Great event. Easy to use the race hotel (and shuttle bus) and AVOID the cost of car rental from the airport.

The BEST in terms of aid stations and GU on-course I have EVER seen. Aid station volunteers were AWESOME and LOUD.

I am a 'flatlander' from the Chicago area and had no problems with the terrain. The variety of elevation was just enough to give a change to different leg muscles. The fact that the final miles are net downhill is tremendous. I actually enjoyed the double-loop format as well.

Only two improvements to suggest:
At the start there is a HUGE bottleneck on the sidewalk between the auditorium building / gear check area and the starting corral. Simply you NEED to have openings in the fence on that side so that runners can walk into the starting corral. It is LITERALLY grid lock after you check your gearopenings in the fence that STAY open until 5 minutes to race start would have solved all of this.

Second, your aid station workers need to be given two different cups-one for Powerade and one for water. As a runner you need to be able to know what you are getting. Often the aid workers are just holding cups and the music is so loud that you can't hear what they are offering. Again, separate cups for each and it is FIXED.

Overall, super well done. I will run it again in the future.

Birmingham was a great way to mark off Alabama on my 50-state T-shirt.

The host hotel left a bit to be desired ... we had trouble with our TV and heard several people complaining about no hot water. But seeing the people attending the Anime Convention was a hoot. They thought WE were odd for running 26.2 miles, but they were dressed in crazy costumes and talked funny.

We had a fabulous pre-race dinner at Rags Lorino's Italian Bistro in Lakeview (short drive from the hotel). It was perfect. Mr.Lorino was delightful and the food was top-notch.

My only negative experience came at mile 26 as I was near a relay-team runner. All the other members of her relay team joined in to cross the finish line with her. A nice idea, but they were rude. I had to slow down, I got stepped on and I had to go around them to pass. They were laughing and talking and waving and posing for photos. I just wanted to finish. It would have been nice of them to give me a tad bit of courtesy, as I had run the entire marathon and not just one five-mile portion.

As others have said after this year's race, this is a surprisingly interesting and well organised marathon. The balance of downtown streets, residential neighbourhoods and commercial sites is just right, as is the mix of flat roads and undulating hills. The tech shirt is nice enough to wear (one often can't say that) and the colourful cap was also good, and I was pleased not to receive yet another white cap. The organization was flawless. The beer and sandwich afterwards were just right. Above all, I loved the cold weather.

This was my first marathon and it was good. I would not recommend it for a first marathon, it is a challenging course with some tough hills beyond the 20 mile mark. Perfect weather. Glad I ran it.

COURSE: Birmingham is a beautiful town! Look up at the old architecture and appreciate the art of the industry. UAB is a nice campus with great fan support. The little parks and neighborhoods made it feel like a comfortable long run. Admittedly, I saw less on the 2nd loop :-) Friends and family have many opportunities to cheer on the runners as the course snakes through the city. The best part is having Vulcan watch from atop his pedastal!! (Just be aware of the potholes and uneven pavement.)

ORGANIZATION: The Expo is well-organized with lots of vendors and merchandise. The start was flawless and included an intro by the Mercedes head honcho. The finish chute is efficient, with lots of food/water.

SPECTATORS: The fans and volunteers were super excited to cheer us on. There were tons of funny signs (WORST PARADE EVER!) Plenty of water, Powerade, GU, and port-a-potties.

NOTE #1) We stayed at the Tutweiler Hotel right on the park. There is a fascinating audio tour in the hotel - learned a lot about the history of Birmingham. The old library is right across the street - when was the last time you saw a card catalog and talked to an actual reference librarian?

NOTE #2) The Mercedes emblem medal is the BEST MEDAL EVER!!! If you have to drag your bleeding body over the finish line in 5hrs59min59sec, do it! The medal will make it all worth it!

I've run a lot of urban marathons, and this one is the best of those. Right off the bat let me say that one thing that really stands out for me is the organization at the END OF THE RACE! We were given emergency blankets, finisher hats, and MEDALS as we entered the chute at the end. Then we were led right into the arena where there were tables a plenty, live band, and FREE Jim and Nicks Bar-B-Que for everyone.

There was a wonderful celebratory atmosphere (NOT the usual 'take your bagel and go home now' feel). We enjoyed plenty of great ambiance in this end of race party. THE COURSE was very forgiving and beautiful with the most varied scenery. We ran past parks, a golf course, a children's hospital, thru the UAB campus, through OLD DOWNTOWN with historic high rise buildings and lots of fan support at each place. There were water stations almost at every mile and certainly no more than 2 miles without a potty. It was spectacular and the city of Birmingham AL was an extremely pleasant place.

I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend this race both as a FIRST TIME marathon as well as for a seasoned vet looking to hit a PR during nice weather on a fast and scenic course. BLING - A Mercedes Hood ornament styled medal, what more can you ask?

I just did the race and I LOVE IT!
The bling is sooooo worth doing the race.

Even though you have to loop twice is very well organized. I have never been in a race with so many water and GU stations, that was perfect because I didn't need to carry my water belt.

I highly recommend it

This is the first half marathon I have done, was far as the course it was ok, lot of hills. I almost fell over a manhole and had my boyfriend not caught me I would have hit the tar. But no was there to check and see if I was ok. They need more people to look out for runners.

My comments are based on the half-marathon....

Worst part: The weather was in the 20's. Wasn't that bad after the first mile though.

Best part: Passing Mile 12!

Overall- AWESOME! I will be doing this one next year.

Pre-race: It was REALLY cold but they let us stay in the lobby of the Boutwell auditorium right next to the starting line all the way up to the start of the race. It made a HUGE difference.

Spectators: Not a huge amount of spectators but given how cold it was I can't say I blame anyone who changed their minds about coming out. The spectators that did come out were AMAZING, lots of encouraging signs, lots of cheering.

Water Stations: The water and GU station volunteers were exceptionally awesome. Special thanks to them. Plenty of stations however I only saw one with gatorade. GU's were plentiful though. And special thanks to the nice man who was handing out orange slices around the 8-9 mile marker. You were a life saver.

Course: This is my opinion mind you but I didn't find the course very hilly at all. Sure there were some inclines but they never lasted very long and like others have written it really did seem like you were going downhill more often than uphill.

Post-Race: Medal was really cool. The hat....was just okay. The after party was very good. One suggestion for next year is have more than one beer stand because the lines got a little long. The after party band and Jim and Nick's BBQ were really good too.

I have run this marathon every year for the past 12 years. Always have an enjoyable run. A few small changes to this year's course, but actually an improvement. A great course overall. Wonderful volunteers and staff every year. Plenty of traffic control. For a back-of-the back runner with a total of 270+marathons under foot, I have been around and highly recommend this event. There is also a 5K the day before and do not miss the children's event, especially little one's from the Bell Center.