I just could not believe it! A live band every few miles, tons of water/refreshment stops, tons of encouragement, great people, superb experience.

Pros: Very good course support for a race this size. People came out of their houses to cheer us on and there was lots of amusing signs along the way.
- Lot of LIVE bands with REAL music. No canned electronic noise they blast into your ears at a lot of races.
-Course was varied, something for everyone: hills, flats, residential, city, business, parks, highways, you name it. Last mile through town with people cheering along Market Square was great. Really cool approach to the stadium in the last several tenths.
-Great food and a place to sit down and visit with fellow runners afterwards.
-Volunteers superb.
-Hotels very close to start and finish.
-Timers for 10K, Half etc. splits

Cons: The mile markers could have been better marked. I didn't see a mile marker until Mile 4. Some were high on a banner and in the latter miles they were low to the ground or marked on the pavement. You really had to be looking for them.

Definitely recommend this.

A great race! Loved the course, which was interesting and very challenging. There were a few very significant hills through the first half, second half flatter. Plenty of fluid and food on course and a wonderful post race spread. Nice on course entertainment and lots of community support, including more yard signs that I've ever seen. Lots of pace groups as well.
My new favorite shirt, nice medal and cool finisher's cap. Most of the perks of the big races with the conveniences of a small race, including easy, free parking. My first race in TN., but I can't imagine that there is a better one.

I train 4 days a week on hills and nothing quite prepared me for this course. This marathon is one of the prettiest I've run, so well organized, only 700 marathon runners, music trickled along the way, water stations every mile, fruit and goo's for those who need them. There were not a lot of spectators, but I prefer that. I am so impressed with the race director! He really cares about the runners having a good time, be really well taken care of in every part of the race and safety was awesome w/ police officers at every major intersection. Also for the first time (I've run 27 marathons), I got to experience a room set aside for just marathon runners afterward for hydration and food. That was a really great touch because typically when there are other races going on at the same time, as there was w/ this marathon (5K, 1/2 marathon and relay's) most of the food is picked over & sometime gone...not to happen at the end of this one. You are given a huge banquet room off the side of the football stadium with plenty of room and seats. I also apprectiated the vegetarian choices. The course is brutal though. This race was really tough for me. Everytime I caught my breath at the top of an incline, it was short lived because here came another hill. The downhills were not much better, it was painful to break. Typically I can run a marathon in 3:40, this one took me 4:02. Overall a great race, but prepare yourself for 'rolling hills' as they call them...should be called unrelenting or unforgiving hills! :)

We do not usually write up comments but this marathon deserves lots of praise. It is very well organized and very runner friendly. We have run almost 600 marathons between us so have experienced the good, bad and the ugly. This Marathon ranks a TEN. Everyone was so friendly and helpful, great aid stations, nice expo, great finish line and post race party was great with lots of everything for back of the pack runners. Yes it is hilly but very runnable. The city of Knoxville is behind this race and makes runners feel very welcome. The mayor even comes out to the start to welcome us.
Wonderful experience. The Race Director should feel very proud.

The good:
Yes, there are a few hills over the first half, but what do you expect for a city in the Smoky Mountains? Do your hill training; Atlanta's hills are MUCH worse. This race was well organized; lots of water, powerade, and GU. The spectators are great through the nice hilly Knoxville neighborhoods of the first half; the second half is flatter, but much fewer spectators (a few supporters from mile 21-23, and great cheering crowds running by the downtown eateries at mile 25). The finish inside Neyland stadium is fantastic and for me was the high point of the race.

The bad:
The only redeeming characteristic of the host hotel (Holiday Inn) was at least you walked out the door to the start line. They did not allow late check-out (even for Priority Club members) and finally started checking in runners at 2:30 PM on Saturday. There are plenty of other nearby hotels that I will check with first when I run again next year!

The first half of this marathon is extremely difficult, but the course is what one would expect for the Knoxville area. Downtown accomodations were excellent and easy to navigate to the start/finish lines. Finishing at the stadium where Payton Manning played his college ball was very cool. Would definitely recommend this for any 50 stater looking for a nice TN marathon.

Overall a nice race. The course steadily undulates. No single killer hill. If you train on hills you should be fine.

Pros:
1) Great water and gel support. Volunteers were awesome!
2) The first half is lively. Loads of spectators. You run with the half marathoners.
3) The finish is energetic and fun; the 50 yard line of UT's football stadium.

Cons:
1) The last 13 miles are bleak and industrial. I ran alone for several miles: no spectators, no fellow runners, no one.
2) Some turns in the last 13 miles of the course weren't always obviously marked, which is an issue when you are starting to fatigue. I overshot a few turns. I was in the zone following the traffic cones up a hill when a police officer shouted out that I was going the wrong way... Several times I came to an intersection and felt genuinely uncertain as to where I should go.
3) But probably the biggest strike: UT is a dry campus, so no celebratory beer. You have to go to one of the many cool local breweries for your post-race celebration.

All in all a good race. I'm glad I took part.

Knoxville was a pleasant surprise, with the exception of all of the hills! I do not train on hills and survived, so it can be done. Just beware that the course is very hilly. Good news is there is as much down hill running as up hill running.

This race is a half, relay and full. Most of the runners are half and relay. I think about 850 runners did the full, which i did and really enjoyed.

Start/finish is right downtown, so very easy to walk to/from downtown hotels. Also looked like there was plenty of parking.

This race was very well organized. Expo was very nice for a smaller race. And course had plenty of water/poweraide. Each stop had both and there was a stop every 2-3 miles. There were also a few gu stops along the way. And volunteers manning the stops were great. So were all police directing traffic and guiding runners.

Course itself was very nice. Went through a real nice neighborhood at the start and then came back through downtown and went through some more nice neighborhoods. One at the end had real good crowd support.

Crowds were OK during first half and pretty sparse throughout second. But race of this size, exactly what I expected. Finish in Neyland Stadium was a lot of fun as they announced all finishers on the loud speaker.

Only recommendation I have is the race could use more pacers. They scheduled a 3:05, 3:30 and next one after was 4:00. So not many options if you like to run with a pace team and I looked for 3:30, but never saw one.

Overall, a great marathon. If you want to get away from the massive crowds of the bigger races and accept the challenge of a lot of hills, this is a great/fun race.

This was my first marathon of the year, and overall I'm glad I ran it. The expo and packet pick up itself was pretty good, but there was no parking (or directions to any) around the convention center, unless you wanted to park in the Holiday Inn lot for $10. I drove around the block twice until I found a spot, and after that it was nice. Very easy packet pick up and friendly staff. A lot of vendors with various products, with a very wide range of prices for the same items.

Parking on race day was free and great, I parked right next to the stadium and finish line. Couldn't have been easier. The start was on time and smooth.

The first half of the race was primarily through some very nice residential areas and a park. There were plenty of water/powerade stops and live music at about 5-6 spots. After the split around mile 12 1/2, It became a lot further between water stops and many fewer bands were playing. After about mile 15, we were in the industrial part of town, and then we actually ran on the highway for about a mile over the river. That was interesting. The highlight of the 2nd half was running through the Island Homes District; residents were out in full force cheering us on. The finish was nice inside the Vols' stadium. I did not partake in the post race festivities, so I cannot comment on those.

The volunteers were awesome, as well as all the police support on the course. A few more water stops on the 2nd half, and some more scenic running would be appreciated in the future. Overall, good job!