This is a great winter marathon. I stayed at the host hotel and there was a bus shuttle right to the start line. The host hotel had bananas, coffee, and bagels out by 5:30AM. Also plenty of grocery stores and drug stores near the hotel for last minute items. The Bolles school is a great place to start - if you walked back to the track area you were treated to plenty of indoor, flushing toilets! The course is flat, fast and most of it is shaded. Water/Gatorade every couple of miles and I think they also had pacing clocks at each mile. I like finishing on a track too so I considered that a plus.

I marked it low on spectators because there just weren't many of them. I'd call the course 'pleasant but not scenic'. I recommend this for anyone looking for a well-organized marathon in the winter. I also think this is great if you're a serious marathoner looking to PR without having to deal with big city hassles and a lot of crowds. It got a little warm near the end, but the start is 7AM and I think this was a warmer year than usual - and even so the 7AM start time helped prevent heat from being a big problem. There was a decent pack of 5-10 in the 3 to 3:05 pace range - thanks for pulling me to a 3:04 PR!!!!

Great mid-size marathon. Super flat course, very few turns, mostly shaded, plentiful aide stations, very well organized.

The only negative is that it is a Florida marathon so weather is always a factor; a little warm and humid this year but I still managed a 5 minute PR.

My first marathon and I have nothing negative to say. Great organization, a nice and comfortable course, beautiful weather, water/Gatorade every 2 miles, awesome pace group, decent(but not obnoxious) crowd support. I had a wonderful time.

Awesome experience for my first full marathon. The course was shaded and the weather was awesome. Water stations were convenient. Very well organized. Good pace groups.

This was my first running race. It was a fabulous course like running through the park, or to the park, most of the way. Everything was very well coordinated. It got a little lonely out there and an older gentleman came out of his driveway to run with me for a half a mile which was nice. The volunteers were excellent with water and sports drinks. I was amongst some local traffic a little, but they got it, and it was more than fine. I had the run of my life and will never forget it. Thanks to all of the volunteers and race coordinators for such a well run race. 3:00:43

Jacksonville Bank Marathon 2011 was my first race in the city, which is a good venue for such late time of year (December). There aren't many choices for outdoor marathons just prior to Christmas break. On this particular day it became plenty warm after the first few minutes of starting the event. The course, organization and spectators were okay, and same for the shirt and medalokay. The post race food on offer was better than average, I remember. For me the Jacksonville Bank Marathon was well-timed because it allowed me to continue long-distance running events Stateside into the winter months.

The Jacksonville Marathon is fast becoming one of my absolute favourites! This is my second time running it since it was my first marathon in 2007. I have run 15 marathons all over the USA, Germany and Bahamas and this one ranks way up there with the big boys in terms of organization. Keep up the good work First Place Sports! I will definitely be back again. If you are looking for a PR then this is a must do.

This is only my second marathon, though I run 30+ road races yearly. This is a nice small race - pretty well organized with hydration (water and gatorade) every 2 miles and digital splits for every mile. Course is about as flat you can imagine - total pancake. Not much scenery but mostly well shaded residential areas. Spectators are very limited. There is some light traffic on the course. They had recorded splits for 5k, 10 mile 13.1 and 20 mile, which is nice to be able to go back and analyze your performance. Medal,shirt and post race food were all decent, though these are not things I really care about. Basically a great course to try a PR or BQ.

After 6 half marathons I figured it was time to go all in. Overall a good experience. The course was well marked with digital splits at every mile and water every 2. There were times we had to run in traffic on secondary roads. I was disappointed by the finish though. The track was being resurfaced so looked a mess. They hand you a bagged medal that I fumbled trying open because I was exhausted. The race was raising funds for Bolles, one of the most exclusive/expensive private schools in the area. As such, is it too much to have someone of note(president or dean of students)be there to thank the runners and hand them their medals by the ribbon if they are not going to hang it around their neck. After party was so so with soup, bagels, bananas, but no beer.

I have been running marathons for 20 years. I have always felt that people who cheated in a race were only cheating themselves. With a BQ being harder to obtain and witnessing cheating first hand I no longer feel that way. In the Jax race I was ahead of the person by 44 minutes at the half. By 20 miles he was ahead of me by 9 minutes without passing me on the course. I never passed him or he me in the race until about one third of a mile from the finish he went by me like he was running a 5K. He went on to win the age group. None of his splits make any sense after 10 miles. The man who finished 4th came from MA. He should have went home with an award. I know all splits can't be reviewed, but I believe the first 3 places in each group should.