Good organization, excellent crowd support, nice course-although it is NOT flat. I ran New Orleans, that's what flat is, LOL! But the few rolling hills are easy enough to deal with. oh and row of National Guardsmen standing at attention at the end-kind of makes you feel good :)

Pros:
-Good organization
-Not gimmicky
-Excellent traffic support by the police!
-National Guardsmen handed out long stem red roses to female finishers..and the men that wanted them I guess :)
-The Medal is a Big Penny! (yes the medal is only about the size of a half dollar, but if it was bigger it would look cheezy I think)definitely one of the neater ones I've gotten.
-Free massage at the end of the race
-Excellent water/fuel support
-Relatively flat, rolling hills no big deal even if you didn't train for them
-Crowd support was fabulous and friendly and there were people almost everywhere.
-Out and back was ok because you could see the National guard team members Hauling butt to qualify and it was encouraging
-Nice tech-T, the sizes for women are in actual womens sizes which is super nice, but seemed big. They had a table for trading sizes, but I couldn't trade for a small because they had none for trading, so if you're small...sign up for small!
-Expo hotel was awesome, pool with Hot Tub, staff was knowledgeable


Cons:
-The trail. Oh that trail. While it would be a wonderful running trail alone or with 3 runners, I was with the 4:20 pace group and it was a clustered mess. If your a middle of the pack runner, try to be patient through this part, passing is dangerous along the uneven grass on the side.

-The free massage ended too early for the later runners. I finished around 4:30 and as I was getting massaged they were asking their massage volunteers to please stay a little longer for the slower runners. Maybe they could have shifts for them? (but they were AWESOME to volunteer anyways and I got a good light post run massage)

-Some people complained about the unpredictable weather. Was in the 80's the prior weekend and low 40's for race. Seemed perfect to me for race weather, ran the whole thing with earmuffs on because of the wind though.

Overall good experience, worth the trip.

I'd definitely tell friends to run the Lincoln Half. The spectators were amazing (second only to Fargo), thick all along the Half route and genuinely engaged and cheering. As a UNL graduate, I like being back in Lincoln. The trail along Hwy 2 was congested, but I knew what to expect and just passed people on the grass. Packet pickup was a cluster at 6:00 Saturday night. Simple logistics could solve that bottleneck. Expo needs to be held in separate or larger room. Absolutely need Half Marathon medals. It's not fair to the Fullers when a Halfie like me gets a Marathon medal. Would make a killing if they sold Half shirts, stickers, etc. along with the full stuff. Shirts were poor quality, but I had a good enough time at the race and have enough race shirts, that it's not a big deal to me. Overall, Lincoln has a great thing going. They're at a point where they need to respond to the growth, though, not squander it. A big race is totally different than a small race, and they haven't caught up yet.

I ran Lincoln this past Sunday for the first time. Great small marathon. Good course with some rolling hills. Great spectator support. I ran for the National Guard time trials and it was awesome seeing all the troops out there supporting the race and giving out water/gatorade. Very nice dry fit women's race shirt. I have to agree with the previous comments regarding the narrow bike path. There were 10,000 runners this year and about 6,000 of then ran the half marathon. There was congestion on that narrow bike path. The finish was the coolest finish- running into the Husker stadium to the 50 yd line as the announcer called out my name and where I was from. Medal was nice but they could make it a little larger. This was my 8th marathon and the saddest little medal...size of a medal I get from a local 5k or 5 miler. Overall great race. I will be back to do it again next year.

I agree with many others that the course along Hwy 2 needs to be looked at as well as the second half of the course. Being my first marathon I didn't know what to expect. Very congested on Hwy 2 bike path. Not enough support on second half, both fans and food/water. My goal was to finish, and I did under the time allotted, but at the finish, there was no food left, no announcer, no massage, no nothing... Please have medical staff around for us fools that come in after 5 hours, we are most likely in more need of help than the faster, in shape runners that are done in under 3 1/2 hours. Maybe you should tell the hoard of 1/2er's to leave a little fuel for the marathoners still to come in.

When the course hits the bike path, there has always been a congestion problem. I don't understand why you don't move this part to Hwy 2, which goes along the path. Just close one side of the Hwy and congestion wouldn't be a problem. There isn't that much traffic at that time of day anyway. This would eliminate the need to restrict the race to 10,000 runners and generate more income for the marathon/charity.

Very little spectators during the 2nd half. Also, don't care for the down and back on the 2nd half, makes the course very boring and easy to lose motivation.

Had a great time. Pre & Post Race meals were great. The course wasn't as flat as we thought but not bad. Biggest issue was distance between H2O stops in the 2nd half on a hot day (1.5-2 miles apart). Otherwise well organized. Course/Fans are better in 1st 1/2 than 2nd part. Passing the finish with 13.2 to go was hard/many dropped out there. Had a nice feel to the race.

The packet pick-up was a breeze. The course was flat and great. The fans were amazing. It was a great time! I'm already thinking of running it next year!

I returned to my home course for the 2012 marathon and enjoyed it and the fans as I always do. The course is better in the final 5K as it is diverted off the streets and onto the Antelope Creek trail which runs along the waterway, making it safer and avoiding more traffic than the pre-2010 course. The finish in Memorial Stadium with National Guard members congratulating you is outstanding. However, a few suggestions:

1. Start Marathoners first, about 30-45 minutes before the half-marathoners, stagnating start times and preventing crowding at the start.
2. Distinguish between full and half marathon medals as was done in the past, either by size and/or color to show some differentiation between the races and the recipients.
3. Allow a partial refund for those not able to run the race and allow a re-sale in order to generate more revenue and avoid more bandit runners. I understand those not running for the past 2 years has stood at around 1600.
4. Expand the capacity to grow the race by adjusting logistics to accommodate even more runners, as the demand is clearly high for this race and people will continue to participate if adjustments can be made. Otherwise, people will continue to be turned away and will become dissatisfied and not recommend it to other potential athletes who might otherwise wish to run it.
5. Also, considering altering or rotating the designs on the medals from year to year to keep those who enjoy it from coming back for a different surprise each May!

The course would be a very good half course, but only fits 3 runners (barely) side-by-side from about mile 6 for the next few miles. To prevent congestion they held back successive groups of runners at the start. I was in the 9 minute pace group, and it took 14 minutes to get to the start. (Organizers said not to worry, as chip time would show correct time, but chip timing didn't work.) Straws with cups was a waste early on for anyone used to drinking from a cup, but useful later if you wanted to carry it for a half mile or so. 1st half had shade, 2nd half mostly in the open on concrete. Plentiful gatorade, oranges, water, GU. Overall, a better half than a full.

We had great experiences and loved about things that was organized. First time in Lincoln Nebraska for race and good time. Loved how we were set up by pace to start, the many water stops (with lids and straws!), Lots of people. Amazing. We got nice hotel just 2 block from State capital building TownHouse Extended stay.

(facebook.com/extendedstayhotel) great location and walking distance like 5 minutes to Marathon start/finish point. In downtown after race we had good time. especially for a runner from San Diego.
Love <3 the Lincoln, Hotel and Downtown.