What a great day; flat course, perfect temperature, not a whiff of smog, plenty of water stops, enthusiastic crowd and excellent goody bag at the end.
Shame about the last minute start change from Tienanmen Square to stadium. Do it!

This was my first marathon . I have run 16 HM's before . Organization in Beijing was very good . Plenty of drinks along the course and spectators made for a great atmosphere . Pollution was acceptable and weather was cool . Course was flat .

On the negative side, getting there was a bummer. The English version of the online registration never did open (at least not for internet users within China), and I live too far from Beijing to go register in person. Calling or e-mailing the contacts listed on the webpage was pretty much useless. In the end I did get registered late (2 days before the race), but had to run under someone else's name.

Others' comments about the bad air and crowded start are right on, so I won't elaborate any further.

After reading the comments from previous years, however, I was pleasantly surprised by the race itself. Water and sports drinks were regular and in good supply throughout the race. It was my first marathon, and I ran it much faster than expected due to the flat course. Finally, there were enthusiastic, encouraging spectators for almost the entire 42+km!

This was my first marathon and I particularly enjoyed finishing it faster than planned. Living in Beijing, the pollution was just like during my training (that is to say, pretty bad) but the temperature was really perfect for the event. The course is flat but boring in terms of visual environment, especially at the end when we are crossing the construction sites of the future Olympic district.

Reading the comments of previous years, I think they worked a lot to improve the organization: drinks offered as promised (water and energizing), first-aid stations, etc.... Only bad points where at the starting line (every body rushing and pushing like in the subway) as well as for the few cars and buses still trying to share the same lanes as the runners.

This is my first marathon and I enjoyed this marathon a lot. The water posts were good this year. Plenty of water/sports drink. The audience is great. Every 15-20 meters, there was a soldier on left and on the right to guarantee a good course. Start at Tiananmen Square is great. Too bad: cannot find the results on the internet. Air quality is not that good, although during the race I did not have problems with that. But surely Beijing is on its way to 2008.

I have already run six international marathons and I liked this one, even if it is a small one compared to the size of the country. No difficulty with finding the start, and the buses were aligned to take our bags with clothes for change after the race. I was just a bit surprised when it starts; they all jump like for a sprint. After that, it was fine - no problems finding the route, water and energizing drink, and they even had bananas. There were people encouraging us all the time. I beat my personal record and am happy to have done it here.

Previous years' comments are still mostly valid, so I'll just touch on some changes and main points:

First - and I can.t stress this highly enough . this is one UGLY race, even though it's about as flat as a pancake. Beijing is a fairly interesting city, but this race is routed so you effectively miss pretty much anything of historical interest or beauty. It's 90% through faceless urban areas, underneath roaring expressways, next to highways, and between construction sites. Very little exists in terms of visual distraction to make the time pass more pleasantly.

Second, be prepared for some rather unbreathable air and lots of noise. I live in Shanghai, where the air can be pretty thick at times, but it was an order of magnitude worse in Beijing when you add in the dust from burning coal, construction, and deserts to the west. For most of the run, you're running alongside highways clogged with traffic, or sharing your lanes with public busses. Passing through thick clouds of cigarette smoke from bemused spectators (and one runner who couldn't wait till the finish line) was an added treat. The noise pollution comes principally from hordes of angry drivers who have been inconvenienced for the run, ongoing construction, and traffic running right next to you. While word is getting around better, or so my taxi driver told me, most people are still caught unaware by all the road closures.

Third, the start was something of a cluster, and the lines at the bathrooms outside the half- and full-marathon pens were frightfully long (especially since there are soldiers posted every 20 feet around Tian'anmen to ensure no one takes a shortcut to nature). Inside the pens, however, there were additional, more rationally allocated facilities.

Finally, the finish area was a complete zoo. It was a nightmare trying to get a certificate, and returning the chip was a scrum. Your finisher t-shirt is handed to you in a bag with other goodies, but if the size isn't right (I'm an 'L' American given an 'S' Chinese size), you're SOL. Their response was try to exchange with another runner. In the end, I gave up, since it wasn't that nice looking to begin with.

