It is not the best marathon in the world but will always hold a very special place in my heart. After all, Shanghai is my city by birth, and I have left my heart in Shanghai before moving to San Francisco.

For someone who has only run races on mainland Europe running in China was always going to be a memorable experience... And running the Shanghai marathon clearly was!

From what I read from previous comments this race is coming of age! 28.000 runners in total, including 18.000 in the semi- and full marathon. 5000 runners from abroad, mainly Korea and Japan... During the race I sporadically spotted a Lao Wei (long nose - the general term for white people in China).

The organisation was crisp and efficient. Lots of tables with ample water and a sweet tea drink along the course, bag drop-off simple and the finish easy and efficient. The only comment could be that entry into the race might be difficult from abroad - I was lucky to have a Chinese colleague arrange the entry for me (I had sent emails to the organisation with questions - but never got an answer!)

The start is 'Chinese chaotic': lots of slower runners pushing to the front, racing ahead and then stopping to take pictures of the field bearing down on them!

The spectators along the course are generally very enthousiastic - especially when I managed to catch their eye! This always got them to shout out encouragement... and there were teams of factory workers dressed in bright colours and waving pompoms, or rhythmically banging small drums.

The course is good: starting at The Bund across 5 lanes of traffic and detouring through the Expo area. There are only two long boring bits - when you backtrack through the Expo area exactly the same way you came, and the last 10km which are also an Out 'n Back stretch... but the groups of spectators make up for it!

I didn't make a PR - having arrived two days earlier my jet lag saw to that - but I sure am glad I ran this race! It's a memorable one!

Looking for a winter marathon in Asia and reading the reviews here, I chose the Shanghai marathon. The best way I can describe it is to say it was exactly what I expected from a race in China: organized, efficient, cheap, crowded, dirty. They announced 28,000 runners from 66 countries. No start corrals so there was lots of pushing, but while there were always lots of people around, there was always plenty of space, at least 2 full traffic lanes if not 4+.

Easy to get to start line, stay in a hotel in the Bund and you can walk (the Peace Hotel is at the start, I stayed at the Blue Mountain Bund Hostel and was about 4 blocks away, hostel also allows for late check and to pay for a 1/2 day for check-out by 6pm). Good community support with groups of elderly out waving pompoms and yelling, more trafficked areas had families out, although they were tiring by the end. Plenty of aid stations with bottled water and sweet tea, though no gels or food.

Not enough toilets, but there were some (carry your own TP). Lots of medics around, including every 50 yards for the last 2km. Nothing at the expo, and the expo is a bit of a hassle to get to, but not bad. Schwag was fine, you get half of it at the finish; shirt is tech fabric and ok, decent string backpack, 2 towels, a nice armband for music/phone. Finish line food is a bag containing a bottle of water, 2 fun-size Snickers, and a package of cookies like you get on a plane. The course was fine, scenery wasn't exciting, but not bad and at least the roads were in excellent condition.

Mostly flat except a 3km climb up a helix and over the bridge, but that's at the 3km mark. Timing chips required a 100y deposit in cash at registration, which you got back upon returning the chip at the finish. Finish line is at a metro station, and there are plenty of taxis (legal and just enterprising car owners), but with cash you can be on your way back to the hotel less than 30 minutes after crossing the finish line.

While there is definitely air pollution, I wouldn't say it effected the race. Can't guarantee it, of course, but the weather in 2011 was absolutely perfect, sunny and about 30F at the start, maybe 45 by the finish. The race only cost $40, hotel was cheap, as was food and transport, so price-wise it was a good deal, as far as traveling to races goes! I went in knowing I was under-trained and also at the tail-end of a bad cold, so I knew I wasn't going to have a great race, finish-time, but all in all, I had a nice time at the Shanghai marathon.

For 2011, the course changed somewhat with runners going up the spiral access ramp to one of the bridges spanning the river, the highlight of the race. The start was also better (on the Bund) as opposed to Nanjing Rd, and no choke point as in 2010. Supplies are largely limited to water and sweet tea. Worth it if you are in town.

As an Ex-Pat living in Shanghai, I obviously find this city comfortable enough to call home. However even as a race that starts 10 minutes from my front door, it is not one that I would likely do again.

The organization was not great. Maybe I am spoiled having ran so many times in the United States where even the smaller races have been well organized but this was terrible especially at the start.

First they have one starting line, with two corrals. One is for a 'fun race' which is like a 5K the other is for the half and full. Due to adequate signs I saw so many other people who came in town for the half or full in the 'fun race' corral. That corral took a hard right (with barricades) from the starting line and made them unable to right their wrong and jump to the correct course. I was almost one of them. Another HUGE problem is that there was no separation for seasoned runners thus unless you showed up two hours before the race you were back in the pack running behind tons of local chinese 26,000 runners total this year I was told, although I started probably only behind 1,500 of them. I'm sorry, but if I were coming in town I would be very upset to have to worry for the first 15k about maybe having someone just stop running right in front of me.

