Overall a good marathon but a little chaos when handing bags in ie long queues and not helped by the 10k and half marathon and full all starting at the same place. Crowd support was excellent and would have been great to have seen some fruit or other quick fix food at the drink tables escpecially the later part of the marathon when uphill. Otherwise the whole course was only drinks

Pros:
Madrid is an elegant and beautiful city and the course is probably THE MOST comprehensively scenic urban marathon I've run (including other cities such as London, Berlin, Paris, and Amsterdam, New York, Washington DC, Boston and Chicago) in terms of capturing the scenery, landmarks, not to mention being at the perfect, most colorful time of the year for springtime foliage, flowers, and weather. The Spaniards are friendly and supportive and the immaculately-clean city is easy to navigate re: hotels and spectator friends.

CONS: 1) without a doubt, organization by Rock'n Roll sponsors/franchise is the WORST I have ever seen in 13 worlds marathons I've done in past 5 years including all the World Majors, with 2) Virtually no communication in any language leading up to the race, terrible instructions on race weekend, 3) No One seems to be in charge at the Expo with its long lines and no guidance, 4) near-riot conditions at the ridiculous Bag Drop-off (such that a thousand runners missed the start gun and their corrals while trapped in line for an hour while the bag check process dragged on! 5) the Finish line is total chaos with zero guidance, long lines for rock-hard, inedible Green bananas, no family area...and the dumbest, most disappointing aspect: 6) even with the scenic course, the last 5-6 miles are totally ALL UP-HILL right up to the finish line! (Not something you look forward to at the 20th mile.)

**SHAME on the American Rock 'N Roll sponsor franchise; this lack of organization and horrific planning is downright amateurish and Madrid deserves better!

I like to do things out of the spur moment: Wanting to do two inaugural, international Rock N Roll series, I picked half marathon in Edinburgh follow by the marathon in Madrid (a week apart). Never did it occur to me to search the level of difficulty of the Madrid marathon. I was blown away by how the Spaniards do thingswith enthusiasm and mirth. Well organized,and thought through in making all runners finish the race with roller blade first-aid assistance. Thanks to the fans which surrounded the streets, I finish with a very best PR at 3:49. There was only one glitch: checkin stations were not at the start line but rather at the end. I highly recommend this marathon to all of those who do the RocknRoll series.

After reading posts from previous years I expected less then what I got! Although this was the 1st year Rock and Roll took over the Madrid marathon it was Much More then I expected from beginning to end, The course was challenging with a Never ending uphill to the end. It passed many historical places and neighborhoods, through parks, Water stops were efficient, well stocked with Bottled water and powerade and placed every 5k. The Spanish are serious runners with half the entries finishing at better then 4 hours, including my own 3:54 PR. The expo was large and friendly with welcome smiles and helpful volunteers for us foreigners! Many vendors with many unique products. Spectators along the course were many, loud and encouraging! The only complaint I heard was the gear check was at the finish which was 2k from the start. The weather was so nice I didn't need it.

Perfect organization and a perfect overall race.Nice shirt, great expo before race. The 10K course was a bit of a challenge due to the uphill and race ends at a slightly higher elevation than it started but I still managed to do a personal best.

Although not considered one of the best marathons in Europe, the Madrid marathon still has its appeal. On the 17th of April 2011, 10,600 runners completed the Madrid marathon. 16,000 runners actually started the race together, but 5,400 of the runners were competing in the 10k race which occurred simultaneously and branched off into a different direction at the 3.5 km point. The race started right beside the Plaza de Cibeles, cut through the heart of the city (Gran Via, Sol and the Palacio Royal), passed by two famous soccer stadiums (Santiago Bernabeu and Vicente Calderon), and criss-crossed through three separate parks (Parque del Oeste, Casa de Campo, and Parque del Retiro) until the finish line at Parque del Retiro. Madrid doesn't have too many sights, but the course seemed to pass the major ones. The course itself was quite hilly - most of it was slightly downhill except for two stretches of 6 km each that were relatively steep uphill climbs (at both the beginning and the end). Every few kilometers had a refreshment stop that provided water as well as Powerade. Due to the small number of runners and good organization of the race, there was always enough space for everyone to run. The number of spectators was a bit sparce, but those that cheered the runners were very animated.

I quite enjoyed the marathon itself - I was very impressed that the race passed through the center of the city. Besides the finish line at the Parque del Retiro, running past the busiest tourist area of the town (Sol and Gran Via) was the highlight of the race. I was also impressed that 16,000 runners could start the race, separate at 3.5 km and not get in each others way. However, there were a couple downsides to the race. The first was the fact that the course was quite hilly, so it wasn't possible to achieve a personal best time due to the additional effort. Secondly, the city is in a dry plain 700 meters above sea level. These conditions made the race difficult for people not properly acclimated to the environment. Finally, I expected a lot more from the expo - there were about 15-20 booths total with only Adidas, Nike, PowerBar, and Powerade offering any products worth buying. Even the few booths featuring races were only limited to ones in Spain.

My wife and I ran this marathon last Sunday. It was a great marathon and a great city. There were plenty of drinks and plenty of hills. The weather was fantastic and the people were great.

Great race. Well organized, with a lot of runners (mostly from Spain), and a lot of spectators giving us strength - especially during the last, hilly kilometers. The first 5K are hilly, but after that, for the next 25, it's mostly downhill, where you gain time. Madrid is a beautiful city with a lot to see. I highly recommend this marathon. It also offers you a great opportunity to visit a lovely city. I will definitely be back.

Overall, it is a good marathon, especially for a country where marathon running isn't popular - a city of over 4 million has fewer than 11,000 marathon runners, and only 6% of them are women.

I wasn't a fan of the course, as it is too twisty and hilly for my liking; it makes it very hard to pace yourself, as you don't know what is around the next corner. An incline? Is it flat? Or is it downhill? There are KM markers, but they could be easy to miss as they are not mounted on street lights.

No energy gel or food are handed out. There is sports drink at nearly every aid station after the 10K mark.

Crowd support is hit and miss - good in the center but non-existent once you leave downtown. You spend about 5K in the Casa De Campo, (Madrid's answer to Hyde/Central Park); the surface isn't great, and crowds are non-existent.

There are very few barriers; this means that the crowds can sometimes run across runners, or push into runners, which is very annoying. The last 5K is all on an incline, with a very steep hill about 1K before the end.

The website is woeful - no course profile (this is handed out at the rather small expo), no info about pace groups (they do exist), and no info about aid stations (at least every 5K).

Weather-wise, April in Madrid is a lottery, this year was hot. At the start it was 13 C and at 12:30 it was about 23 C. Some years it could be 13C at the finish.

A neat feature are the mist showers every 5K or so after about the 18K.

There is no runners' re-unite area, so it makes it difficult to meet friends and family at the end. There is plenty of drinks and food at the end of the marathon, including alcohol-free beer.

The marathon was very well organized. The bib pickup and marathon fair were pretty standard. There is a free pasta party for the runner and 1 guest on the afternoon before the marathon. I had a difficult time pacing myself because the markers are only every 5 kilometers (up until KM 21) and there was only 1 time counter at either KM 19 or 20. The weather was very warm this year, about 80 at the 4 hour-mark. The track is easy for the first half, but between KM 35 and 40 it is mostly uphill. It is a nice course going through some of the best parts of the city, with many spectators along the entire route cheering on the runners.