What can I say positive about this race? The people. Chinese runners are the greatest. They're passionate about their running, and were always ready with a word of encouragement when I cramped up along the way. The organization along the route was vastly superior to Shanghai's, with extremely well-stocked aid stations every 5k (as promised) and even at the 4-5 sponge stations (which were an added bonus). There were young, eager volunteers at 100m intervals, who were ready to help with anything if a runner looked ill. I saw them spring into action at least 4-5 times during the run (this might be a response to several deaths the past two years). And the weather was perfect. cloudy, cool and not too humid.

As others have said: if you're in China, you might want to run the BJM just to check it off your to-do list. If you're coming from abroad, skip it and run the Great Wall Marathon in the spring, or try a smaller marathon in Xiamen, Dalian or Hangzhou.

A final WARNING: if you are considering using this for a BQ run, beware the fact there was no Champion Chip reader at the starting line, and the pack doesn't start until 15 minutes after the elite men take off. We ran through the arch and I kept looking for the mats. Nope. Didn't hit the first one until 10k. When I got my certificate, I found it was 16 minutes slower than my real time. Pleading with the race officials got me nowhere, though someone from CITS promised to help get the 15 minutes taken off. We'll see. It's strange, because it's the same in Shanghai. They issue chips every year, but then never use the results.

This marathon could be so much better, if they cared at all. The registration will be the only part that goes somewhat normally. The day of the marathon for get everything you know how a marathon should be. This was my 34th marathon, and first international, so I expected a few things to be a little different. Was I ever in for a shock.

Just getting into the starting area required the skill of a steeplechase runner. Between dodging cars and buses, and jumping over a barrier at Tiananmen Square. Once at the start you are sandwiched in with 3,000 others. Behind are 17,000 other runners, who are running just minutes behind you. They are the 5,000M, 10,000M, and 1/2 marathon runners.

Oh! Forget using the timing chip they give you as there is no mat at the start. During the race don't try to find shade close to the side of the road, the soldiers will make you stay out in the middle of the road. Enjoy the heat! At the finish forget any water. Then stand in line so you can leave. Oh! You want your finisher certificate? Go up the ramp behind the stadium and wait for 4 hours.

Unlike others, I did not have problems with the organization. I registered on the last day, and a helpful staffer called me later to organize payment. Luckily, I am a student, so making repeated trips to the CITS office were feasible -- for others, this might be a problem.

The race itself has numerous problems:

0. No marathon is really a good value, but this one is just feels like a scam. 498 yuan will feed you for months in China, but for the marathon, it buys you only the right to fight for position with thousands of students who registered for free. If you run this one, you'll understand what I mean.

1. NO FOOD. Runners littering the street weaving from exhaustion -- literally nothing to eat and limited water.

2. Menacing soldiers every 50 meters of the course. My friend came out to cheer and was nearly arrested for unknown reasons. There appear to be designated cheering sections, and these were very pleasant. Ja yao!

3. Not fun. The start is quirky enough, with mobs of university students, TV cameras and loud patriotic music. It's incredible -- we're launching a marathon next to Mao's resting place and the Forbidden Palace. Is this globalization or what? Prepare for at least 150 shoving, angry runners fighting for each toilet. After that, it's a long slog through wide-open polluted city streets with grumpy smoking bystanders.

4. The brush off. After finishing, you are reminded not to sit on the grass by dozens of guards, then hustled out of the stadium with a little bottle of water and an oversized t-shirt. Thanks for your money -- now go away.

5. Beware of the 'bag scam.' You place your gear on a truck before the race. At the end, many foreigners find their bags have disappeared. I made a big fuss and it magically reappeared.

6. Mysterious timing systems. The time I recorded was significantly different than the official time. Odd.

On the other hand, just witnessing the mentally and physically tough Chinese runners may be worth the price of admission. One guy finished with me and asked me for help lighting his cigarette. Yes, people are running marathons in dress shoes, sandals slacks, jeans, backpacks, and more -- and they're doing it faster than you. Cramping? Just stop for a minute and bang furiously at your legs. Good to go.

This race made me wistful for the fun marathons back home. Ah, for the days of free massages, gear expos with lots of freebees and air you can breathe.

Need improvement:
1. Water: water was all gone from 30k on for slow (4-hour +) runners.
2. Traffic control: you have to run alongside the traffic after 20k if you are slow.

If you live in China and don't plan to travel elsewhere to run, then, why not. It is fun. You get to see BJ in a different way. The spectators (some of them pretty annoyed that they didn't know about the traffic control) are nice.