The drizzle started as soon as the gun went off and continued all day, but it was still a good experience despite being cold and wet!

PROS:
- very well organized pick up
- lots of bathroom/changing facilities
- cool windbreaker
- beer to finishers
- scenic route, including running alongside the ocean
- awesome volunteers despite the weather
- water, electrolyte drinks, and gels along the course

CONS:
- off season, so a lot of stuff in the area was closed, thus not great for a destination for the weekend
- postrace food was chowder. Great if you're not allergic to seafood
- only one person was handing out heat blankets after and I have no idea who that person was. It took the rest of the day to stop shivering
- no official bag check, you left your stuff under a generally-guarded tent. My bag (and change of clothes) was absolutely soaked
- not much free parking (I lucked out by an early arrival)

I traveled from Colorado because I wanted to do a marathon at sea level, and have family ties in New England. I enjoyed the course, and didn't really feel like the numerous turns in some sections were that troublesome. Volunteers were great for the most part, especially given the cool and rainy weather. Overall, I had a great weekend. My only recommendation would be to improve things at the finish. Maybe it was because I was soaked and not thinking clearly, but I didn't see or get any directions about where to go to get food etc. Blankets were in a tent which was positioned before the finish line, and I had to ask another runner where to find them.

The price of this marathon was decent considering the jacket, beer, food etc. I certainly didn't feel like I paid too much. The course was well staffed by volunteers who stood out in the rain with a smile on their faces. I thought that it was nice to run through most of the residential areas and it was good that the turns kept things interesting.

However, the lack of a real manned bag drop was disappointing considering that the website indicated that there would be bag drop and that someone would be there. Bag drop was a soggy unmanned mess under a tent. Not cool. Then when you finished the marathon there were no blankets, no organizers telling you where to go for food and drinks and it just seemed like everything fell apart for the marathoners. I would think that the half marathoners had it better. Also, why were the half marathon mile signs so big and prominent while the marathon signs (mile 13+) were really just paper signs on a piece of cardboard. Not too special. Not that I care much about signs, but it was more the fact that the marathon seemed like an afterthought to a probably well run half marathon race.

The camber of the road was very steep at times and with all the rain (can't be helped) this was like running through puddles over and over again. Tough on the knees and hips during those couple mile stretches. The run along the water was nice though!

I ran the HM in 2010 and this was my first full here and 3rd overall. I didn't expect people out on the course on such a terrible day so no surprise that there weren't many. Course is good except I don't think there needs to be so many turns. Probably trying to not go into other towns and make permiting difficult. My big complaint: After running 26.2, I expected some basic nutrition right at the finish. Bananas, orange slices, something like that. All I know is that I was not ready to eat a lobster roll but needed something. If it was there, I didn't see it.

Couple more comments: 1st: Don't advertise bag drop if you aren't going to provide something more than an EZ-up. I could have walked off with any bag I thought looked nice. 2nd Don't hand out foil blankets if you only have what looked to be 10 or 12 of them. I finished pretty early and they were out and only a few people were walking around with them. It's close for me so I might run it again.

I live in the South, and my friend and I chose this race b/c we wanted a cool marathon. We were not disappointed. The weather was cold, but it was also raining the entire time!

I loved this race. I PRd by 4 minutes and my friend PRd by 8 minutes! The course is beautiful and mostly flat. I loved running along the coast and through the colonial neighborhoods.

The only negatives:
- The marathoners had to do a 180 degree turn around a cone in the second half that seemed completely superfluous.
- There were no space blankets for the marathoners. It was FREEZING after we stopped.
- The roads were a little treacherous between the cars and the puddles. Would have been nice to have a little more running room on the open streets.

But overall I loved this race! I loved the double loop. I loved the jacket. I love the very friendly people of NH. I loved the charming town of Hampton. And most of all, I love my PR!

First, I liked the course. It had variety, things to look at, and was flat. There are a large number of turns which makes running a tangent difficult in the crowds, but I didn't honestly mind that too much.

My gripes are organizational in nature. First, at the start there was one small tent sent up for runners to put gear under during the race. It wasn't marked, and you had to find someone to ask to know where it was. It was small, like a cross-country team might take to a meet for the team to get under if it rained. Runners were just supposed to toss gear under the tent on the ground. So, it rained. Rain runs on the ground. All the dry gear I had for after the race was now wet.

Second, there were no space blankets left before the first marathon runners crossed the line. It was a fall rainy day. If there were 5000 runners, there should have been at least 5000 blankets.

Third, I feel I was cheated out of a jacket. Here is why. I registered for the marathon, and due to injury concerns, I needed to switch down to the half marathon. I followed the instructions on the website stating that anyone looking to switch needed to notify the directors via email by Sept. 5th at the latest. I did that. At that point I knew there would not be a refund. I was ok with that. I even knew that I probably would end up with a technical t-shirt instead of a jacket. I was not really ok with that after paying the higher registration fee, but accepted it. However, I was not ok with it for long after I arrived at packet pickup.

