This was my fourth time doing my hometown marathon, so naturally, I love it. Objectively though:

Positives
- The first half of the course is superb, especially running over the Harbour Bridge.
- Frequent, well stocked aid stations
- The last kilometre around Circular Quay is magical
- Lots of pacers - there were three separate pacers for the 4 hr bus
- Delicious frozen smoothies at the finish line
- Unlike some other events sponsored by newspapers trying to sell Monday 'Exclusive Results' papers, they publish the results on the website that afternoon. And the photos were up the following day.

Negatives
- The last 10km is a bit of a grind, running out away from the finish line and watching all the faster runners heading to the Opera House. It is however, significantly better than the old course
- 7.30am is a bit of a late start, especially in the sometimes sweltering September temperatures. I wish there was a way they could redesign the half marathon course so that the marathon could start first.
- Very few spectators except for the last kilometre
- Only one band for entertainment (I remember there used to be more)
- The only quibble I had with organisation was the constructed bridge between the two halves of Hyde Park - they inexplicably put a barrier across half of the entry point so we were forced to wait to go through single file, then spread out once we were on the bridge. Other than that, everything was flawless from expo to start area marshalling.

Great atmosphere and energy
lovely course
Well organised

I decided to run my first marathon last September in Sydney hoping the beauty of the city would make for an epic course. As others have said, the first 25 kms are amazing, running over the bridge, the botanical gardens and centennial park is great. However, after leaving Centennial Park and passing circular key there's a huge stretch where you have to run on a motorway for about 5 kms. That day the weather was so hot that it felt like running on a frying pan at the hardest part of the race. They could have designed the course better so you could actually run through darling harbor instead. Also, it's amazing that the full marathon started an hour after the half marathon. The expo was practically unexisting and the stuff you get for a aud$180 fee is quite unfair. They could gave give the Gu gels at least 10 kms earlier. They have to work on these issues for the next editions.

With a start line under the Harbour Bridge and finish line in front of the Sydney Opera house, this was easily the most stunning courses I have run. I highly recommend adding this one to your bucket list.

The course is slightly undulating the entire way - nothing too tough but it does eventually wear you down. The 35-40 KM section of the run is rather difficult, running on a motorway; but then you hit the harbor again. Rounding the corner, passing under the bridge and heading for home to Circular Quay, there's a massive crowd to bring you in just when you need it most.

Aid stations were well stocked, and congestion throughout the course was minimal.

Pre-race registration and expo is strangely small for such a large event, and the post-race refreshments did exist but were hard to find. It could be better organized.

Free public transportation to the start was greatly appreciated, and they had very friendly and helpful staff even in the early hours of the morning.

In terms of official support, this was the poorest marathon I've yet run. My previous were in LA, Athens, and Cape Town. This also had the most expensive entry fee.

The expo was very small and perfunctory, with no freebies and only one vendor (and they were overwhelmed despite five days of sales). There were only two stations with electrolyte drinks, and these were pretty watered down. No fruit or sponges along the way, either. They did have a few free GU stations, but these were well past the midway point, when you might have cramped up, already.

No free food (not even fruit) at the end: line up and pay, only.

The start of the run, across the Harbor Bridge, was splendid. The entire first half was very nice, followed by a gritty and industrial stretch for 1/3 of the course (imagine hilly asphalt amplifying the sunny 24C day), then a nice finish through Circular Quay.

Crowds were very friendly and supportive, especially at the lovely final 2K.

You could use your number bib for free public transit, that entire day. So if you could still limp, afterward, the free trains were a great way to do some sightseeing.

CONS:
Too expensive!!!
There must be some other courses in the beautiful Sydney that have a better final 10K.
You pay a lot of money to get the water in cups. I became dehydrated along the final stretch.
The expo was very poor.
Did I say that it's too expensive?
Hot and humid; don't look for your PB.

PROS:
The last 2 KM and the first 25 are absolutely wonderful. It looks like an amusement park!
The people in Australia are very friendly; I'll never forget this trip, mates!

This marathon has the potential to be one of the top runs in the world.

Plus sides are:

* The start over the Harbour Bridge, the Centennial Park part, and the finish next to the Opera House, with lots of support there.
* Demanding course, but you are not going to get a flat run in Sydney.
* It's well marshaled and almost traffic-free.
* The bag with some fruit, etc., at the end was welcome on Domain, which is a nice area with good views of Circular Quay.
* Amazing city and country to visit; the people are so friendly and welcoming.

