The course was gorgeous - along the ocean and the Douro River - and interesting. The swag of a bottle of port was great. The shirts were sized poorly - I initially had a female shirt and I'm a male but I had no problem making the exchange. Although my shirt is still too small. The course was remarkedly flat although windier than I had hoped.

I concur about the lack of food and, although there were adequate water stops, I don't recall one with food or energy drink. What was difficult was getting the shuttle back from the marathon to a point closer to the start of the race. Still a great, gorgeous run. This was my first overseas marathon - am American but live in Africa - and I know the Portuguese are great marathon runners, but the quality of the runners was outstanding, especially when compared to the US where it seems every couch potato wants to run a marathon - even if it's in 6 hours. The quality of the racers was great.

The course is not only beautiful (along the ocean and river) but is also reasonably fast. Registration is cheap (not more than 50 euros and includes standard offers plus a bottle of Porto Wine) and the city is also inexpensive when compared with most other European cities.
The organization of this event is normally perfect but this year the food supplies to the +4:00 racers has failed. Not doubt it won't fail again.

In my opinion, this race can be criticized on quite a few point but I will focus on one only: the food or rather the absence of food.
Only water scheduled from km0 to km20, this is already very awkward but we knew it and we waited 'hungrily' for km 20 where there was...nothing. Not a banana, not a dry fruit, not even a sugar at any of the food stands from km 0 to km 42! Since I ran in 4 hours, it's not that i was the last one. Some runners even had to beg for some sugar in the coffee places to avoid hypoglycemia. Honestly, if they wanted to kill someone, they wouldn't do anything different. I hope no one had an accident but unless they remove those stupid sponges and buy a decent amount of food, i will strongly disrecommend this race to my fellows.

Weather was perfect, people were nice, I thought that the course would be steeper. Only bad thing bus back into town. We thought that bus would drive a bit nearer to the city center people who ran the 14 km had to walk the whole way back into town.

I came with a group of 3 from my club to run in Porto 2011. Seeing the hilliness of the city streets I was really worried that the course would be a killer but the organisers have picked a route that, apart from the start and the last 2-3km is flat or downhill.
Registration was quick on Friday but when we returned for the pasta party on saturday, there were long queues. The race expo was small, this is not a high profile event, I think the field was under 2000. A bottle of port in the pre-race goodie bag was an unexpected bonus, if not excatly pre-marathon fare.
The race starts with a short, steep uphill, then is level or flat for most of its length until you climb quite steeply in the last 2-3 km, just when you do not want to see a hill. The course is very scenic, but only in a few places are there more than a handful of spectators. There are also about 3 sections of cobblestones/pave that are very uncomfortable to run on, especialy the last one whhc is in the last 5km.
I was pleased with my time, a personal record of 3:08 and after a few minutes recovery, was delighted to join my fellow runners with a few free beers in the warm autumn sunshine. Buses back to city centre from the finsih were a bit chaotic but we got there, eventualy.

Running in the 3rd Porto Marathon in 2006, was like finding a treasure. But with only 372 finishers there was not a lot of company. Not sure how much it has grown now, but my 3:55 finish placed me more than two thirds through the field. Fiercely contended at the sharp end but a good event for all levels. The cobbled section near half way, and the final mile incline are the main challenges.

This is an excellent marathon in the quieter November/December period - warm weather, a fast route with a fair bit of downhill (though watch the last kilometer and a bit, and the first 500 meters uphill), a lovely route along the seafront and the Douro river and a jam-packed goody bag including 2 t-shirts (1 technical) and a full-size bottle of port. Given hand luggage restrictions, we had to drink this before we left - hence a bit of a port hangover at the race start.

Porto is a very pretty little town - so nice for a weekend away; however, it's not good for carb loading if you're bothered about it. There are also one or two patches of cobbles that can be slippy if wet.

Overall, an excellent race that I would highly recommend if you can run sub 4:30. (There weren't many slower runners in this race.)