I enjoyed the comraderie of a fine gathering of Marathon Maniacs and 50 Staters and I think this is definitely a race to run with a friend or a group. Organization and the race itself is not much beyond just being bare-bones efficient. It just seems like it doesn't seek to improve itself much or even generate any 'buzz' from year to year; old reuseable ankle bracelet timing chips, basic water stops, basic frills, even the websight doesn't apply much informative effort. Parking is generous and close to the start/ finish. Course is a moderately rolling double loop around lakes and through pine woods. How would I make the race better? Make it an evening run and turn on all the Callaway Garden illuminations that line much of the course.

Nice location but poor value for the $60 entry fee for the half marathon or $65 for the marathon. Shirt and finishing medal were extremely poor quality. No gels on the race course just water/energy drink. They don't encourage repeat runners at their event with the high entry fee for the product delivered. Too many better races available to run this one again.

Beautiful race. A bit hillier than expected - particularly the middle miles of each loop.
First loop is easy to go out a bit too fast - the field is filled with half marathoners! Second time around can get a bit lonely, but the sparse spectators are very excited to see you, as are the kind volunteers at the water stations.
We rolled up at 7:25 (packet pickup on race ay closes at 7:30) and had no problem quickly getting our goody bags, bibs and timing chips. race did give out tech tees, not the cotton mentioned below.
Medals are simple but nice, customized for the year and in full color.
light snacks after the race are plentiful, even for the not fastest ever marathoner after a huge field for the half.
One big con for me was the very unevenly spaced water stations.

I actually did the half marathon with my wife, while a buddy ran the full marathon. It is a double-loop course so we saw the whole thing.

Pro: Beautiful scenic course.

Cons: Just about everything else: Just finding it was an adventure :) Cheap cotton t-shirts. Very little on-course support including NO food and NO apparent medical personnel. Nothing available but water and watered-down Powerade. No portable toilets and restrooms are almost impossible to find on the course. Expo was very small. Medals were some of the chintziest I have ever seen, and they ran out of them (still haven't gotten mine in the mail). Prehistoric chips strapped around your ankle (I was wearing tights due to the temperature, but it probably would have chafed if I had been wearing shorts).

If you want a scenic training run of 13.1 or 26.2 miles and are completely self-supporting with no medical issues, then this race might be for you. If you want any sort of nourishment or medical assistance to be available, or if you think your entry fee should entitle you to a decent tech shirt and a medal that costs more than 50 cents, if you get one that is, keep looking.

As everyone before me has said, the course is really lovely. A little hillier than I expected, even coming from Atlanta where it is difficult to find flats. Two larger than average hills and lots of rollers. There are sections of flat but I would describe the overall course as rolling, more rollers than flats.

Spectators are few and far between simply due to the logistics of the race. Those that were there (primarily at the finish) were very enthusiastic!

If you have never done a small marathon before, be prepared for some solitude once you start the second loop. I went for a few miles before I saw anyone. Just the nature of the race.

You might want to check the map or listen to the pre-race annoucements. There are no porta-potties on the course ; however, there are a few outbuildings along the way. So if you have a need... might be good to know where these are.

The only very minor negative comments I have relate to the shirt and water on the course. I registered for a small shirt and when I arrived I was given a large as the only size available. In my mind, if I pre-register for a size, I should get that size when I show up.

In terms of water, the stops are oddly spaced. Some are three miles apart, some are two, some are less than a mile. I would suggest carrying your own. Mile 22(ish) was out of cups when I rolled through.

Overall, I enjoyed the race, beautiful, challenging and not too expensive.

The course is absolutely beautiful, even in January - so beautiful that I didn't mind doing it twice! There were some moderate hills but nothing crazy, and I welcomed the terrain variations.

There are about 450 half marathoners and 150 full marathoners, so it does get lonely after the split. There are almost no places for spectators to view the race, so this might not be the best race to bring your family to. As such, pretty much the only time you see anyone is at the halfway point (half marathon finish). If you need a lot of crowd support or any type of support, for that matter, this race is not for you.

It is important to know that the water stops are about every 2 miles apart. At one point they are 3 miles apart. It might help to bring your own water if you need more than that, especially later in the race. They ran out of cups at Mile 23! There are no porta potties on the course, but there are some outbuildings.

