First, the positives: Great volunteers offering great course support; the course is well marked; there's ample parking near the start (I drove in morning of marathon); you get a great technical T-shirt; the start line is not extremely crowded; and we had a nice, moderate temperature.

The negatives: because marathon is on Saturday, you're forced to come on a weekday evening and deal with rush-hour traffic to pick up the packet; at the end I was given a half-marathon medal instead of the full medal, which is a slap in the face; the merge with the half-marathoners is a disaster; and the hills are tough (which perhaps should be a positive).

On the lighter note, I tried to quit, but the police officer refused to give me information about transportation for quitters to the finish line, and told me to just go over the hill. Thanks to him, I finished.

For my first marathon this was fun. I signed up with a Geico pace group and they were positive and upbeat at the start, which helped calm my nerves. The course does have some hills from mile 16-21, you also merge with 15,000 half-marathon runners, which makes it hard to pass. But then you run downhill for the last 3 miles to Camden Yards. At the finish line, things stopped abruptly; I would like to see officials find more room for the runners to keep moving after 26.2 miles.

I rated this marathon in the top three, and I have run NYC, Boston, Philadelphia, Marine Corps, National, Shamrock, LA, and Chicago. People complain about the hills, but the organizers never hide the fact that there are hills and they even posted an elevation profile. So if you signed up for the race, you shouldn't be allowed to complain about what you should have been expecting.

It's very interesting that the comments can vary so much depending on where you finish and which race you run. I ran the half marathon in 2007 and thought it was pretty cool to start at the halfway point of the marathon, although I felt sorry for the marathoners I was blowing by. Then I ran the full marathon in 2008 and found it odd that the full marathoners had to wear a race-specific bib on the back.

Based on the comments of several posters, it seems that slower runners typically have a less pleasant experience. I ran just under 3 hours and thought everything was just perfect. If you have ever volunteered on-course for a marathon, you will understand why this is. I can't speak for the race with respect to people in the 4+-hour range, but from the sounds of it, if you can beat the half marathon start, you are in for a wonderful experience.

This was my first marathon, so take this with a grain of salt, but the course was extremely difficult. I hit the wall about mile 15-16, at which point it felt like there was nowhere to go but up. The first 9 miles was extremely easy with 2 large downhills, but once we turned around out by the point, the wind picked up and it was pretty much torture from there in. The crowds in downtown were nice, but I have to say that it would be better to save at least one of the downhills for the back half. I may run again, but only because I missed the Marine Corps registration.

The course introduced us out-of-towners to many very cool things about Baltimore. I'll return as a tourist and a marathoner. I liked that we ran through a very depressed neighborhood, to let the residents know that, for at least one day in the year, they had not been forgotten.

HOWEVER, the age group award I got was so bad it was funny! Instead of giving out the age group awards at the race, they mailed the trophy weeks later, only after I emailed them to ask when it was coming. I'm giving it the Ugliest Trophy Award. It has no date. It is lopsided plastic covered in copper-colored spray paint, and on the back where a little plaque is supposed to be is a piece of tape on which somebody has typed, "2009 1st Place Female 60 - 64." I'm guessing it was a rejected sample that they found in the back of somebody's closet. Come on, guys; try to do better next year.

This is a great marathon, but if you intend to run it in 2010, make sure you are running hills in training. Like people are saying, the second half of the marathon is just one gradual hill after another. You do get to run downhill for the last mile or so, but at that point you're too miserable to enjoy it. One thing that may distract you with the hills is the entertaining arguments between Baltimore Police and the blocked off car drivers at each intersection on the course.

I like to say thanks to the City of Baltimore. I've been running since 1985, and I've been running these big races since 1987. The Baltimore Marathon was great, and yes, I'll do it again. The fatality of the runner on the 25-mile-mark did put a damper people's spirits, though.... I've never run a course before with hills almost every single mile. Thanks again, and see you in Baltimore in the future.

I completed 16 marathons prior to this in Portland, Chicago, Los Angeles, DC, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Orlando, Olympia and other cities. Some were very well organized and others were pitiful. I rate this as one of the best organized of the marathons I've run; others should take lessons. The city was well informed and supportive. The volunteers and police were phenomenal. There was still food and water at the end for the slower runners, which is not always the case. Although I ran the full marathon, I thought that the relay exchange areas were well marked and managed. I also enjoyed talking with runners who were doing the relay and the half marathon along the same route. I will encourage others to run this marathon. I loved that endurance Gatorade was the energy drink as I think it is the absolute best for slower runners like me. :) Although the expo seemed small, I thought that it too was well run and had the essential items and information available for most runners.

The course was somewhat challenging, especially the long gradual hills into the wind during the latter part of the race. However, you did get it back with gradual downhills during the last couple of miles when you needed it most. At around a 3:20 pace, I met the half-marathon leaders at the merge, which I wasn't happy about at first, as I was getting passed by many of them. However, I started to feel like they were pulling me along and they even offered words of encouragement to those of us with "full" marathon signs on our back - much appreciated. Great police, fire department and volunteer support along the way too. Spent the weekend in Baltimore with the family and we really enjoyed our visit to what we found to be a very friendly city. We'll do this again next year.

First of all, to the runner who said that that Fort McHenry was removed so the Under Armour headquarters could be added, read the course info book: the fort was removed because of construction on the sea wall.

I am a slow runner, so I didn't get caught up in the full/half problems. This course is a tough one, so prepare for hills. The packet pick up and expo were well organized. I got my packet and shirt and goody bag with no problem, and having this at the Ravens Stadium made it convenient for us out-of-towners. (The race was within walking distance of the hotels.)

I will be back.