This was my forth marathon and I really enjoyed it. The expo was small, nice, and well organized. I enjoyed speaking with the pace setters at the expo to get tips; they were very knowledgeable. Parking for the race was great.

The race is small enough that it opens up well within the first 1/2 mile, which allows you to get into your stride quickly. Traffic control was topnotch; there were police and crossing guards everywhere. There was ample opportunity for spectators to see and interact with the runners. In fact, several people running in my group had their spouses meet us five times during the race for provisions like sun screen and sun glasses. My group finished around 4:15 and there was plenty of Gatorade/water during the race with that pace - though I understand they ran out for the slow pace folks. This would be a problem since the weather was warm and humid. The start was at 7:05 with a temperature of 58. We finished at 11:20 and the temperature had climbed to 74.

The end of the race was fun. They announced everyone's name as you came to the finish and there was plenty of room for supporters to get great photos.

Things for improvement would be more water and Gatorade since they ran out and more portolets. An earlier start could lessen the heat; however you would miss a great sunrise over Clearwater.

I loved the marathon, but I think that it should start at 6 am and that you should try an earlier weekend, because the weather was very hot and humid.

Course was great with very good traffic protection in a dense area. There were police at every intersection and about 10,000 cones! I did not experience the lack of Gatorade as I was in the top half. Amenities at the end were a little lacking and spectators were sparse, which I expect at a smaller marathon. I really enjoyed the race and would do it again.

I have read all the comments and will be first to admit that the world is not perfect... and yes more portolets would assist in easing the 'pressure'. But since I saw comments from last year, I was as prepared as possible for such contingency... and with a little forethought, most participants can also ease the congestion - at least partially. For the males, at least, it is really not that difficult to leave the #1 problem at your vehicle; truckers have done it for decades.

Though this was my first marathon... and I?m only a couple years into the whole road race scene (and I don't even run, I'm race-walking), I perhaps have a different take on such events. I felt treated 'first class' by all I dealt with, from sign-up to finish. Though I may be new to these events, I am familiar with the problems of getting such venues up and going, especially getting and keeping volunteers, which is key to success of these events. Hats off to all... everyone involved, they did fantastic. I hope they enjoyed their duties. They may have been there for our benefit, but without them, there would be no event. Spectators were sparse... but they were definitely supportive/enthusiastic (more than I would expect). Watching the race pack might be fun, but by the time I came through, it had to be exciting as watching snow melt ? but they were still rooting us on.
The water/Gatorade stations were always on the top of their game, yelling out to us what they had to offer. Logistical support, police etc. were always right there coordinating traffic concerns. I was impressed, especially for a relatively new event...only 5 years and much to be proud of...yet probably planning at this moment how to correct and improve for next year.

I guess one thing nice about coming in at 5:15 is that they had plenty of time and space to see you coming. It was certainly a nice touch to hear them announce your arrival by name and hometown, and even recognize I was a race-walker, another example that this is a race trying to pay attention to the 'little things'. Those little things sometimes mean a lot. Oh yeah... thanks for cutting up those huge bagels... there were still a bunch to munch on for us late arrivals. Thanks for your efforts on making this a fine event, and keep up the good work. If I decide not to do the GBM next year, then you'll have another volunteer. But I'm recovering nicely and I may just have to do it again, and this time may be able to stay tight with that 5hr pace group.

Oh yeah, I was going to ask you to order about 10-15-degree cooler weather next year so it would still be cool at the noon hour, but I decided to leave well enough alone since we only missed a major, big-time, daylong, flooding downpour by less than 48 hours and a few miles.

For the slower runners there was no water at the first and second water stop... You need to be hydrated and in a long run you do not miss hydrating at every stop. To wait 6 miles before 1st water puts your body at an immediate deficit... no excuse. The slower runners are probably more at risk of dehydration and lack of water compounds the risk. Cannot believe they ran out of medals for the late relay teams and did not stay long enough to see of they ran out for the slower marathoners... sad and inexcusable. The course is not spectator friendly because to see your runner you almost have to run the marathon. There doesn't seem to be any way to crisscross the runners unless on a bicycle or motor transportation.

