I enjoyed this run, it takes you through the city first and out to the Eastside with lots of nice views overlooking water, looking at mountains, around very nice neighhborhoods and up some challenging and fun hills. The race food and SWAG was the best I have ever had.

I make this comment after three consecutive years running the course and after consulting with numerous other finishers. The course is long. It is long by almost two tenths. This is based on numerous GPS measurements over years as well. I don't know if this is because of the way the organizers direct runners on race day or what, but it is a significant issue for folks who put in a lot of training and want to run their best possible times. This has been brought to the attention of the organizers, but to my knowledge it has not been taken as seriously as it should be. This is also quite a difficult course, with many hills, so the extra length makes it quite hard to achieve your best possible result. The people who do the race are good folks, though.

Add this race to your list of to do's. You won't be disappointed.
A well organized, fair course and great value for money ($75 for the marathon) make this a very worthwhile race.
The swag is great, as mentioned in a previous post. A tote bag and running jacket for all the marathoners and a coaster instead of a medal at the end. The race jacket was very handy as the weather conditions were less than ideal this year and I ended up wearing the jacket for the entire race to keep warm.
The resolve of the volunteers was impressive given the conditions. Most of them would have stood in the rain for hours and they were upbeat and cheerful.
The course has a few hills, but don't let that put you off. It is not as bad as some of the posts would lead you to believe. For every uphill there is a downhill :) You can run a fast race here, just train properly.
There are water stops every two miles, all very well stocked and organized.
The size of the race is part of the charm. Running in quiet country roads by yourself is very therapeutic.

This was my second CCM & a total change from my previous run. First of all the weather was awful, it was cold & miserably wet. Thankfully it wasn't windy & most of the course is sheltered. However the torrents of rain lead to splashing through many deep puddles or wide detours to avoid them, plus wash outs across the course that had lethally slippy debris such a worms which you simply couldn't avoid all the time.

The course itself hasn't changed since 2006 when I last ran it, but what has changed was the 'organization' namely the runner's race packet & finishers area. I don't know when this changed but I hated the fact that there was NO finisher's T shirt & NO finisher's medal. I mean, they're kidding, right?

Instead I was given a jacket (despite ordering a 'Size large SHIRT'!!!) of dubious quality & certainly far below the standards of the jackets I've purchased. I gave it away in disgust.

Even worse, at the end I was handed the usual water, but they were out of space blankets (a SERIOUS oversight given the awful weather) & what looked like a 30th Anniversary CD or DVD which felt heavy enough to include a medal...this turned out to be a shockingly cheap mug coaster & NO MEDAL! I wasn't the only one wandering around repeatedly asking for their medal & not believing the answers given.

I gave my coaster back too & wrote to complain the CCMA. I will also not be running this race again, I consider it an insult not to be offered the traditional rewards for finishing, a T shirt & a medal.

On the plus side there was still the pizza for marathon runners but you only get one slice...nice that the staff enforcing this rule were filling their faces with slice after slice. What race did they run I wonder? This made me as mad as hell & simply added to my disgust.

Like I said, I won't be doing this run again until runners are treated with a lot more respect.

I enjoy races like the Capital City Marathon: A small race that sticks to the basics and delivers a solid race experience. This year's weather was ideal for running - perfect temperatures and light cloud cover. The course is not fast because of the hills, but there are several scenic sections to enjoy. If you're a fan of rhododendrons, this is the race to run. They were in full bloom throughout the course.

Race day organization was good. Water stations were located every two miles and were well staffed. There were even a few fans along the way. The finish area had great food.

Nice swag (Stuff We All Get). The backpack, race jacket and coaster are a keeper.

I ran this one as the fifth of a string of spring marathons, and it was easily the most challenging - even more so than Big Sur with its infamous Hurricane Point climb. The hills go on relentlessly!

But I appreciated the challenge and the race organizers made everything else easy. Very easy trek to the start - a one-minute trip down the host hotel elevator and then across the street :-); plentiful aid stations and porta-potties; and there were massages at the finish. GREAT race jackets in lieu of the standard shirt.

Definitely recommended.

This was my first time running this marathon and it was an excellent experience. I was very impressed with the string backpacks and jackets as well. Great swag. This is a runner's race. The "expo" is minimal. Folks participating were there to run rather than shop.

The course moves quickly out of town and into rolling countryside. The hills are definitely challenging but the community really seemed to enjoy sitting at the end of their long country driveways cheering us on. The aid stations were well manned and the volunteers were terrific. Don't miss touring the legislative building at the capitol while you're in town! It's really impressive.

This small field marathon is very well organized. Nice country-view course. However, it's challenging, with rolling hills and one big, mile-long hill at mile 24. Embedded chip on the bib!!! Best goodies: nice jacket, and a ceramic coaster. The half-marathon and 5-mile also offer a nice technical shirt. Note: there's not much spectator support on the course and a pretty lean expo.

This is my hometown marathon, so I may be somewhat biased. I've waited to post this until I ran Boston in 2010 (which I qualified for here), so I'd have something to compare it to.

I first ran this race in 2003, before they changed the course. It is much more hilly now. There are rolling hills throughout the majority of the course, with several big dips at about miles 9, 11.5, and 14, which are steeper and shorter than the Newton hills, and one final big climb starting at 22 that is similar to Heartbreak but longer.

Crowd support is just like Boston's, except for a thousand times fewer people. :) Actually it's not too bad, at least at the start and finish. There are only 4 recommended viewing sites listed by the organization, the 1st at mile 15, so it's not the greatest course for spectators. With a little planning and a map, though, friends could easily see you at multiple locations.

Much of the course is along tree-lined rural roads, with the 1st mile through downtown, and the last 5 mostly through residential neighborhoods before returning downtown. There are a few areas that are quite scenic. Along East Bay Drive from mile 1 to 3 there is a good view of the marina (and the Olympic Mountains on a clear day). Around mile 11, on Zangle Road before the right turn onto 81st, look left through the trees for a nice view of Puget Sound. The Woodard Bay crossing at mile 14.5 is interesting at low tide and quite pretty at high tide. Look left a half-mile from the finish to see the capitol building.

At about mile 18, the course meets up with the half-marathon loop, so it becomes much more congested, and you'll be passing a lot of people. There's really plenty of room, though, so it's not that much of a problem.

Post-race food is fantastic, about a thousand times better than Boston. If you're a faster runner, you may have to wait a while for the pizza to get there, but it's well worth it!

Overall this marathon has an appealing, small-town charm in the capital of Washington state. It has the beautiful scenery and the rolling hills that one would expect for this part of the country.

There were sufficient water/Gatorade stops throughout the race, but the second gel station at the three-hour mark was already depleted by the half marathoners. Support was sporadic, but very encouraging when it was there. The rolling hills during the first half of the race are pretty easy, and you'll appreciate the long downhill section the last mile and a half of the race.

They tried to do something different by ordering a rain jacket as the "shirt," but unfortunately they did not order enough extra-larges, so I did not get a jacket, nor an email response from the race director after the race. If you are able pick up your shirt/bib the day before and not race day, do so and you might avoid this difficulty.

All things considered, a very good race that I would recommend.