There were bright neon signs at packet pickup directing any marathon registrants that decided to do only the half marathon instead, to please see the timer. Say what? I didn't have to declare one race or the other by Sept. 5th? I could have shown up, picked up the jacket I paid for, and run the half? How is that fair? I followed the instructions on the site and end up with a t-shirt. I would have loved more time to decide whether to do the half or the marathon pending injury status. I chose to declare on the half because I didn't want to get there and have them not allow me to switch at that point. I feel cheated. There was no designated question table to take a complaint to, and the one lady in charge of packet pickup was frantically running around yelling to her volunteers instructions about not letting people get jackets from the marathon tent...etc. Things that should have been taken care of before people were there. Two girls in front of me were there to pick up packets and were told they were not registered.

Fourth, the lines at the end for lobster rolls and beer were really long and not under shelter. I opted to go home since my dry clothes were not.

I hope the organizational issues can be resolved. The course is nice.

It's now easily the largest marathon in NH with 879 finishers in its 3rd year. Course has 6 miles with the ocean on your left and most of the rest is in leafy residential streets with no sidewalks. It does have a lot of turns.

Good stuff: 2 PowerGel stations, Clam chowder, minestrone and lobster roll at the finish with plenty left for 5 hour plus finishers. Volunteers were great. Nice jacket, though I would have preferred the half marathon shirt. Post race showers were available, and there was plenty of parking close to the start/finish if you showed up more than an hour before the start.

Bad stuff: 3200 half marathoners who accompany you for 11 miles. This race is getting too big to run on an open course with cars. The very few miles that were closed were closed only for the duration of the half. We had to choose between running with the cars and stepping in puddles a lot. Only 12 water stops and some were water only. Sufficient for the rainy cold day we had, but could spell trouble on a hot day. I was glad I brought my own endurance drink bottle. The course is a bit hillier than the website indicates. If you are thinking of doing a double with Bristol NH, Portland is a slightly flatter course.

I ran this as my NH race to check off the 50 states. I have been injured most of the summer, so I knew it wouldn't be great in terms of my finish time. I still had a lot of fun! The weather was HORRIBLE the entire time I was out on the course, leading to little to zero spectators.

Pros:
-Nice wind jacket for the full marathon
-easy day of race bib pickup
-easy to park, drove up from Boston the morning of
-yummy lobster rolls and chowder at the end, even for the last finishers
-I liked my medal
-they announced your name and hometown as you finished

Cons:
-Most of the course, you are running on the shoulder of the road. This year it rained, pretty hard at times and cars were just FLYING by. I was almost hit a few times-some of the roads had almost no shoulder
-Water stops were pretty spread apart and the later ones were unmanned. The cups were very diluted with rain water
-in a few areas on the course, the directional signs weren't real obvious and in on case, there were 2 next to each other that contradicted one another!
-at the finish area, on a cold, rainy day, someone should have been wrapping runners in the foil blankets after they crossed. I was shivering and shaking, in the beer tent and see people in the blankets-was told, oh you had to go to medical to get those. Luckily, we were parked close by and could just go change into dry clothes
-No medical support on the course at all. Could be dangerous on a cold, rainy day like we had.

Overall, this race probably is the flattest one in New England. On a clear day, I think it would have been very scenic. Despite the weather, I enjoyed it. Not too pricey and what we did get was quality.

Lots of rain but still a great day running. LOCO did an amazing job with organization, water stops were right where they said, plenty of port-o-lets on the course, and the views along the ocean were spectacular even through the raindrops! Awesome post race spread of Smuttynose beer, lobster rolls, clam chowder, and minestrone soup plus plenty of fluids and fruit. Volunteers were OUTSTANDING and there was solid support along the course, especially considering the weather. Two thumbs up for the 2012 Smuttynose Rockfest Marathon!

This is billed as a flat and fast course. Being a New Englander, I will agree that it was very flat by New england standards. Only a few very slight, short hills and a couple sections where you knew you were climbing, but never to the degree that you had to work any harder. Agreed with prior comments, too many 90 degree turns and a pointless loop down a side street and around a cone to consider this a fast course. A PR is always possible though, I did! I got to the race 1 hour early. Easy parking in a public lot. I could see the start from my car so no need for bag drop, just left my gear in the car. Easy number pickup, and a nice jacket I will actually wear. The race starts with a loop through Hampton Beach proper, interesting area. No jet flyovers, just an ice cream truck with music playing and bells ringing. Very Hampton Beach. Post race was fine. The medal is just alright. The beer was tasty and free. The food was good! Hot clam chowder and a lobster roll. I wasn't expecting much if they were serving lobster to 5000 runners, but was pleasantly surprised. The band was odd. 1970's cover band? Really? In costumes? Whatever, it was entertainment. Long story short, Jacket=$40, 2 premium local beers=$12, Seafood lunch on the shore=$15. Kinda makes the race free.