Panama could do much better ! No traffic control.
Not enough water supply in the last quarter of the race.
Not enough advertising and the event is not made attractive. Traffic is horrible.

I was just visiting the country on other business and found this race in the newspaper. So I registered. I've run over 30 marathons and this one was very organized, with good water stations, and great crowds. There are a few spots where you run in the traffic, but you can't shut down the city for a couple of hundred runners. I felt like I was running in a pool because it was so humid. After ten minutes I was soaked, and it didn't stop. My hands and feet swelled from the moisture. Very hard race, but like all of them, it was a blast. I was the only Canadian running and nobody spoke English... so be ready for that.

I ran this in '09, and of the 21 that I have done so far, it seemed to be one of the hardest. The race started a little late, which is no big deal, and after a few miles I felt like giving up due to the intense heat and humidity. The whole thing felt like running a normal marathon after the 20-mile mark.

There were TONS of volunteers around, but all they seemed to be giving out were warm bags of water. I think there were four places to get warm PowerAde. I know that this wasn't the volunteers' fault. They were great.

I usually run in the 4 to 4:30 range, but I completed this one in 5:45 because of the humidity. After four hours, many of the aid stations packed up and left, and portions of the course were abandoned/reopened. I ran from 20-24 with cars and buses whizzing by, honking at me angrily. When I got to the finish line, there was nobody there with a medal. I had to look for 15 minutes before I found the guy who had them.

There were still maybe 10 people behind me, but right after I crossed, they took down the finish line and clock. I don't know how that must have felt to have finished then. Probably pretty bad.

Bottom line: Bring your own calories and liquid. Don't expect anything. The experience is still worth it, but unless you like the heat, this one may be hard for you. I may do it again, if I am in Panama.

August 10/2008:

Very humid. The volunteers were very helpful, but when it started raining buckets, everyone ran for cover, and running with cars and buses zooming by was very, very scary. I almost got hit by a car.

I enjoyed my trip to Panama and will come back to run again, but even though I completed the marathon, got a finisher's medal, etc., they omitted my result on their site... as if I had never participated! Hey I wasn't the LAST one to get to the finish line!

Bring your own gels. The humidity is brutal, but the water distribution is A+, with plenty volunteers.

This is a growing marathon but still doesn't attract more than 200-300 people. Its organization has improved a lot in recent years, however. The course goes out and back in 2 different directions along an interesting but mostly shadeless route. By 10-11 a.m. the temperature reached 33 C with very high humidity. Runners must be prepared for this reality.

I think the organization was quite good. The only complaint I have is the air pollution. I was running next to buses, cars, trucks.... At times it was so bad that I had to hold my breath passing the buses.

For a Boston qualifying marathon, and with such a big company like Adidas sponsoring the marathon, I expected a whole lot more. There were VERY few markings to indicate the route and with traffic still being allowed on the road it was a little scary at times, although the police did direct the later intersections. And a big "thank you" to all the Boy Scouts and girls for the flag markers, but that was about the only thing telling us which way to go as there were no road/distance markers. The water stops, although frequent, were not well marked. Make sure you take your own Gu and breakfast. The sponsor hotel has a lot to learn. Apart from the heat, I think it is a great course - apart from some small hills, it is essentially flat. Panama is a great place and worth the marathon just to visit the country.

This is tough marathon because of temps and high humidity. The course is mostly flat with a few killer hills by mile 20. As in this year's version, you should expect pouring rain and the Sun to come up (either alternating or both happening at the same time) There was plenty of water stations along the course, and 3-4 gatorade stations. My wife and kids volunteered to man the only fruit (bananas) station at mile 15. I suggest you bring your own gu or power gel.

All in all, a good marathon which is also a Boston qualifier.

I had a good time running this 'relay' event.. only about 6k of the total... but we had 6 men and 1 woman. So we had to each run different distances. I liked the start and finish at the Rommel Fernandez stadium... not much follow up though about results for teams. Crowd/spectator presence was not really a factor.