period of time.

Going into a race whose 3,000 runner maximum filled in a week my expectations were somewhat high. Runner's World also once ranked this as a top 10 marathon.

Positives:
1) Well marked course with visible mileage markers, don't really care about time splits--I have a watch for that.
2) Good mix of scenery.
3) Well staffed, plentiful, and enthusiastic aid stations.
4) Flat and fast.

Negatives:
1) For those staying off the island, getting to the starting line took too long from the parking area. They should have had a few more coaches to transport the runners.
2) Post-race amenities were absolutely terrible. I've been to community 5Ks with better food and refreshments. Granted you don't run a race for the post-race food, but you do expect to be able to refuel the body with quality foods, especially after 26.2 miles. One expects more from a world-class resort like Kiawah.

This was my 4th marathon and was a great experience. The course is flat and scenic. Kiawah Island is a great place to spend a weekend. My only concern is that I saw runners cutting across from the road to the return path on the loop between mile 5-7 (18-20). This is unfortunate and I suggest that the race organizers record splits on the chip at the turn around at mile 6 (19) to prevent this in the future.

1 - Good race if you are running the half-marathon or 5K and plan on seeing downtown Charleston during Christmas time. Not a good marathon for those that train with any amount of hills!
2 - Use of chip technology has removed the courteous aspect of this race from non-chip years. The 'no chip, no time' policy separates the race organizers from the runners on a personal level. The chip should not be used as your primary time standard, only as a back-up to your primary. I would understand if your race was growing, but the participant limitation of 3,000 runners was in place well before this race used the chip. No back-up for chip issues is in place, i.e. lost chips before and during the race, no known testing of chips beforehand, etc.
3 - Race fees have increased, but the amenities have not. After-marathon food buffet has changed from multiple soup, salads and sandwich stations with fruit juices and coffee to high-revenue, low-quality resort chain packaged foods such as brownies, cookies, and a flavorless pasta dish - By the way, you know it's resort chain preparations when they serve unsweetened ice tea in the SOUTH! Kiawah Island Resort personnel were rude during parking, but all others were very pleasant.
4 - Only spectators are the few friends and family of runners on the course. A handful of island residents are visible every once in a while.
5 - Only clocks on the course are at the start/finish line and at mile 10. Good luck if you forget to start your watch!

This was my first marathon in years and my attempt to get back to Boston - I made it. The course is very flat (even for those of us from FL) and fast. Plenty of water\Gatorade stations and helpers. Staff is available, knowledgable, nice. The only issues: 1) the race director announced before the race that two of the mile markers were blown over on this very windy day and would not be replaced, 2) there are no time clocks at each mile marker(as in many races). There were not many spectators on the course if you need that. Overall, a very good experience - I will run this race again.