The course was great; I enjoyed the variety of different settings and to get out of traffic on the back half. The overall impression of the race seemed like a comedy of errors. I'd like to give it a second try if I knew that a serious commitment was made to all runners first through last. Lack of food, announcers, lack of concern and more seriously, lack of water and Gatorade for slower runners made it trying at best. Five miles in the heat is too far when you are counting on that station to be there. For a city of this size sponsorship here was seriously lacking.

Perhaps the most impressive sight throughout the race was the network of police officers and crossing guards. This race has the chance for great potential but you have to leave an impression that keeps runners coming back and brings new ones into the fold, regardless of the finish time. After all, new personal records are set in every race and some of the greatest gains are made in the 4-hour plus group! When you commit, commit to everyone.

This was my first time running this 'thon. The course is nice for the most part, spectators friendly but sparse. Traffic control was excellent, with many friendly, helpful police.

The part on the Pinellas Trail (mile 15 to the end) was fairly unexciting, but at that point in a marathon it's hard to get excited by scenery...

My biggest disappointment was that several stations in a row ran out of Gatorade (mile 15 to mile 20), just at a time I felt I most needed it. And I was near the middle of the pack.

Chris runs a good race overall, and I recommend this one except for the possibility of heat at this time of the year... which certainly is out of RD's control.

As this was my first marathon, I was pretty excited to give this one a go, especially since it was touted as walker-friendly (just in case), as well as fast and flat. I didn't think it was very walker friendly since they were picking things up right behind you, even if you did keep up with a less than 15-minute mile. I didn't get a drink of water or Gatorade until about mile 4, since they ran out. The porta-potties were very limited (I may have seen 2 or 3 along the way). All in all, not a very good experience for a first-timer.

It was a very scenic race but not organized enough. They ran out of Gatorade and only had water and oranges. It was extremely hot and they should have had ice and sponges.

They promised numbers to people and didn?t give them.
The host Hotel was HORRIBLE!!!!! The Belleview Biltmore was not prepared for runners at all; no breakfast, no coffee makers in the rooms, our room didn?t even have hot water and had to have a technician come and fix it keeping us up until 11pm - and then they forgot to give us our wake up call, though fortunately we set our alarm. I would run this again, but I would stay at a different hotel, carry my own Gatorade, and won?t expect too much as far as crowd support.

Positive:
* Enthusiastic spectators, if only a few of them.
* Traffic control was very well done... I ALWAYS felt safe on this course. Big thanks to the local police and school crossing guards!
* Small race = easy to find parking & no pushing and shoving at the start.
* The volunteers were outstanding. Thanks to all of you for doing such a great job. We can't do these races without you!
* Informative website and emails, with one very, very minor glitch (see below).
* HUGE mile-marker signs made them easy to see from far away... very helpful when struggling to make it to the next mile!


Negatives:
* Insufficient toilets at the start line... glad I arrived early.
* Ridiculously poor quality and quantity of food at the finish. I've done 5K's with more and better food than this.
* Inconsistent water stop spacing (some variation is inevitable, but there were some mid-race stops that over 2.5 miles apart).
* I know this is a bit petty, but the email updates said that Orange-Vanilla Carbboom would be given out. Since that one has caffeine, I packed my own gels (didn't want caffeine). But on the course volunteers had all flavors, so I didn't have to pack that many after all.
* No race-day packet pick-up. It was ridiculous to make me drive 2 hours on Saturday afternoon to pick up a packet. What a waste of time. If this was a 10,000 participant event, then maybe that makes sense, but there were less than 1,000 finishers!! Let's be realistic next time and plan on race-day packet pick-up. I know the race director was forced to allow race day pick-up because so many people didn't come on Saturday to pick it up. Maybe I should have done that, too.

The biggest negative is that the race director didn't appear to read the comments from LAST year... these are the SAME complaints over and over again. If you want to grow this race, you've got to improve on it year to year!

Despite these negatives, I would still recommend this race to my friends, but with the above caveats.