I was surprised to find a very small expo with all the basic necessities- I had expected nothing! Packet pick up couldn't have been easier and you can do it on race morning.

Stay at the host hotel - it is cheap and as close as you can get to the start! I think it was $99 this year. However, there is plenty of parking for those driving in.

All in all, I would recommend this race if you don't need a lot of support. The course is spectacular and for the most part, the logistics are well done. Could use some more water stops, but that's about it.

This was our first time running this course. The weather was a little brisk at the start, but it was a beautiful day for a run. We have been to Callaway for many other things, but never the run. I found the entire experience to be be very pleasant, and the people were friendly and supportive. I will be back next year. Thanks for all you do.

Price: $10-$20 too high for what you get
Location: excellent
Course: excellent
Time of year: excellent
Time of race: excellent
Weather: excellent
Aid stations: plenty. No gels though.
Awards ceremony: handed out as you finished
Awards: plaques for top in age groups and finisher medals for others. OK. nothing unique.
Post-race food: lame. Mostly gone for marathoners due to 5k and half marathoners and only bananas, apples, and cookies. i wish i was making this up. Basically, I just wanted to leave and go get some real food someplace. Plus, I brought my own Muscle Milk which I'm glad I did.
Race bag goodies: None
T-shirt: cotton. Not cool. Give to charity
Expo: good enough for small marathon but no freebies. good products.
Pasta feed: $13 for pretty lame meal. I recommend eating nearby in local cafe or restaurant. Better food for cheaper.

I'll preface my comments that this was my 8th marathon and I have done the big ones (Boston, NY, Chicago), medium ones (New Orleans, Memphis), and small (Mobile). This was definitely the smallest race I had done so far but have a lot of good comparison points.

I gave this race good reviews for several reasons.

Course - 5 Stars - the race is a double loop in Callaway because it is a beautiful scenic course I had no problem doing the loop twice. The course itself was well marked and I ran a good portion of the race on my own and had no problem following the turns. It is a tough course with two more challenging hills and several other rolling hills. Coming from pancake flat New Orleans though I didn't find them overwhelming, but definitely challenging especially the second loop. The course is open to traffic, but there didn't seem to be too many cars that early in the morning. If you were a slower marathoner the traffic may have been a little more of an issue as you got closer to midday. Weatherwise was perfect - no wind, start in the 30s and moving up to the high 40s/low 50s by the finish - so ideal marathon conditions. There was an indoor tented area to wait in until the start so that was very nice as well.

Organization - 4 stars - the reason I give it 4 and not five was that the website itself could benefit from a little more info I felt. If they had the info sheet that came with your registration pick up around course map, aid stations, restrooms, etc I think it would benefit participants for preparing ahead of time. I don't fault the race for this, but some of the aid stations no one was actually handing out water. I understand it's a smaller race and not incredibly competitive so most people don't mind grabbing cups themselves. At the same time I was running competitively so did not like having to try to grab water/gatorade while on the run and felt bad because I actually knocked over several cups one time trying to grab it on the run. I want to reinforce that this was only at a couple of the stations and don't knock the race for it but did find it a little annoying. Awards/medals are given right after the race and there is not much in the way of an after party but there was plenty of fluids and snacks available. I did not partake in the pasta buffet the night before the race, but was at the restaurant where it was held. That seemed a little chaotic as they ran out of pasta a couple times and for 12.95 I am not sure if you really got your money's worth.

Spectators - 5 stars - you won't get very many but those that were there were very nice and enthusiastic. Several of the better manned water stations were also very enthusiatic and encouraging which was nice to break up some of the solitude of the race.

All in all I enjoyed the smaller nature of this race. If you don't mind not having spectators to carry you through or plenty of runners to pace off of then you should really enjoy this beautiful but challenging course. There are a couple other fun things to do around Callaway/Pine Mt (Wild Animal Safari, Treetop Adventure, Birds of Prey show, Butterfly Garden) that helped make this a nice little mini-weekend vacation. I enjoyed the race and would recommend to others.

1. The hills between mile 5-7 are killers (where you go out of the park and back). They are constantly rolling hills.
2. It was NOT a closed course. There were plenty of times when a car came whizzing past us.
3. They ran out of bags for the runners.