I got positively surprised by BsAs Marathon. It is a flat course passing by many main touristic sightseeing (Obelisco, Casa Rosada, Recoleta, Palermos, la Cacha de Boca Juniors, Puerto Madero...), weather around 15 C.
This year the Marathon got 8.000 runners, what makes it not a crowded marathon nor a small one where you run almost always alone.
People go to the streets support the runners in just few places, do not expect much support from the crowd.
The two main opportunities the organization could work on are in the start curals (no control at all) and water stations (only every 5k with gatorade stations in between, they should have it every 3k with water and gatorade).
In my opinion is definitely the best marathon in South America!

There were a lot of great things about this race:
- Dead flat and cool weather would be perfect for a fast time
- A good number of people: never lonely and never congested
- Great aid station spacing - water and gatorade alternating every 2.5km, with bananas and oranges every once in a while. Slippery though.
- Interesting entertainment along the way, like saucy samba dancers
- See some of the big attractions in Buenos Aires: Obelisk, some of the big boulevards, Boca Junior stadium, the parks in Palermo
- Argentinians like to wear the official race singlet for the race, so it was pretty cool to see a huge sea of fluro orange. Also at the expo they let you personalise it and print your name on the back of the singlet
- Great support from course marshals and other runners, no doubt helped by having people's names on the back of their shirts

There were a few things that could have been better:
- Race kit pick up was a bit complicated because there was a lot of paperwork involved (medical certificate, proof of payment) so the queues moved very slowly.
- The course, while taking in some great parts of Buenos Aires, did involve a huge amount of time running along ports and shipping containers. It got pretty dull considering the lack of spectators in these parts and there was very little entertainment although the adidas crew at 35km was very welcome, blasting 'We are the champions' along some of the last dockside area.
- The transport to/from the race wasn't obvious and there wasn't much information about it. The start line was about 2km from a subway station and after the race there was a huge amount of people trying to get taxis.

Overall, it was a thoroughly enjoyable race and well organised which is always key when planning overseas marathons. The runners were very friendly and encouraging and the marshals were extremely vocal.

I ran this marathon in 2010 with my best friend from high school who is from Parana in the Northern part of Argentina. This was a very well-organized race and the people lining the streets were great. This was only my second marathon with Venice Italy being my first. If you are looking to knock off a marathon on each continent, you would be hard-pressed to beat Buenos Aires as your South American prize.

They could have improved some of the bands on the route. An Abba cover band and a Michael Jackson Moonwalker, really????

A nice, flat, sea-level race in a spectacular location. As a middle-aged man with an office job and limited training time, I was able to finish this course in 4 hours and 7 minutes.

As anyone who saw the Argentina versus Peru soccer game last night knows, Buenos Aires had a monsoon last night. But, by the morning the weather had cleared, although the streets were still wet with standing water in depressions. The wet streets slowed things down somewhat, as there were times I was obviously not getting a full response from the effort I was putting in, but for the most part, the race had ideal marathon weather, cloudy and about 60 degrees. It rained at a few points during the race, including one roughly 10-minute stretch where it rained hard and got windy. By the end of the race, it was sunny and started to get warm.

The course was OK at best. Buenos Aires is a beautiful city, but the course seemed to hit most of the highlight areas in the first 10 or 11 miles. The majority of the course, and almost the entire second half, was not scenic and passed though industrial areas and some parks with very few people.

The start of the race was a DISASTER. The corral system does not exist in Argentina either, and people line up with complete disregard for fitness or ability. I got stuck much farther back than I should have been because I took a last-minute piss. I pushed through people as far as I could, but it still took me 28 seconds to cross the start line after the gun fired. Then the first mile was chaotic for me because I had to dodge and push my way through many out-of-shape disasters. I passed one woman in the first 150 meters that was so fat that people were yelling at her for being up so far.

I placed in the top 35 overall with a time under 2 hours and 43 minutes. There were several other finishers near me who required nearly 30 seconds to cross the start line. That is ridiculous. In a marathon of this size and talent, the race organizers need to do a better job enabling the faster people to start near the front. Five or 10 seconds is okay, but 30 is way too much for people finishing in the top 100 of a 12,000-person race.

This was one of my favorite marathons - the course weaved throughout many of the major city barrios for an awesome experience of the city. Excellent tango dancers, music and fun throughout the route.

The passion and energy that spectators have in cheering on runners makes this a truly special event.

I have run this race for three years in a row and the changes made to the 2009 marathon marked a big improvement over prior years. The new course is a lot nicer, and the fact that there are now 12,000 runners makes for more of a city event. Organization, which was a low-point in this race, has improved dramatically.

I ran this race in 2006 and you can notice the big improvements in organization. It rained every single minute of the 2008 race and even though there is not a lot of spectators out there, I got the impression fans were more cheerful this year (despite the rain). I still recommend it as a fun, well organized marathon...

Previous comments concerning the marathon on MarathonGuide.com were extremely helpful in navigating through the whole experience of the Buenos Aires Marathon. The website is basic with minimal information. Expo was basic, and even without knowing Spanish, you could navigate yourself through packet pickup. Definitely take a taxi to the start. The light rain had the runners clustering under any small tree they could find.

The point-to-point course gives you an overview of the city, warts and all. A majority of the course is run through areas tourists do not see and, in some cases, should not go. The course for the majority of the first 9 miles was run on an elevated roadway. The section of the race that traveled through the center of the city hit some of the sites. The course then ran out toward the Boca neighborhood and back along the port to the Madero section. You definitely get to see the difference between rich and poor. The last eight miles were along the river behind the airport which was devoid of spectators. The course had plenty of water and Gatorade. There were also fruit stations. The misting station at around 30K was not really needed, since the rain was continuous throughout the run.

After crossing the finish line, the post-race amenities were adequate. Baggage pick up was not an issue, although I avoided using the cardboard shopping bag they gave at the expo. Getting out of the park is still a tight squeeze. The finish line stands make it impossible to get out in the four-foot-wide space between the stands and the fence. The other way out has a footbridge that is too small to handle the runners exiting. After getting to the street, getting a taxi along with the rest of the runners is a little bit of a challenge. Buenos Aires is a great city. The marathon is just a good race.

From previous comments, it sounds as though they ironed out some of the problems in the 2008. Again it was raining at the start and nowhere to hide. But plenty of drinks, Gatorade, gel and lots of fruit, which I really appreciated. The start is a long way from everywhere and the first 12K or so is along a rather dull (closed) main road. We also ran through a Brazilian truck drivers' parking area, which was surreal. I staggered home in over five hours, and while the stewards were understandably cold, wet and bored, they were still there at the end, doing their job. It's still difficult to get home from the finish area. Massage tent was a good touch and had no problem finding the bag with my gear in it. There is no tradition of spectators watching marathons in Buenos Aires... especially on a Sunday morning in the rain.

It is true that the expo was badly located and it is also true that getting your bag at the end of the race was somewhat problematic. Still, the 2007 edition was fairly well organized. There WERE water and Gatorade at the start, and the stops (every 5K) had plenty of water, fruit, gels and Gatorade for all participants. The course should be nicer (Buenos Aires has beautiful sites that are not on the course), but I believe that is a consequence of trying to avoid traffic problems. Unfortunately the city does not get into the marathon atmosphere. However, this is still the best marathon to run in any major Latin American city.