I loved this race, but it definitely isn't for everyone. The course is extremely hilly, there aren't a lot of spectators, and the full marathon is very small (only about 50 participants in 2011).

The event is mostly centered around the Decker Challenge half marathon, which has almost 1000 participants. The Double Decker full marathon starts 30 minutes earlier and runs two loops of the half course. The separate start means the full marathon is pretty lonely. Also be aware that the full marathon is only supported for 4.5 hours, and after that the roads reopen and you are expected to carry your own water. The finish line cutoff is 6.5 hours. A nice bonus to the race is that all of the pre-race and post-race stuff happens indoors in the expo center, so any bad weather can be avoided until the last minute.

So overall, if you want to run a PR or have lots of crowd support, this isn't your race. If you want a major challenge and don't mind running by yourself, this race is great!

This a hilly loop course, with one lap being the half-marathon and two laps for the full. The majority of people (close to 1000) ran the half, and less then 50 people completed the full. Unfortunately, because of the small number of people running the full, there was little support at the finish for us. There was suppose to be tacos, post-race massage, etc but we experienced none of these. There was also no post-race electrolytes or even a unique finisher's medal. Along the course, there is water and electrolytes (every other water station) but during our second lap, volunteers had left the stations and some had almost no water left. While it was well organized (packet pick-up, bag drop), the lack of overall support, during the race and at the finish, was really disappointing, especially after having completed a really tough race.