The out and back route in some stretches was very irritating as four runners could block progress or cause concertina effect especially on inclines. The heavily cambered roads were hard on the knees and ankles and running on the crown of the road often meant fighting through people to get to the water stops etc.
I think this particular marathon is already at its capacity unless you enjoy running elbow to elbow.
Overpriced and a peanut bar and a cotton finishers t shirt was not much of a goody bag.

Third time I have done this one and still my PB course. More or less flat (apart from a bit of a slope up to Ovingdean) but seems to be quite psychologically challenging around the powerstation out and back. Well organised and well supported. Quite a large chunky medal as well.

My fourth year in a row and will be back in 2014. Great city, organisation superb, spectators increased in numbers and a wonderful weekend at 'London-on-Sea'.

We spent 11 days in the UK with the Brighton marathon at the end of the trip. My wife's father was born in Southern England, so we got to see where he lived before coming to the US as a young man. This is my second international marathon, having run Dublin a few years ago. If I were doing it over, I would run the race early in the trip as I did in Dublin. Too much sightseeing in London, Edinburgh, and Dover took a toll and I was tired by mid race. My wife, being the good sport that she is, was a volunteer and worked traffic on London Rd. The organization was great. My only complaint was the amount of time it took to clear the congestion at the finish and get back to the room. The course had some very nice sections along the coast. I would have reversed the latter part of the race with the industrial area earlier and have the last few miles of the race east of town. The spectators were great and there were people even the more remote areas. Brighton is easy to get to from London by train and I recommend it.

My 3rd Brighton Marathon and thoroughly enjoyed it; again.
It was a little cooler this year and the tour of Ovindene in the first half has been replaced with an extra mile in Hove which makes the elevations a little flatter overall.
They still have a difficult section around Shoreham Power Station at mile 20-23 where it goes very quiet.
The start area was better managed this time and the finish at Brighton Pier is still one of the best in the UK .

The route itself was tricky - this was my first marathon and the repeated 'out-and-back' process was mentally difficult. The scenery is beautiful, which helped a lot. Unfortunately, miles 20-24 ish ran through an industrial estate with the smell of metal and sewage, which attracted no supporters (except for the awesome official ones) at the stage of the race when you really need them most.

I was enormously unimpressed with Clif, who did not stick around to see any of the slower runners, and handed out far too many Shot Bloks, which covered the roads, making them very sticky.

I cannot speak highly enough of the people of Brighton, who came out of their houses throughout the residential areas. The volunteers were efficient, kind and well-organised. I don't think I could've wished for more from them - except maybe a piggy back when my feet eventually gave up ;)

This is not a slow person's marathon, and I don't think I would have picked it as a first marathon had I known how it would be.

My husband ran last year and really enjoyed it so we both signed up for 2012. All in all I enjoyed this race, and I look forward to running it next year knowing what to expect in terms of hills, etc. (I was able to pre-register at the Expo for a discount and guaranteed place). If you have made a big improvement in your running, then this is a great place to get a PB. However, if you're looking to shave off minutes or seconds, then a flatter course may be more suitable. This wasn't gruelling, but it was challenging.

While I really enjoyed the event, I have the following aspects to comment about:

I felt like the course could be improved to make it a better race. If there was a 3.5 option for course, I'd have selected that.

In terms of the scenery, the first 14 miles of the course are fantastic. You start off in a park, head down towards the city and then out along the cliffy sea coast. It's stunning to take in park, regency architecture, city, sea front and cliffs in the space of 10 miles! In 2012, there was a significant cross wind, which made parts of the first half very challenging. Also, the course is a lot more hilly than I was expecting. There weren't any major, major climbs, but the first half is certainly not flat, and with the wind it made for a big challenge. I started too fast and paid for it later!

The second half of the course was a lot more disappointing. You head out from the main seafront area towards about 5 miles of residential back and forth. While the crowd support here was very good, it felt like a long out and back along a boring stretch.

This out and back stretch was followed by yet another out and back stretch that was even worse, out towards an industrial site. While again, the crowd support here was substantial considering where it was, it's just an awful place to be spending the most challenging miles of the marathon, especially because it was preceded by another boring stretch.

The final miles take you back along the sea front into the city centre, which was well supported by crowds and made for a great finish. I wish they'd make the finish line much more visible from afar with balloons or something, because you can't really sea it until you're 200 m away.

It is hard to plan a course in a city like Brighton, where there are hills and lots of residential areas, but I think they could work on removing the industrial site, or else putting it earlier on in the race where it doesn't feel so demoralising, or providing better entertainment there. You need some uplift at those miles!

The organisation, on the other hand, was fantastic. The start at the park was as smooth as butter. There were more than enough sport drinks, water stations, gels, etc., which I was really impressed with given the small number of competitors. The app was incredible, and I was able to change my number at the last minute to move ahead a corral and everything worked fine.

I think they could improve the entertainment along the course, especially at the end. That would make up for some of the more dreary parts of the course.

The fans were incredible. Lots of LOUD cheering that really helped, especially at the end. I'll stop short of giving them a 5, because it's not London or Berlin, but for a small city and a cold/windy day, they were fantastic!

I love Brighton as a city, and I really enjoyed running there for the first 16 of the 26 miles. I think knowing what to expect, I'll enjoy it even more next year.

Very hot day for the 2nd Brighton Marathon, similar to 2010.
However, great crowd cheering us on and a much improved final 3 miles across the front as we had a path blocked out for us this year.
Fairly flat for the most part and very picturesque.
Nice finish area at the Pier (where else ?)

Great day, great weather (if a tad hot), fab crowd. Only complaint: not enough Clif Shot Bloks at mile 12; none were left by the time I got there with the 5-hour pacer (fab pro Clif Bar pacers!), though plenty were left at mile 18, though. :)

Can't wait for next year!

I ran the race this year, and it had superb organization. Bottles of water were handed out as well as PowerAde, and thanks to amazing weather on race day, Brighton was jam-packed with spectators who cheered us on all the way to the finish. I would definitely recommend this race if you're trying to run a PB (there are just few minor inclines). Having run big marathons before, I enjoyed not dodging people - and I still found a great atmosphere.