Stop running right in front of you? Yes. It happened all the time and I only started 1,500 people back. This race (as all races) needs to explicitly ban cell phones and cameras. As someone who has worked out here I can tell you that Chinese and their current culture is literally inseparable from their cell phones. (Forget getting emails from this race to confirm, its only via text and the texts come race day starting at 3am!) On the course I ran into 2 people that slowed to answer their phone, saw at least 5 texting (OMG IM RUNNING GUYS LOL), saw no less than 10 people stop mid course to take a picture of the view or themselves. I also saw my very first fist fight at the 20km mark with two older Chinese men right in front of me.

Because there is no separation at the beginning by proof of a qualifying time or any other method, the amount of runners you literally bump into doing these things is unbelievable. I am not an elite, and was doing it for fun at around a 1:30 pace, but with the dodging of people who could not separate from their technology for two hours and started at the front made it much less enjoyable than it should have been. Also, be warned if there is a television camera at the part of the course for people will literally run across right in front of you to stop and yell into the camera.

Also the aid stations were very inadequate. They said there was water at every 2km but they considered water wet sponges at half of them. If I live in a city where I am told not to drink the water from the tap Im not going to ring a sponge for it, if thats what they were thinking I'd do.

This was my first Shanghai Marathon, so don't know the old course, but the new course was pretty good. It took you past a lot of the scenic parts of the world's largest city, around the Bund; but then, at the 20K-mark, sent you on a straight, out-and-back shot, which was not so scenic. I suppose that allows for the marathon to happen, as again, shutting down the world's largest city I think would be a challenge. Great course control and cheering along the way; no complaints on organization except at the start. People need to remember that this is mainland China, so things are still a little different (runners smoking in the starting corrals, etc., but hey, no big deal - I think it's awesome!). But the only downside was the bottleneck at the start where they had officials on the course directing traffic over the recessed brass traffic columns, making the entire race come to a dead stop for 30 seconds or so with a lot of pushing. That seemed like a major problem at the time, but it was a minor thing overall. I still had a great race; check it out! :)

Pre-race was good but the finish was pretty chaotic and a nightmare to get away from. As for the run, the start is fun, but after the first few kilometers it was a shame to find we were up close with a traffic jam. My biggest gripe comes from the fact that the locals didn't seem to know there was a race and the stewarding of the course was poor. Motorbikes and even cars repeatedly tried to cross the course. I ended up colliding with a bike and my thumb was a painful memory for a long time. It's always fun to spend a weekend in Shanghai, especially with friends, but I wouldn't go again just for the race.

I've run about 20 marathons. The overall competition was OK, but it needs to improve in some ways.

1.The race course was quite boring. No memorable places (such as the Bund). And the ground was so hard too (after 25 KM).
2. There were few English signs, so you didn't understand where to return your chip or where to get your running certificate from (if you can't read Chinese).
3. The website is ugly (especially the running results).
4. Starting line was so great, but the finishing line was so small (like other small marathon that have 500-2,000 runners).

A rather boring and ugly marathon, taking you past absolutely none of the sights or interesting places in town but rather along straight main roads and industrial parks. Organization is ok, but in the earlier part the road is too narrow for the number of runners. Very good finish line logistics though - even though I did not see any showers provided. (But note that the finish is way out of the center.) So if you are in Shanghai, it's a can-do; but do not bother going there for the run.

The 2008 Shanghai marathon is an event with many characteristics you would expect from a first-rate international marathon. And yes there are some aspects that could be improved.

To begin, Shanghai is a massive, modern city that makes London and even New York seem civilized and quaint. The course accordingly begins in a super-modern "Times-Square" kind of atmosphere with tens of thousands of runners and spectators packing into the start area.

Although there were plenty of foreign runners, this event is massively dominated by young Chinese. Just enough English signage allowed newcomers like me could to make sense of staging pens, shuttle buses etc.

The flat, fast course winds through the downtown area, eventually leaving the busy center for the outskirts of town. The density of runners, the hype and the presence of marshals and cheerers faded after the fork of the popular half-marathon course.

The day began clear and at a nice 12 degrees Celsius, gradually warming up to 18.

Disappointingly, the course did not go through the famous Bund area, nor Pudong or the historic old city.

Nonetheless, the sight of temples, monuments and thousands of cheerers created a memorable course atmosphere.

I found myself continuously entertained by the costumes, props and choreographed movements of women's groups cheering and dancing in unison along the roadside.

Little in the way of snacks on course, but regular drink stations offered sponges and sport drinks with the curious label: Porcari-Sweat.

Having already seen the slick registration set-up, I was not surprised to find that the finish area system was equally methodical. By the time I left the stadium I was heavily laden with food, gifts and prizes.

Runners often comment on the material value of a marathon, which in this case was excellent: I received a technical running shirt, a cordura Mizuno back pack, plenty of food (including a bottle of soy sauce??), a medal, certificate, a plush towel, a book about shanghai, and oh yes, a box of Twinkies and two more bottles of Porc Sweat.