One of the nicest small marathons I've run. There's runners doing 1/2 full and 50k starting at 3 start times and everyone is friendly and supportive you dont even miss the crowds of spectators.

There will be marathon maniacs (and half fanatics) everywhere - many of them running their 3rd marathon in 3 days (out of 4 they will run the Seattle the day after!) but they are the nicest people and don't care how many or few you have run or what your speed is.

Post race food is better than most big marathons, portapotties at the start and they even do medals now..

Run on the shores of Lake WA and round the park... on a nice day it doesn't get any better.

The only downside is that its all run on the sidewalk so there can be people in the way in a couple of spots its a popular running route though so they mostly know how to get out of the way :-)

I am a New Long Distance Runner to Marathons and the Ghost was my 3rd. When it comes to the water stations (Leschi one) It would have been best (Or more clearly marked) to have two arrows going either (Opposite) direction around the tent or have the tent with more room around it, so runners do not run into other runners when they stop to get water. I tried to get out of the way of a runner that was standing in the middle of the path as she turn away from the table and I nearly avoided running her over, causing me to jerk my body out of it's stride position and immediately causing my calf muscles to contract and cramp severely. More Fruit and Chocolate Milk would be awesome at the Finish (Just my personal request) All and all, I would like to run the 2013 Ghost as I am now familiar with the lay out - all staff was very kind and caring. 3:39 was my time - not bad for just starting to run long distances since the beginning of the year. A shout out to SWR (Seattle Walk and Run) Thank you for your coaching and training - RIP Paul, you are missed by all members - God Bless.