The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of the MCM:

The Good:
Robi Powers - you rock, dude!
Easy course access, organized start
Fabulous course - second only to Big Sur
Perfect weather - OK, maybe you got lucky
Efficient and polite Marines - makes me proud to be an American
Plentiful, full cups at water stops
The spectators!
The medal - yours and the USAF Marathon's are tops.

The Bad:
There were two porta-potties at one particular stop, and four at most others, meaning eight-minute waits. Really?!
One-hour wait at Metro after the race - made shorter if you discuss "running" with fellow passengers. : - )

The Ugly:
There were 25,000 runners. Often spent more time going around slow and stopped runners than going forward.
Bigger is not necessarily better!

Some of the comments below rate the race negatively due to poor planning on the runner or runner's family. If you paid attention to any of the previous years' comments, you'll see that the Rosslyn Metro station is NOT worth the wait and that the finish area is a crowd of families. So, plan on taking the free shuttle back to Crystal City to catch the metro. It took about two minutes to get on the shuttle and about 20 (due to road closures) to get to the station. Much easier - plus if you stayed in Crystal City, then you'd be done.

The race is great. All of the hills are done by Mile 8, and other than the bridge at Mile 20-22, the course is flat and fair. Wonderful organization, on-course support, and experience. Expo was a breeze, pre-race porta-potties are plentiful at the Pentagon (DO NOT USE THE BROOKS VIP - WASTE OF TIME) and the scenery is amazing.

RUN IT!

Really friendly people, nice race, good support. I did not like the first few miles; it was a bottleneck, and when you cross over the finish to the post-race area, it was too crowded and cramped. Other than that, I enjoyed the race.

This race was a thrill of a lifetime for me. This was my first marathon. I ran for the Sempi Fi Injured Marines and Sailors. My father, Col.Paul R. Bean USMCR, helped start this marathon in 1976. He was at every marathon volunteering until he passed in 1991 volunteering. Everyone came together for a day for the same reason: to finish the race. It made me proud to be an American, and even prouder to be the daughter of a Marine. The USMC did a wonderful job! Thank you, USMC!!!!!

My first marathon, and I will never forget the Marines who made it special. Well-organized. Great spectators, except for few people around 10-13 and on the bridge before Crystal City. Otherwise, a fun and entertaining route through DC and VA. I ran with Team in Training (I beat lymphoma earlier this year), so it had special significance for me - crappy first half of the year, and great finish.

This was my third marathon and I was blown away by the Marine and spectator support on the course. Yes, the finish was tough (last .2 miles straight uphill), but you should read the map beforehand to know how the course is set up. I almost don't want to run this again because of the great experience I had. I would highly recommend this to anyone.

Pros: It started on time; aid stations were on both sides; helpful Marines/military personnel; nice run through the capital - passing all of the major monuments and things that people want to see when they go to DC; and there was a nice, big expo that was fun and had neat stuff.

Cons: The crowd was pathetic for over 30,000 runners - there was an entire two-mile portion with maybe 10 people on it to cheer you on; like most races, the PowerAde was watery at some stations and concentrated at others - one day it'd be nice to get consistency; tons of people werer clogging the way; getting to the race was more complicated than it needed to be - they didn't have an escalator open at the Arlington Station and it took 15 minutes to get off the train platform; and there were not enough port-a-potties (I went in the bushes twice).

Overall, it was an enjoyable experience. I probably wouldn't do it again, but it was fun. I've got DC out of the way now.

Fantastic course and fantastic experience. On a crisp autumn day, running this marathon was more of an event for me than just a race. Beautiful course and great race. Very friendly people.

This was my third race and first MCM. Overall, it was a great race from fan support to the scenery. Logistically, it was a bit of a challenge. The metro was a mess to and from. The city should just open the lines. DO NOT GET off at Arlington if you take the train. We had to walk about a mile to drop our stuff off at the UPS trucks, and then rush back to the start line. I would recommend you get off at the Pentagon, although not many did. Post-race was worse than the start. Everyone was trying to enter the Metro and it took an hour on very tired legs for us to get on a train. It was just impossible to get around. As for the race, it was really crowded for almost six miles with runners of much slower pace seemingly ahead of us in the 3:40 shoot. Not sure how that happened, but I felt like I was dodging runners forever. I posted a PR, so I was pretty pumped and still am. Post-race, I never did find the food tents and just wanted a soda. I love a cold beer, but wasn't up for it after the run. Oh well, heard the tents were great, but couldn't locate them. Overall, DC and the MCM make for a great experience. I would recommend it, but they could use some logistical help to make it a first-class run.

The expo, start line, and course attention to detail could not have been better. These areas had flawless attention to detail. I was disappointed in the lack of coordination and general confusion post-race after exiting the restricted area. It was a mess and a mob scene. The walk from the finish line to the "finish festival" was way too long, and we had to fight a sea of spectators coming the other way. Then it was another 20-minute walk fighting crowds back to view the finish. We stood in a mob for 40 minutes trying to gain access to the Rosslyn metro station. I'm sure if the Marines concentrate more on the post-finish, they can make this a perfect event.