I drove in from Winston-Salem, NC, and it was definitely worth it. The course seemed really flat for someone that is used to the foothills of NC; I only noticed one hill, and it was relatively minor. There, were, however, a ton of turns. My Garmin had the course about 1/4th of a mile long because of the turns.
The support on the course was what you would expect. Every aid station had Gatorade and water and two had gels. More aid stations in the last six miles would have been helpful. The spectator support was great with people just chilling in their front yards and cheering everyone on.
If you're looking for a fast, well-run, marathon with great weather, I'd definitely recommend it.

I enjoyed this race even though I went out too fast in this one and pretty much bonked in the end. I definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to run a marathon in Alabama.

But for the life of me, I can't figure out why some people consider this to be a flat course. There were way too many hills for me to consider this flat.

I have run Rocket City many times and love the experience. I strongly suggest water stops each mile after 20. Regardless of temp - dehydration risk increases dramatically at this point. As you can see from comments from previous years, this is a common concern. Except for that, don't change a thing. Inviting Bill Rodgers was super! I will be back

This race was very well organized and all of the volunteers were very friendly. This was my first race to run with a pace group (3:45), and my pace leaders were wonderful! They were chatty and motivational without being annoying.

The only things I did not like about the race was that the course was not quite as flat as rumored, but compared to the other 2 Alabama marathons (Birmingham & Mobile) it is very flat. The weather was not ideal either but obviously that is no one's fault.

I am generally a fan of smaller races, and I thought this one was great!

Rocket City is an enjoyable marathon. Great organization. The best fan support all along the course. Mostly flat route but lots of turns. 2012 was warm and humid, 70 degrees, which made for a more challenging day. All the volunteers did a fantastic job! The Holiday Inn was a wonderful host hotel  however, the Embassy Suites wanted to charge for a late checkout. I refused and was not charged after checking out at 1 pm. Hunstville really knows how to put on a good marathon.

You would think that the second Saturday in December would work for northern Alabama but low to mid-60s and intermittently sunny weather pretty much ruined what could have been a great day&.

The host hotel was a little pricey and the race discount sold out early but there were gobs of reasonably priced hotels within a few miles and free parking at a nearby downtown garage made paying up for the convenience unnecessary.

Handing out bottles of cold water around mile 24 was brilliant and showed that the race organizers could improvise to mitigate the tough conditions. Traffic control was also well done and there was decent crowd support for a small race.

This race is set up for cold weather with the start line just outside the front of the host hotel and the finish line in the back parking lot with the post race inside the hotel.

I didn't really check out a lot of choices for Alabama but this was a good one.

So you don't want to travel to Honolulu? Alabama's still on your 50 state list? Come on down to Huntsville. I'd say Rocket City was a good local race, executed well by the local running club. And there are some really good reasons to do this race:
1. Easy logistics. Good flights into Huntsville, with a quick cab ride to hotels nea the start.
2. Few other races on the east coast in early December.
3. Not a budget buster for flights, hotels, or meals.

But how's the race?
It's o.k. We had an unseasonably warm day for December, but that's historically unusual. Still, it was 60-70F thru the race, so not ridiculously warm. The course is relatively flat, with a few rollers. There's one really dull, unshaeded straightaway from mile10-15 or so. Nothing saps my energy more than a sparse, straight highway going over the horizon. Blech.

But I'd be unfair if I didn't compliment the good traffic control, well-stocked aid stations, good 'cheer stations', and decent post-race set up. I stayed at the how hotel, so super convenient.

All in all, servicable, and worth a December race, just don't get your hopes up too high.

Probably my favorite aspect of this race was the course. It was mostly through cute neighborhoods which offered many turns & broke the monotony of long distances. The size was just about perfect as well. Big enough to be interesting & competitive but not so crowded that you can't get into your stride fairly soon. I ran w/a pace group as well & I appreciated that he (pacer) had run the course a few times before in preparation for the race.

I have been marathoning for many years and heard a lot of good comments about this race. So when it came time to choose a marathon to run in Alabama, I didn't give it much thought. Maybe I was just expecting too much, but I was disappointed. To begin, the race director provided misleading information in response to an email I sent. Second, the course was nothing special - just meandering the neighborhoods - no trails, parks, landmarks, etc. And most importantly (to me) is that headphones are prohibited. I wouldn't mind not having music if I have something worth looking at, but not for 26.2 miles of neighborhoods! Now, it wasn't all that bad, I was just expecting something more. I've run marathons in smaller towns with less to offer that were much more enjoyable to run.

I would to start this review by saying this course for me was real nice and run through the neighborhoods of Huntsville. Course was mainly flat with very short stretches of uphill and downhill. The worst part of the day was the heat and humidity. Woke up at 6 am and it was already 60 with high humidity. It only got worse as the race went on and was really bad when the sun came out from behind the clouds. Thank goodness it was mostly cloudy that day. I was still able to get a 9 minute PR and finished with the 3:45 husband and wife team pacers.

Finish line folks did a great job with the blankets and making sure everyone was doing ok. The Medal was big and really nice!

The post-race food was good with a buffet line of bananas, grapes, moon pies, ice cream bars. The volunteers were awesome at the aid stations and the crowd support was good in the areas that they were at.

The Race Hotel (holiday inn) had a nice pasta feed with the great Bill Rodgers the guest speaker. Bill does a great job with the stories and listening to the fans who ask him questions. He was worth the trip without the race. I didnt stay at the Holiday Inn but stayed across the street at the Embassy Suites. It certainly is nicer than the Holiday Inn but I did get charged $40 for a late checkout.

Some suggestions for runners of future Rocket City Marathons:
Stay at the Holiday Inn, Embassy Suites, or the Springhill Suites which is about a 5-10 minute walk around the corner. It is nice to walk out and go straight to the start and finish and walk up to the room.

Sit or stand in the pool at the hotel after the race!!! I sat on the pool for 30 minutes and it helped in keeping my swelling down in legs and feet.

In summary, as I am near the beginning of the 50 State project, I am glad I ran this one for the Alabama Marathon. If you train right for this race and use caution on the start, you can come away with a BQ/PR for this race!