I'm a Minnesota native now living in Colorado, and this was my first marathon. Man, did the whole experience make me miss Minnesota. The cheering; clapping; upbeat, blasting music; and support from thousands, and I mean thousands, of fans makes the race second to none. You will not have a single section of the course that is remote and devoid of cheering spectators; you never feel like you're going it alone on the Twin Cities Marathon route. If you train with an iPod or such, wean yourself off it before this race; you won't need the music with the countless gregarious Minnesota spectators cheering you on. Well-organized event - highly recommended!

This was my first marathon ever, and I selected it for my first because I've heard nothing but positive reports. Not only was the course beautiful, but the support along the way was astounding. The entire course was lined with spectators, bands, music, support, and general good cheer. I've only run one marathon so I can't compare to others, but I can't think how this one could improve. Overall an amazing first marathon experience.

This would have been my favorite marathon if I had run well, but the course offered a great opportunity for a PR. I found the course to be pretty flat (it should have been fast) and offered beautiful scenery. The spectators were amazing, the water stations well organized and the whole marathon itself was organized well. I probably won't do the same marathon twice, but if I was going to, this would be the one.

This was my 9th TCM and my kudos to the organizers. Great job from start to finish and amazing fan support. My favorite was the gentleman holding a "no parking" sign at Mile 5, yelling, "No parking; go runners" over and over. Nice to see the recycle bucket at the finish for the Mylar blankets if you did not need yours. GREAT JOB!

I thoroughly enjoyed my marathon experience in the Twin Cities. After wondering why downtown Minneapolis was so quiet on Saturday, I learned it must have been because everyone was getting ready to cheer us on along the route. Spectator support was amazing - enough orange slices, bananas and Jolly Ranchers to last a lifetime.

Saw some reviews that said the course was not hilly, but I am from flat Chicago so the course was hilly to me.

Only concern was from my wife, who was a spectator. There was not much information available about how to navigate public transportation so she could follow me. But from a runner's perspective, I definitely recommend running the Twin Cities Marathon.

Beautiful scenery, great temps, fairly easy course (don't get spooked by the one long climb at mile 21, for you hardly notice the elevation change...). There's FANTASTIC crowd support, with the Twin Cities making this a great annual event. There's also PLENTY of water and sports drink along the way.

This was a great marathon experience. I have run Boston and New York, and this was better than both. The expo was energetic, with lots of participants. The start was very well-organized at the Metrodome, so there were tons of bathrooms. They had a great system for taking care of getting your sweats to the finish. There were tons of water stops, many enthusiastic spectators, and more port-o-potties by a factor of 10 than I have seen in any race anywhere. Lots of wonderful music. EMTs everywhere you looked. Beautiful, mostly flat course. Finish was well-organized, spacious and right at the state capitol (plus the last 0.2 miles were downhill!). Great, technical long-sleeve t-shirts given out at the end. Fast chip-timed results. The volunteers were the BEST! Thank you, Twin Cities! I'd love to come back next year.

This is a very unique race and I would recommend it to any marathoner. The atmosphere is amazing.

I only had to use one gel because the spectators handed out so many orange slices (something I didn't see at the Minneapolis Marathon). My advice for this marathon is to run it with empty pockets so you can take extra orange and banana slices from the spectators to use at the end on Summit Avenue.

When you hit Summit Avenue near St. Thomas, you can yell at the spectators and they will go wild and push you through. The finish line is at the bottom of a hill too, which you see from a long distance away.

Leave your headphones at home, even if you train with them. You won't regret it.

This was my second marathon (my first being the Minneapolis Marathon). I've yet to run Grandma's Marathon. I hope this helps.

Let me join everyone else in singing the praises of this amazing race! I don't need to repeat the other posts. This is as good as it gets. I have run Boston, NYC, Chicago (in '07), San Diego, Nashville, and others - and from start to finish, this exceeded or at least equaled the others. You couldn't ask for a better race.

Hint: let the guys know in advance that the Vikings cheerleaders will be waiting at the top of the last hill at 26 - a nice surprise, though. And what a blast, sprinting to the finish down that hill.

Congrats, TCM; you nailed it - again.

I just ran the Twin Cities last weekend and was pretty happy with everything. The expo is nice, but it could be held in a bigger space. It got a little cramped in there. The start at the Metrodome is awesome. The only small complaint is that I think it might be nice to incorporate more of the downtown areas of Minneapolis and St. Paul into the race because most of it is in residential areas, which gets a little boring. It is better than running through old industrial areas though like some races do. The crowds were great and the post-race food and meeting areas were well organized. I would definitely recommend it.