This was my 5th marathon and my first at Kiawah. I was a little concerned after reading some of the comments from previous years, but after running the race, I have to say it was my best marathon experience so far. The course was great. There were no long, boring straightaways. I actually enjoyed the combination of roads and bike trails. It was a good change of scenery. I didn't think I'd like the race being 2 loops, but I actually did. You get through the first loop nice and easy, then you know what to expect and what you have to do on the second loop to hit your time.

The walkers were considerate enough to stay to one side as the marathoners were running by on the bike path over the last 2 miles and actually had encouraging comments as we ran by.

I thought the fan support was impressive for such a small island marathon. I didn't expect as many fans as I saw.

The post-race setup was nice as well. Plenty of food and drinks. Places to watch other finishers or sit down and rest.

The only negative experience was packet pickup on Friday night. It took forever to get onto the island simply because every car was being stopped and given a "pass" to get onto the island just to pick up a packet. I have no idea why they don't just open up the island for packet pick up. It would save us all a lot of time. Other than the packet pickup ordeal, I thought it was a great race. I'll be back next year.

This was my 38th state and marathon. The race is a double loop with the inbound portion of the loop run on a bike path that I didn't care for. Makes for a better half marathon than marathon. We stayed in Charleston and saved lots of money on our hotel, and the drive to Kiawah isn't that long. The race is well organized, with excellent water stops and fabulous volunteers. Thanks so much for all of your hard work.

Great time, awesome run, loved the view. We stayed in an amazing place on the island. And can you believe that guy who lit up a cigar at mile 12?

The race was fun and well organized. The food and beer were great afterward too. The lack of spectator support was very disappointing. People sat in their driveways looking at runners going by and didn't say a word. Not even a "good job."

I had never raced anything longer than a 10K and completed my first half-marathon at Kiawah in 2004. I have not missed the race since and had such a fantastic experience personally in 2007 that I am going for my first full this year.

I PR'ed in this race, so I'm probably a little biased but I really, really liked it. You will never find a flatter course, and I've run both Chicago and Berlin, so I have some experience in this regard. I was actually a little surprised that people had problems with overcrowding. That was not my experience at all, but I was running close to the front, so that may have made a difference. There were definitely walkers on the path in the second half, but it didn't take much effort to go around them, and they were really cheering us on, which I liked.

The awards are hand-crafted and beautiful. It's a smaller race, so you shouldn't expect many spectators. The course is a bit exposed, so if it's a sunny day like it was this year, it can get a bit warm in the second half. Overall the weather was pretty decent though. Three different people with Garmin's told me the race was about .3-.4 too long. I'm not sure if that was the case, but that's important and race organizers should be really careful about measuring out the course next year, because people run flat races to PR, qualify for Boston, etc.

It's off-season down there, so we were able to get a great two-bedroom condo right across from the beach within walking distance of the start and finish for $160/night. The course loops twice, so your family can see you several times along the way or rent bikes really inexpensively (they open early just to rent bikes for this reason) and see you many more times. Then you can all go into Charleston to celebrate your PR.

This as my 15th overall marathon and 7th year in a row for Kiawah. I love this race!! I love small marathons and this is one of the best organized races with a spectacular scenic course. I think the comments regarding the crowding on the bike paths need to be considered. The half marathon seems to have gotten bigger and the paths were a bit crowded at times. Nonetheless, I'll be back again.

This was my very first full marathon after running my first three half marathons all in the same year. This was a BIG deal to me and, although I did like the course once I made the turn at mile 13 (repetition is helpful for a newbie) and the few spectators were friendly, I am extremely disappointed that my results did not post. I have written the race organizers numerous times since the race and have only received: "We will pass this on to the timing chip company" and nothing else. As a first-time marathoner with pictures to prove a timing chip was cut off my shoe at the finish, I would have expected more from the race directors.

Overall I liked this race. The expo was nice and small. Everyone was super friendly and very helpful. They even had printouts of the predicted weather hour by hour since it was going to be warm. I stayed in a house on the west side and drove to Night Heron Park to park. It was so easy to park there and walk about 3 minutes to the start.

The problem was I was going for a PR and due to the extremely crowded and slow entire first half made it very hard and frustrating. I know I made a rookie mistake by running around people and dodging people, but I couldn't help it - I was constantly being blocked by slower people in front. Also the bike paths were very crowded. Obviously it's the runners who didn't line up in the right spots, but I agree that the half marathoners should start a half-hour later to help relieve the congestion.

I didn't mind the small number of spectators - I love small marathons and don't pay attention to crowds anyway. I also didn't mind the 2-loop course - just be prepared for it mentally and it's not a big deal.

The shirts were ok, and the medals were nice. All in all, it's a good marathon and I'm glad I did it; it was just a bit frustrating at times.

Overall, this race is one that I would encourage runners to sign up for with some reservations. The organization - particularly aid stations and packet pick-up - are great. However, the half marathoners need to start a half-hour later.... I would recommend that the marathon start at 7:30 a.m. so as to avoid the shoulder-to-shoulder logjam in the beginning and on the bike trails. It is annoying to continually have to run around others even into the second half of the race. Since this is gun timed (can you imagine that in 2007?!) in the age group ranking (which is only ranked 3-5 deep), many of the participants are at a disadvantage if they start in the back. The only recommendation that I would make, besides a different start time for the halvers, is to demand that the race management firm provide a COMPLETE breakdown of ALL runners within their age group and rank them AS MOST RACES DO by the chip time, not the gun time. Otherwise, why are they bothering with chips? Won't run this again till both these issues are changed.