Great swag (4 free beers, Irish stew, party tent, real blanket), nice race course, great spectators (beer at various locations), scenic route (lighthouses, First Landing), large medal, and post-race party tent on the beach. This is a mostly flat course and very runner friendly. The weather is always an unknown, and although the wind was not friendly, it was only a factor for a portion of the race.

This is only my 2nd Marathon, and therefore I really cannot give a sound opinion on technicalities. However, I must say that it was not difficult to keep a very regular pace, with an average of 5 seconds difference per mile, which I imagine reflects a very flat course. I really enjoyed my 3h46'15' journey.

Excellent organization and great swag. I had no idea that VA would be so cold with wind chill right above freezing. The wind off the beach made an otherwise flat course challenging. On a sunny day the course would be very enjoyable with ocean views. There are plenty of hotels within walking distance too and we walked two miles to the expo. As stated, the finishers blanket was very welcome and that, the shirt and hat are all good quality. The city of VA Beach basically shuts down in the morning on Saturday for the shorter races and most of Sunday for the longer ones do plan accordingly as you won't be able to move your car from most hotels on the beachfront. Shamrock on!

We have run so many beach city marathons in the last few years, I expected this one to be same old stuff, but this one was different. Other than the cool, cloudy weather (good for fast times anyway!), I have nothing negative to say. First, the course was flat (pedestrian bridges in Florida are bigger!); the spectators were more plentiful than most of the marathons I've run; the swag was plentiful (shirt, blanket, medal, calendar, food, beer, bands...); and the post-race party was a blast. We stayed on our feet a couple more hours after the race to enjoy the band and beer. Even though my wife and I both have Virginia now, I will be back. This was a great way to spend St Paddy's Day!

This was a great event and well worth travel to attend. Other race organizers should take notes (I'm talking to you NIke and Rock-n-Roll)! The event is well organized from the start to finish with plenty of well-stocked water stops, gels, and a nice flat course. It also has the best after-party I have ever attended  4 real cups of Yuengling beer, a great band, and terrific beef soup! I had a blast. You also get a finishers hat and this year we got super-useful and cool fleece blankets. Be aware that it can be chilly and the wind is harsh at times, but that is the nature of the location. Fabulous event, fabulous time, would do it again!

I really wished more Canadian race directors came to this marathon. It was great! Here are my comments:
1. The party on the beach afterwards was amazing!! Great food (plenty for late finishers), free beer, great bands and the party atmosphere was a great way to finish the race.
2. The shirt. Long sleeves, good colour pattern. Well done.
3. Race kit pickup - I wish Cdn. architects designed convention centres like the ones in VA. A work of art.
4. The course - I liked running by the Ocean. The strong winds were a problem but I prefer it to the Atlantic City Marathon.
Dislikes:
More porta potties. Some mile markers had only 1! Also, more toilet paper in them as well.

Overall well worth the 13 hour drive from Ottawa (one way!).

Sanjay

I recommend this race for a spring marathon on the East Coast. Weather is an uncontrollable factor, and the weather was less than perfect in 2013. J&A Racing puts on a first class event, and you will not be disappointed by chosing this race.
Positives:
- Flat course
- Well stocked drink/aid stations
- Family friendly
- Finish on boardwalk
- Finish festival inside tent on beach (live band and beer available)
- Overall value (long sleeve athletic shirt, nice running hat, finishing medal and finishing throw blanket)

Negatives:
- Carb boom energy gel (personally not a fan of the flavors I recommend carrying your own)
- Road conditions on Atlantic Avenue (numerous spots where roads have: potholes and patches)
- Little to no fanfare from 16 - 22 miles
- Irish Stew at the finish festival(stomach desires something else)
- Expo lacked the feel of a top notch event (seemed a little small and did not have a bunch of vendors or other race booths)

The Shamrock Marathon lived up to its reputation as a very well run race. All the information that you needed was available on the website, with additional tidbits, like the shirt design, band lineup or medal preview being posted on Facebook, not to mention receiving your bib number by text and email to facilitate packet pick up.

Packet pickup was efficient as was the shirt pickup. They had a table set up to exchange shirt sizes, which I appreciated. The popular race-specific items that my wife and I wanted were sold out when we got there about 1:00 on Saturday, so if you can, get there early to shop if that's important to you. I did notice the long line to purchase race items that I've heard about from past races, but it could be that the line moved very quickly. I didn't have to wait in it so I don't know. The expo vendors themselves had the normal fare. If you needed something last minute, you would be able to procure it easily.

The course itself was as advertised, flat and fast. The bridge at mile 3 and 10 was not a challenge that early in the course. There is a noticeable small incline from about mile 16 to mile 20. Again, it's not a hill; I don't want to mislead anyone, but there is a slight incline for at least a 3 to 4 mile stretch. It shows up on the race elevation chart on the race website. However, this is definitely the flattest of the three marathons I've run so far. Even much flatter than Houston.

