Couldn't get much closer than Baltimore for my first marathon. I loved running through the city and seeing spots I never saw living so close. The course was difficult, but I had no point of comparison. Its definitely a bit easier than Pittsburgh.

There are stretches of the course that are barren and unattractive. But with all due respect, that's the reality of Baltimore. It wasn't unbearable but not scenic either.

The crowd support was fair. Some of the most run down neighborhoods had the funniest and most motivating folks.

The organization was not good. Empty water tables and lack of volunteers made it an unhappy time at a couple of points for me.

The finish line was a pile up with bad medal distribution.

I have no plans to run it again, but if the time works for you and you are in the DC/Bal area, do it.

I really enjoyed the first half of this race. Going through the zoo was great fun. I also enjoyed running through some of the less affluent areas, which had some very interesting architecture (and even spectators!). Some of these places would have been undoubtedly dangerous, but with police presence what felt like every few feet it felt (and was) perfectly safe.

I also enjoyed the merging of half-marathoners with the marathoners, since it seemed to inject a lot of energy into the race. Don't let the whiners tell you this messed up their times - if anything it boosted mine.

The second half was less interesting, and the run around the lake was kind of a psychological heartbreak. It comes into view just as you think you are getting close to the end of the race, and since you can see the entire huge loop it's pretty discouraging to realize how much you have to run before you are back on the streets and heading to the finish.

The biggest negative was the ridiculous Expo setup - you literally had to walk thousands of feet through a hall on the inside of the stadium, past all the vendors, just to pick up your shirt and bib.

Overall, this was a great 'big city' race with a lot of energy, and I recommend it for anyone getting tired of running races with small crowds.

For good reason, this is called the Baltimore running festival. I would have been pretty offended if they called it the Baltimore marathon given the lack of interest/resources for the full marathon. I think in 2012 there were 3,000 running the full and 12,000 running the half.

They really need to re-think merging the half and full for the last 13 miles. For runners in the 3:30 - 4:00 range, expect to hit a huge wall of half marathoners that you'll have to run with for the last 12 miles.

But overall, the course was cool and hit all the major areas of Baltimore. Logistics were good too.

The first 16 miles for the marathon is very nicely done. The setup of this marathon of having half marathon merge with full at 16 mile mark in marathon causes major issues for full marathoner at 3:45 pace or slower. The half starts 1 hour 45 minutes after the full marathon starts. Not enough volunteers from 16 to 22 mile aid stations for this greatest number of bodies on the course. Expect a lot of frustration with constant stop and go at this point with half marathoners. Also stopping and waiting for volunteers to pour fluids into cups in this section of aid stations because of needed extra volunteers. The marathon field is 1/3 size of the half marathoner field plus a large number of relay runners. After reaching 22 mile one can run in to the finish nicely. Ideal weather conditions for 2012 but warmer weather will
present severe issues on this course. Finishing with half marathoners & relay diminishes
your effort at this event for the full marathoner as there is no separating the events into separate finishing chutes. The line to get to the food was 15-20 minutes wait after crossing finish line.
This marathon is also a battle with loss of needed support for the miles 16-22 and 11000 additional bodies thrown at you at mile 16 point in the run. It is nice money is made by having half marathoners in this event unfortunately the marathon finishers suffer for this event's integration setup of the full marathon with the half marathon runners.

I was pleased with this marathon. Weather was great, you couldn't ask for a better day to run. I was told the course was really hilly, but I guess that is relative. It is not nearly as hilly as Pittsburgh but had some hills on the second half. I found the water stops were more difficult to navigate after the half marathoners merged. But, overall was pleased with the course and the race. The expo was a little frustrating. I understand spacing things out so vendors get the foot traffic, not thrilled about it, but understand it. Picking up Pasta Tickets was frustrating, volunteers for Shirts and Bib Numbers didn't know where the Pasta Tickets were. Finally found them, and they were worth the purchase. Stayed at a hotel on Inn Harbor which was really convenient for the start and finish. My wife and I spent the afternoon after the race around Inner Harbor and it was very enjoyable. I will run it again if it fits my schedule in the future.

I've done the half marathon now every year since 2004 and I loved the race this year, from the weather to the crowd support to the course. Training for the MCM in 2 weeks really helped improve my performance and recovery too. Next year I plan to move to the full.

Well run marathon. Terrific and interesting course, good spectators, solid aid stations. Better yet parking was a breeze. Baltimore is a much better organized marathon than many others I have run. A very solid big city marathon. The expo organization however, did not meet the marathon's standard. There were no big issues, the expo was simply irritating.

Okay so this race was not terrible. Very hilly so I would not suggest this to a new runner. All of the signs were on the ground that caused problems for people finding their way to the expo, bag drop off etc. Over all I was pretty dissapointed with the expo. I understand that the vendor pay to be at the expo but you can set it up so the runner doesnt have to go all over creation to pick up bag bib and shirt. The vendors were overpriced also and there wasnt a very good selection. Bag drop was too far away from start line, and there should have been some kind of medical tent for vaseline and things morning of race. Post race area was also sub par. Stale bagels and a little bit of fruit at end of the race. They were giving away complimentary beer to runners but had nothing besides water or gatorade for those under 21 or in AA. No post race massage also.

The Baltimore marathon fully exceeded my expectations. This was a fun race through a lot of beautiful (and interesting) areas. I found it easy to figure out where things were located at the start because I read the hand book that they sent us. It was a great race and I will be talking about it for a long time.

I have run 18 marathons. Due to lingering knee problems, I am now a walker. This was the first one I have walked and I really enjoyed the experience.
The expo is a little challenging to get to, as it is easy to miss the signs to the parking lots. It is also a bit of a hike from the lots to the stadium. Then you have to go upstairs. Then to one end to get your number. Then to the other end to get your shirt. Obviously the race director wants the runners to walk by all the vendors. It is more of a pain, though, and I can see it making some of the runners mad. However, it was well organized, and I had no issues getting what I needed.
I got to the start about an hour before the race started. If you are going to drive yourself, I wouldn't suggest arriving any later than that, as it got pretty crowded quickly.
The course was nice, although pretty hilly, so train for that. It was well marked, with accurate mile markers at each mile. There was plenty of water and Gatorade at each water stop.
As a walker, I cannot speak too much about the spectators, but those that remained when I passed were enthusiastic.
When I finished, there were still plenty of refreshments left. One of the volunteers even offered me a piece of the big sandwich they had for the volunteers.
Overall, it was a good experience for someone who was bringing up the rear in this event.