I ran the half this year and last year, and boy was last year a mess! This year was much better, but it also helped that I was prepared for a race this size. Packet pick-up Saturday morning was smooth, with lots of stuff left at the expo, and the new drop-off location at Alamo Stadium was perfect for me. I was dropped off at 6:15 and walked one mile to the start. The finish was much better, too. I didn't feel rushed through and had time to get some food and drink. It helped that they expanded the reunion area. The half marathon course had good crowd support and aid stations. Overall I was glad that they learned from their mistakes from last year.

San Antonio seems like a nice city a fun place to visit. The marathon route didn't showcase the city at all. The back half of the course, parts of which you run twice, are as uninteresting as any of the marathon course I have run. The point-to-point seemed pointless, as I am not sure what the first part of the race ran past that was a must-see in San Antonio that could not have been accomplished by starting at the finish. It could start and finish in the same place and avoid the transportation and time hassles at the start line. Perhaps somewhere in downtown. The parking lot of the Alamodome for the finish... really?

My first R 'n' R Marathon, and I did not get a favorable impression.

Pros:
* Volunteers - there were lots of them and they were very enthusiastic.
* The expo had lots of vendors, although you knew it was time to go because they turned the lights off. Really, did you have to do that?
* Opportunity to visit San Antonio.

Cons:
* Point-to-point course for no apparent reason. NYC and Grandma's feature point-to-point courses, and you know why.
* Overall, a boring course with many turns.
* Portions of the first half of the course are crowded.
* The expo was only open until 5:00 p.m. the day before the race, which does not lend itself to people traveling that day.

It was hot and humid; but there's nothing you can do about the weather. Interesting to note that the Dallas Marathon (250 miles north) is one month later.

The organizers seemed to respond to complaints about last year (shuttles were better and they gave tech shirt instead of cotton). Weather was humid this year, but that is always a risk in San Antonio. After two years, still wondering where the "monster hill" in the last mile is. (Try the Fall Fest in October if you want a hilly course in SA).

Pros:
* Organization and support.
* Festive expo.
* Volunteers at aid stations.

Cons:
* This is a BIG event, so expect crowds.
* If you follow the organizers' advice and take the shuttles and arrive early, you'll be OK. If you want to park at the start/finish, there are some great small marathons out there where you can.

This was my return to the full distance in the United States and I've been sucked into that 50-state thing. Agree with the comments about humidity. The only downside was the long trek back to the Market Street drop off to pick up the Ford Escape rental car. After that, I pretty much had it with San Antonio and headed straight for Houston. But it was worth it looking back this past week. Doing it again this week in Tulsa - that's two marathons in two states in consecutive weeks. Pretty wrecked after this, I am sure. Lucky to be flying a few hours after the finish. Better make sure I make it then!

This race is always great. What else can I say? I beat last year's time by five minutes. Awesome!!!

The had obviously learned lessons from the previous year. I arrived at the expo at 1 p.m. on Saturday, and packet pick-up was done in 90 seconds. Got to the downtown shuttle at 5 a.m., and was dropped off at 5:20 a.m. There were plenty of porta-potties at the start. Aid stations along the route were very well-stocked, which was critical this year due to appallingly humid weather.

The problem is that, unless you are a sub-3:30 runner, you are likely to be waiting a long time in a corral. They already start the race "late" at 7:30; I crossed the start line at 8:15. That's a lot of time waiting around, especially after quite a walk from the shuttle drop-off to the start, and then another long walk to get to the drop-bag vans and then back to the corrals. I was tired before I started running.

While the roads were not particularly narrow, I found it quite crowded, and spent more time making sure I kept out of people's way rather than enjoying the scenery and the experience. At Mile 10, the half-marathoners - four-fifths of the runners - turned off and there was much more space, and it would have been almost enjoyable except for the heat.

But even apart from the weather, which no one can control, I will not be doing this race again. However good the logistics, it is still a scrum with nearly 30,000 people. I preferred the pre-R'n'R version, but of course that did not make as much money.

Gosh, what a disappointment. From the expo, to the start, to the finish, this race left a lot to be desired. They have 31,000 participants, which is a lot of folks - especially to have them shuttle between 4:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. on race day morning to a drop-off where we had to walk a mile to the start. The water along the route was lukewarm; we ran parallel to a cemetery (enlightening); and possibly some of the most boring scenery ever. The only redeeming quality was the local cheerleaders along the way with their great smiles and encouraging words. I'll never run a Rock 'n' Roll again if this is what they are like. Waste of money, time, and effort. It was more like a merchandising event than anything.

This was my first marathon, and San Antonio is my home town, so I knew what to expect. After reading and hearing about the shuttles last year, my husband dropped me off very close to the race village, which worked out very well. Next year I will get there around 8 a.m., since my corral didn't get to the start line until almost an hour into the race. The bands on the course were really good, but crowd participation was not as strong as what I had hoped for. There were only a few places where you could feel a lot of energy from the crowd, and it was all in the first half of the race (those banana peelers around Mile 6 were awesome!). The second half of the full marathon is very barren, with little crowd support and few bands. It's definitely a race that is structured more for the half marathon runners/walkers. With the heat (close to 80 degrees) and humidity (94%), I kept wishing I had just stopped at 13.1 instead of going the full distance, but it was my first marathon and I would have been disappointed to quit in the middle!

After reading last year's reviews, I was really worried that I was walking into a fiasco, but I either got lucky or the event improved a lot since last year. I didn't have any problems getting to the shuttles at the AT&T Center at 5:30 and was at my corral at 6:30. There were a lot of people, but I started near the front, so I didn't have to dodge any walkers. Overall, I think the corral starts worked well.

The race itself was fun, although there are some places around a park that were pretty lonely. Running through downtown was great though, and the crowd support there was helpful. I really liked being separated from the half-marathoners at the end, because I don't see how I could have continued to run there were so many (I guess they were finishing the half around 3:30 to four hours).

The half-hour wait in line for a shuttle after running all morning wasn't a lot of fun - I don't see why they can't start and end at the Alamodome. The only other thing that bothered me was the $10 parking fee to pick up my packet.

Overall, I had a really good time and nice run. More than likely I'll return next year.

My 9th marathon. Humidity was tough and so were some parts of the course out in no man's land. I expected more bands on the course. Some bands had no one around them in the remote areas. Aid stations were not placed evenly throughout the course and the lack of nutritional products was evident. I will look for another marathon venue before returning to San Antonio for my next.