I only saw the first 13 miles of this course, but experience up to about mile 7 or 8 was incredible. The start area, organization and supportive crowds were excellent. I have a very bad taste in my mouth regarding the insane number of water bottles handed out during the race. People take a few sips and then throw (most of) them off to the side. Unfortunately for me, I stepped directly on a full water bottle, my leg rolled out from under me and I fractured my hip. One of the reasons I chose to do London was for the scenery, but I guess I should have spent all of my time staring at the ground. The organizers should seriously consider switching to cups of water/sports drink for safety.

I have been visiting London on business for many years, and I finally decided to run the Virgin London Marathon. I was so glad that I did, as the fans are truly wonderful; London is such an exciting city, and I was lucky to have perfect weather. Organization is first rate as well; smooth throughout.

This was my first marathon so I wasn't out to get a PB time, which I imagine would be quite hard given how crowded the race was. It never even thinned out, but then neither did the spectators who were amazing! They cheer, they sing, they hand out sweets - it really made the race.

However, waiting 15 minutes to use a portaloo DURING the race is just not on, nor is a 45 minute queue at the start. No wonder people wee illegally.

The course is only really scenic over Tower Bridge, around Canary Wharf and at the very end. It's a shame you don't get to see more sights but it would mean closing down too much of the city I guess.

I wear my tee with pride - in bed!

This race was very well organised - I was impressed how smoothly everything went. The course was beautiful and had loads of enthusiatic spectatators. Only one problem: the protolets were out of TP at the start area of the race. The only MAJOR disappointment was the finishers shirt. I can't believe a world marathon major would give out cotton one-size t-shirts to the finishers....I expect more from a race this size and reputation. Definitely should give dri-fit/technical shirts in appropriate sizes and at the expo - not after the finish, lumped in with the other goodies.

Highlights:
Awesome Expo
Fantastic crowds
Good sights to see
Bag check and recovery are great
Coffee and tea at the start area, and LOTS of toilets.
Downs:
Unbelievable pushing 37,000 people thru a single lane a 1/2 mile into it.
Speed humps that trip the crowd.
COTTON finishers shirt. HUH? Who does that anymore?

Overall, a great experience. But certainly room to improve.

Very well organized, the only problem was to find a lot of water bottles in the course due not to the organization but to the Athlets!

Undoubtedly, it is a great race: the organization is excellent -the instructions to the runners, the expo, the logistics of getting to the start. Spectators and the volunteers are wonderful. But I think the race organizers got a little greedy - the field size of this marathon is equal to Chicago, but they don't have Chicago streets, it's more like Boston. And Boston marathon caps its size at 25-28 thousand runners so, as they say, runners have a good experience. The course was overcrowded from start to finish. Sometimes it was OK, but then you would get to yet another bottleneck. I can't complain since I achieved my goal, but this is not the racers' race, you can't race when you have to navigate your way trough the crowd.

This was my third Marathon in 3 years and I went here with the intention of trying to better my last time, in Venice 2010 of 04:34:12 and try to get below 04:30:00. Big mistake! This is not the place to get a time due to the amount of runners. Even with 3 different starting locations they all merge at separate stages but the bottle necks will put you down to walking pace. Kiss your time good-by. At the half way stage I was 9 minutes behind where I needed to be and it is only then you get into your own rhythm (no chance of pulling it back in the last half). Having said that the whole experience is outstanding and the support you get along the 'Whole' course is quite unbelievable, especially if you have a name or nick-name visible. It is difficult to explain the amount of supporters and the associated noise along this course until you are in the middle of it. You really Must Do this one.
I have read complaints about the t-shirt. So what, if your race and the whole experience is governed by a token t-shirt, what can I say.

This was my first international race and it did not disappoint. The organization and crowd were exceptional. Course was beautiful and flat. Only negative was that it was very crowded - 35,000 in narrow streets made it hard to really get my stride in. It didn't really thin out until mile 17. Aid stations were well supplied, but bottles all over the street made it challenging to watch my footing. The t-shirt was very disappointing as well.

Another fabulous London. Incredibly well organized and the support blows you mind away.

However, time to acknowledge that every year the T-shirt gets worse. This must be the only marathon that gives you a cotton rag at the end instead of something you can wear with pride.