As to the course aesthetics, I'm not one that needs cheering throngs, bands or great scenery, but I understand that those things are important to many and don't begrudge them for it. If that is you, this would not likely have been a great year for you on the course. The weather was not conducive to crowds, and, not surprisingly, there were very few spectators. A portion of those that were on the course were enthusiastic, and that was appreciated, but the majority seemed like they were there to cheer on their particular friend or family member only. I will say that the spectators were more numerous and more enthusiastic in the last mile or so, which is certainly where you need them the most.

The situation with the bands was strange, but it could have just been me. I don't know if their volume was required to be kept at a certain lower level, but most every time I didn't even know we were approaching a band until we were right next to them and their music kicked in, and as we passed on, it just as quickly faded out of hearing. This kind of defeated the 'pump you up' aspect of on-course music, but, again, I certainly appreciated that they were out there doing their part to help us on our way.

I've heard many refer to the course itself as boring, especially the portion from mile 16 to about mile 23. I enjoyed this portion. From mile 16 to mile 19 you are running on a tree-lined road with the trees limbs extending over the road, creating a sort of tunnel feeling. I found this peaceful. Mile 19 to about 23 is through Fort Story. While not overly scenic, I find running through a military installation kind of cool, and there was at least one stretch where you could get a glimpse of the Atlantic ocean. Frankly, at this point, I wasn't taking in much visually anyway.

As to course setup/management, all went well. The race started about 5 minutes late, but that doesn't bother me; I'd rather start a few minutes late knowing that things like timing, course closures, and the like are all worked out than just have the organizer send us on or way. My only complaint was that the mile 24 marker was missing when our pace group went past that point. When you are ticking off the last miles like I am, not mentally being able to check off passing that marker, even though you know you must have reached mile 24, was somewhat mentally challenging. I'm confident that the marker was not there as no one in the pack of about 12 runners that we were in saw a marker.

Speaking of pacers, our pacers were great. The first mile was about 20 seconds slow, and they very slowly brought us back on pace. We hit the half marathon mark exactly on pace. They were communicative and encouraging. They brought the group in to the finish on pace and several of us moved ahead in the last mile or so to finish ahead of pace. I earned a BQ with 65 seconds to spare.(Hopefully that proves to be fast enough.) I would not have made it without the pacers. I made a point to thank the pacer that I could find in the finish chute.

At the finish, the special item of a finisher's blanket was much appreciated. It was very effective in warding off the cold and bringing my body temperature back up. The finshers' tent was quite impressive. Lot's of energy and people enjoying the music and the food and beer.

Overall, a great race. I set a 9 minute PR and got a BQ-worthy time.

This is just great party race. Everything is done well. The course is a little boring at times but overall it is a good run. The big thing for me is the SWAG - other marathons take note!
Finishers get:
medal
finisher cap
finisher hoodie
4 free beers
unlimited beef stew
really good bands at the finish

That is really good swag!

But the best thing is the party atmosphere going on
Also kudos to the race for not running out of stuff - i was taking the race slow as to not mess up Boston but when I crossed near 6 there was still plenty of people, food and beer!

Highly recommended!

Pros:
- Flat course except for the one bridge that you cross twice, which is a nothing, maybe a 40 incline.
- Half marathoners started earlier so they were off the course.
- Several stretches with views of the ocean.
- Run through the center of town for the halfway stretch, very festive.
- I thought the stretch from 16-19 was a nice change of pace, going from a shore resort town to a serene 3 mile run through the woods.
- DJ and small crowd support in the middle of nowhere at 19 was nice.
- 20  22 was getting rough and lonely but back to the crowds just in time at 23 when I was hurting.
- Finish on the boardwalk was fantastic.
- Super crowds, very supportive people over most of the course and a few crazies with funny signs. People on the balconies of hotels cheering, locals offering beer around mile 24 (I passed). Soldiers in Camp Pendleton were awesome, high fives for everyone. I hope people realize how much their cheering and support means, its huge.
- Well organized, started on time; orderly and non-packed corrals;
- plenty of gatorade/water stops and 2 gel stations; no overcrowding anywhere on the course.
- Nice and easily accessible expo. Got my race packet in 2 mns.
- Nice long sleeve race tee, cap, hoodie and medal. 4 Beers and Irish Stew on the beach at the finish.
- Hotels are off season and very reasonable.
- Great town.

Cons:
- None

Areas to Improve:
- The checkout line at the expo for merchandise was ridiculously long, like an hour wait, which I wasnt doing. A couple of additional registers should fix that.
- Itd be nice to start a little earlier, the sun was beginning to beat down on us around 11:00.
- Yuengling Light would have been better after 26 miles but I just added water and made mine a light.

This is a great spring marathon. The only thing that could have messed it up would have been strong ocean wind, which we didnt have.

Highly recommended.