Now the downsides!
* Cost was very high for what you get (no pasta party or goody bag).
* Expo pathetic.
* Course from the 28K to 37K mark was awful; boring, hard, motorway-style road.
* Water in cups, not bottles.
* No bananas or fruit on the course, or sponges, even though it was very warm.
* Support was OK, but for a huge sporty city poor (the run was not jazzed up much in media - also it clashed with the football final and Rugby League semis, which are huge Down Under). Moving the run to four weeks before would offset this and mean cooler weather.
* Bizarrely the half-marathon started one hour before marathon. It should be other way round.
* Post-run organization was poor.
* Big queue for t-shirts (why were they not given out at the expo?), non-specific medal, bag pick-up in the open (what if it rained?), massage queue was too long, and the meeting points were the other way around, as marked on the plan.

I would recommend the Canberra Marathon instead; include Sydney in your visit, as it is fab.

I ran the Blackmores Sydney Marathon this year (2008) for my first time (3rd marathon). What a great course! Not long after the start, we climbed the bridge, and what a great time (the night before I did the Bridge Climb, highly recommended). The support throughout the course was emotionally great (generous and friendly people), water and electrolyte support was good (as were the jelly beans!!!), but as others have said, not so good on the gels. The finish line, running through the chute with the crowd cheering me on by the Opera House was an awesome experience. Overall, I highly recommend.

As others have said, the expo was weak, even smaller than the one at a small marathon I ran earlier this year. Also, the finish line was a little chaotic, and I was not able to find my bag, as none of the official helpers seemed to know where to go, and I finally had to ask a fellow marathoner who had found it.

I highly recommend this challenging race. Great scenery, wonderful people!!!

This is my first Blackmores Sydney Marathon. I knew from the start that the weather was going to be too warm. I ran and finished the marathon. I was worried about the five and a half-hour cutoff time, but I finished before then. Since it was going to be so warm, there should be volunteers handing out wet sponges for the runners (especially the full marathoners). I think there should have some splits called at certain intervals. Also, when I finished the race at 5:08, there were no food at the recovery. I did managed to get a slice of apple, but I need more than that after running for five hours!! I also noticed that the finisher's medal doesn't have a date. It is nice, but it would have been better if there is a date. How do I know the medal I got wasn't from last year's? Also, the porta-potties didn't have toilet paper, and there were lots of female runners!!

I didn't care much for the part of the course that took us on the Pyrmont Bridge, as it seemed boring, and running on the slant on the expressway is hard on the feet. The beginning and middle part of the course are nice, and I especially enjoyed running through the Centennial Park.

At the expo, not much is given to the runners. Why? Also, how can I get my finisher's certificate?

In summary, it needs improvement on having food at the food area for all finishers - especially the full marathoners. I love running, but this is my last Blackmores Sydney Marathon. I also lived in another continent and it was expensive going there to run, but we did other things tsoo, and made it into a holiday.

Me and my daughter (who's 13) went to Sydney just to do the half (she's trying to be the youngest person to do a half marathon on every continent). I have done a few marathons and love the expo, but this one was... well... lame. They had just a couple of stalls with very expensive shirts.

The course was awesome, and the weather perfect (around 20 Celsius), and although the cut-off time was tight, we made it. But the finishing area was a disaster;
we finished at the same time as thousands of the 9K bridge runners and 3K family runners did. Our bag check -in was hard to find, and anyone could access our stuff (my fleece had my credit card and cell phone in it). From there, we had to take off our own chips and some lady snatched them away from us and put them in an empty box. Instead of a medal, we were handed a key fob and the directed to the recovery village. My daughter was excited about the free massages, but there were hundreds of people in line, all of whom had the fun run 9K bibs on. To be honest, we felt a little cheated. We had just done 21K, and due to the huge number of fun run runners, we just left - with no food or drinks. The lines were just too long. The recovery village should just be separate for the full and half. I feel for the full runners who didn't get gels because they were out there for the half runners.

Overall, I would love to do this again. The course was spectacular, and the weather was perfect, but our finish was a complete letdown. "Chaos" is a good word that comes to mind.