I walked the half. Overall, I had a great time. My only complaint would be about the pass through downtown near the finish line. I was walking, and actually one of the last to cover the route. As we passed to the right of the finish chute and began our loop through downtown, the course was not well marked and we weren't even sure we were on course. Some who had already finished the race crossed through the course just beyond the finish line and seemed unaware that they were crossing through. I finished after the real medals were gone, but I greatly appreciate the fact that I received a real medal in the mail. It's awesome. The entire event was encouraging to someone who hopes to walk a half in every state and chose this one to start with. I'd love to come back, but I've got 49 others to do first!

This is my second year running Gasparilla. I ran the 15K in 2008 and the half in 2009.

Pros:
Beautiful course
Plenty of water stations
Right time of year and early start
Convenient location
Large expo
Good food at the end
Great finisher's medal
Quality race shirt
Body wrap at the finish

Cons:
They ran out of shirts for those pre-registered before 2:00 the day prior
Heavy congestion for the first mile-plus
The race packet contained little
There were few trash cans at the finish
No recycling
They ran out of medals if you were slow (though I got mine)

Great job on the marathon in difficult conditions.

In regard to the earlier comment:

"Keep the PRAYER at the start - a little thankfulness in today's world is needed."

I disagree... not everyone who runs the race is a Christian, or has any type of faith. Whereas I do not personally take offense, some do. So out of respect for "everyone's" religious views, I think we should separate religious customs from running events (unless they are promulgated by a religious faith based organization).

This was my second Gasparilla Classic and I WILL BE BACK!!!!!

I ran the Bud Challenge, and so my comments will relate to all three races.

Pros:
Easy PARKING close to the convention and the start/finish line.
EXPO is good for a mid-tier marathon.
The convention center was open on race days with real toilets - not port-a-johns.
Great MEDALS - all four of them. I like the medal for the challenge versus the coffee cup they gave out last year.
Keep the PRAYER at the start - a little thankfulness in today's world is needed.
Finish line FOOD was top of the line and plenty of it.

Cons:
On the 5K and the 15K courses, they need pace signage. Way too many walkers and kids were at the very front of the line, creating bottlenecks in the first quarter mile.
The full/half course slows down on the bridge, as the course is thinner. That causes a bit of a problem for keeping one's stride.

The weather was windy on Sunday, but they have no control over that.

This is only my second half-marathon, and I participated as a walker. I really enjoyed the course; the volunteers were great, and food was plentiful. Overall, a "walker-friendly" event. Great food at the finish. The expo was "easy in and out" and had some good samples.

I will consider adding this to my FL vacation in the future.

Weather was a bit rough - rain and wind.

Well organized, and the many bands and fans were great. Weather and wind were a problem, but not a bad as they could have been. I wish a better map of the course had been provided. Some of the half-marathoners (walkers) were somewhat in the way at about the 13-mile marker. I would do it again; great job by everyone!!!

The course was very flat - it definitely has the potential to be a PR race. This was my first Gasparilla Marathon and I enjoyed it. The only complaint I had was the weather... it was terrible. This was my 7th marathon and my first one I am commenting on. I read the other comments and saw people writing that the weather was perfect! The weather was perfect for about 45 minutes to an hour. After that, it was horrible. All in all, I did have my 2nd fastest time, but it was challenging with the weather. As with any race, the weather can't be controlled; but the organization and logistics were very good. I will run this race again. I also enjoyed the city of Tampa

I've run the marathon once and this was my fourth straight half. Once again the expo was great. It was very easy to get my number and shirt. The expo itself had the usual selections, which never interest me much anyway except for the Sports Authority, which has some very cool looking event shirts.

The start was organized, there were plenty of port-a-potties, and the convention center was open. The start was on time and the water stations were plentiful and well manned.

You will be hard-pressed to find a better half-marathon course. That said, I will never run the marathon with its current layout. I was one of the faster half runners, so heading toward the finish I saw the congestion that the marathoners had to endure as the merged with the half runners around their 11-mile mark. They would also rejoin the really slow half runners at the 23-mile mark. This race is really geared toward the half runners and will never be considered much of a marathon until they change the course.

And what's with the group prayer before the start? This guy went on for over a minute. Maybe the organizers can keep their personal beliefs personal.

I thought this was a nice race and I was only about 2 minutes off my best marathon time despite the bad weather. The course looked like it would've been really beautiful along the water if it had been sunny out. Completely flat.

The expo was good, but I really only go to pick up my number. I liked the pirate theme and loved the medal; it's my favorite yet.

Really easy start to get to and not very crowded, compared to some other races. I just hopped right in around where my time would be, and was off.

I loved the huge group of volunteers out on the course with about 4 or 2 miles to go. Can't remember exactly where now, but they were great. The marathon got a little lonely, and although I finished at a pretty good time for women, I felt like the marathon had the feel that it was closing down towards the end even though there would've still been people finishing for a few hours.

Thank you to the man in the 3:30 pace group who gave me his Gatorade when I missed it and could only get water! That was so nice of him. The pace group leader was really nice and encouraging. It was hard weaving through miles 11 to 14 or so, with the tail end of the half marathoners on the course.

Real nice marathon and I'm sure my impression would've been a lot better if it was better weather. Can't control everything, though - at least it wasn't raining at the start!

This was my first marathon and I was looking forward to running in warm weather after training in the cold. Oh well, that was shot after 13 miles with rain, rain, rain and lots of high winds.

I had read previous years' comments about merging with the half marathon at mile 11 and didn't think it would be a problem, but it actually was a bit annoying. Also, why not run through downtown while it's dark and then enjoy Davis Island in the daylight?

I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of support considering the weather and the "Let Me Play" kids were fantastic!

Water was unevenly spaced, but there were so many stations that it didn't matter. Gels and oranges were also offered quite frequently.

Course was scenic and interesting most of the way. Very flat... I don't even remember a hill!

Medal was great (but I love pirates).

Post-race food was the best ever - Spanish rice and black beans. Free beer was nowhere to be found.