So I have run the San Diego marathon once before and I have the following comments regarding the 2013 marathon.

Pros:

1. Excellent course support. The volunteers always had a lot of fluids and the medical tents had plenty of vasoline.
2. Interesting course. The new course layout provided plenty of interesting places to run and was a significant improvement of the previous San Diego Marathon that I had been in (2009).
3. The expo has a large variety of vendors and is well attended. it would have been nice to see a video of the marathon course but as with all marathons these day the focus is increasingly on the half.

4. The downtown finish line was good and was an improvemet from the Marine corps barracks and Sea world.

Cons:

1. Do not underestimate the hill. It is very steep and long and comes at a point in the run where you want to walk. I crashed on the hill biut managed to come back in last 3 miles. I was a little surprised that they had organized the race this way.

2. I agree with the previous comments regarding the transportation plan. It said on the website transportation plan coming soon which gave the impression that they were working on something. At the end of the day the next post was 'if in a downtown hotel walk to the start'. This was disappointing.

3. When I finished the run I asked for a recovery blanket. I finished around 4:40 and was middle of the pack for the marathon. I was told that they had been given all away so I had to hunt one down in a medical tent. Really frustating.

All in all San Diego is a great city to visit and overall I enjoyed the run. I would do it again butprobably not next year.

The weather was perfect - cloudy, no wind, and 65 degrees. The transportation to and from the marathon needs to be improved. The roads that formed the course perimeter closed at 5:00 a.m., so I was forced to be dropped off at 4:45 a.m. so my ride could return before the roads closed. I waited one and one-half hours until the start. I could have walked 2 miles up a hill, but I wanted to save my energy.

As far as the hill, it was too long and too steep. I prefer rolling hills that last the entire course.

The walk/bike path in Mission Bay was too narrow for passing.

I went into this race with two marathons done already this year so I was a little tired and just wanted to enjoy this experience. I'm afraid I didn't enjoy this marathon as much as my other races. The course was harder than I planned and I really struggled the last 13 miles. I'm a strong hill runner and I found myself walking portions of the 20 mile hill. I was disappointed in the Team in Training coaches and their consistency to only cheer for TNT runners. Cheer for everyone! The bands seemed to play before I got to them and after, never while I was running past. Aide stations were fully stocked and I did appreciate the helpful and enthusiastic volunteers, as well as the many medical tents. Transportation the night before had me more stressed than the race, and I didn't enjoy the mile walk to the start line from 5th Ave. Not a fun way to start marathon morning. Expo was congested but I don't usually hang around much at those events. Fix the transportation, limit the field as I thought some portions were congested, and I'd run this again.

Overall, it wasn't terrible, but it sure wasn't great. They do a number of things well.

Pros:

Lots of well-manned water stations relatively easy to get a drink at. I only had to skip one due to excessive congestion.

More Gatorade, Gu and first aid stations than they promised.

Mostly scenic course.

On time start.

Excellent enthusiastic crowd and volunteers.

Cool light and sound show in a tunnel.


Cons:

The stretch through Mission Bay is terrible. Dangerous, even. The snaky jogging path they have you on for a couple miles is maybe 10 feet wide. Cracked concrete in spots. Not level. Way too congested. I tripped and fell hard trying go around a bicycle and stroller that got access to the jam-packed path, and I wasn't the only runner I saw fall here. It was absolutely terrible.

Up until 3 weeks before the race, the website said, 'Transportation plan coming soon.' Then, once the hotels were mostly booked and it was too late to change, the plan turned out to be: (paraphrasing - they put a much glossier veneer on it) Tough luck! You need to figure out a way to get to the starting line. Take public transit (which serves limited areas with the nearest train stop being a good mile away), find a cab or hope your hotel will give you a shuttle. (Mine didn't, nor did a couple others I called). For thousands of us, the transportation plan was to walk a couple miles up a pretty good hill to get to the start. You can call that a warm-up but it ought to be my choice how I warm up. It wouldn't have bothered me terribly if they had been up front about this, but that information was withheld when I wanted it most, and not revealed until the closer hotels were full or had sky-high rates.

The expo was a clogged mess. Didn't have the patience to fight the crowds to get to a lot of the vendor booths.

The music is overrated. A number of the bands were really good, and I appreciated the effort all of them put in, but you hear 'em a hundred yards out, and a hundred yards past, and that's that.

The hill climb on Hwy 163 at miles 20 and 21 is brutal. I'm generally a strong hill climber, and I understand it's the price we pay for two downhill trips through Balboa Park, but it's a BIG long, steep hill that knocks everyone off their pace and saps energy for the final miles.

It wasn't SO bad that I'd vow never to return, but I certainly won't be back next year. All in all, this was easily the least enjoyable marathon I've run, including a previous SD R-n-R that kept us on the street through Mission Bay. Getting back off the jogging path would be an enormous improvement.

I checked the reviews before signing up, not too much hills as everyone commented. But sure enough, they changed the course this year. Instead going downhill on the fwy 163, now u are going up. Over half an mile u going uphill, ESP it is at miles 20. 60% of the runners were walking up(7:15 pace group), for those who ran, I saw them cramped out on the side after that long uphill.
I did SF last year, this one is even tougher than SF, where as they were short uphills, not 1/2 straight uphills like SD.
The first half is very doable, some rolling hills but I managed to stay on 7:14 min pace. But the second half was so much tougher.
However, the organization is very good and nicely planned. They had water and bananas at the start line, corral were well planned, water stations were well stocked and volunteers were super friendly and enthusiastic.
I don't think I will come back if they will keep the same course!

For this being my first marathon i really had no idea what to expect. It was very diverse. You pass through urban areas as well as through closed freeways with an awesome ending at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot with nice display of the military helicopters. Would definately run it again. The only negative was that it was a cloudy ugly day and i didn't get to run with the beautiful blue San Diego sky.

This marathon is a large, but very well organized race. There are several corrals based on your projected finishing time, making the crowd well spread out and also making it easy to settle right into your pace.

The course is well organized with plenty of aid station support.

There are no major hills on the course, making it a great PR opportunity. The only problem is that it is not a very scenic course.

I recommend running this course if you are looking for a fun, big city marathon or if you are looking to set a new PR.

I carefully selected San Diego as my 50th marathon. Before and after the race I hiked my favoured scenery: beautiful California deserts.

The course was above average and covered all faces of San Diego including downtown. I liked the fact that full and half-marathoners could run in parallel, together and separately. I did not have any problems with finding my way. The Fiesta Island was the most dramatic part of the race: I could hear and see the finish line and yet it was another 5 km to run.

Organisation was also above average with two annoying details:
1. After the finish line, the food selection was excellent; but how much can you carry with two tired hands? The free carry-on bags were given away behind the 'no return' line. Very clever.

2. The distribution of free beer (one per runner) was preceeded by strict control comparable to airport security.

Spectators were very sparse even in downtown. I liked the wild performance of school kids especially at water stations. The musical support was also excellent; my favourite one was the solo organ concert.

Thank you, San Diego!

This was my first full marathon, having run 3 HMs previously. All in all I loved it. I personally didn't find it to be hilly, but I live in Colorado. My ONLY complaint is the banking on the 163, my right IT band wasn't too happy after the marathon. I loved this marathon and would do it again in heartbeat (in fact I hope to one day!).

Found this really well organised. Easy to get to the start, drinks stations all the way around were well manned, heaps of water, gatorade and gels on hand. Spectator support was insane, and the bands just made the day for me. Had a great run and great fun, would love to do it again.