Before the race there was no fruit, no bagels, no coffee and we were expecting it!!!

I did not like that the miles were not clearly marked.  The entire race I only saw the 5k, 10k, 7 mile, and 15k markers, which did not allow me to record my splits or pace myself.  This was very disappointing and frustrating.  This was not a good race/course.

It was also a terrible idea not to mail the race information to participants (race number, packet, etc.).  This was very inconvenient!

I do not understand how the organizers of this event believed that thousands of runners could be crammed onto a two lane Belmount Blvd. and people would actually have the room to run. I only could simply jog in place for a long stretch of Belmount Blvd because when people started walking, there was simply no way to get around them. Twice, I had to take a sidewalk to actually run. Overall, I felt like I was caught in a giant jogging movement instead of a foot race. Next year, I hope that there will actually be a way that I can run. After all, that is what I have trained for since January.

Wow surprised to read the issus about congestion. My view was the exact opposite. Extending the course all the way through downtown I thought went a long way towards thinning out traffic in that regard. I guess it depends on where you start. I was in Corral 2, and ran a virtually clear path the entire race.

My only issue was something that's beyond the organizers control - the weather. This was the most brutal of the four Country Music 1/2 marathons I've run, weather wise. But as far as the course, I thought it was their best one yet.

If there was another gripe, its that the water stations were strangely staggered on the back end of the 1/2 marathon. I mean damn, there was water after the first mile, yet after mile 6 you had to wait until you were almost out of Belmont for another station - and it turned out to be self-serve! I inadvertantly skipped water at mile 6, and wound struggling until mile 9 before repleneshing.

All in all though this was my favorite course yet.

I ran my first marathon in January in Arizona with the Rock and Roll series.  The half marathon and marathon were split up and started at different times.  This one was too cramped and had too many people in it all at once.  Once, there was a line at the water stations and one of the tables ran out of water.  The self-service made it inconvenient and I almost ran into people retrieving my own beverages.  The course appeared defeating at times; you could see the people who were significantly ahead of you in the course.  The city was not prepared for the race; we had to wait for 1 1/2 hours for lunch before the race and they said there were three restaurants who had closed their kitchens.  The race appeared to accommodate much more to the half marathoners than the equally split their focus.  I am somewhat disappointed by this race.  I also know my slow finishing time due to sweltering heat made me disgruntled, but overall, I hope they fix these problems for future races.

I find it unfortunate others experienced congestion on Belmont, aid stations not staffed or well-equipped, and the long lines at the expo and for lunch beforehand.  I also observed those in corrals 20 and above starting in or around my corral, which was 11 even though I was released with 12.  Thankfully I still endured very little congestion at all throughout the entire race, but I don't consider myself to be a fast runner either.   

I personally feel Nashville has the ability to host any number of events with equally as many visitors the marathon brought to the city.  I attended conventions at The Renaissance when it was the Stouffer Hotel more than 20 years ago.  The city has grown, now hosts its own professional football team and games as well as countless concerts and awards banquets/ceremonies of varying genres and has for years. 

I drove 1.5 hours Friday afternoon to the expo since I could not take time off on Thursday to do so in order to avoid the long lines mentioned in the information packet.  I arrived with thousands of others, found parking in mere minutes which was truly a surprise.  I waited in line for my race number perhaps 15 minutes and the expo was well attended, but not overly packed.  I arrived around 2 pm, along with a continual stream of thousands of others.  Having attended various professional conventions with numbers equal to or surpassing the 30,000 mark in the past, I witnessed a well-oiled machine shuttling the visitors for the Music City Marathon before and after the race, to include the expo.  A note to those wanting to attend and participate next year:  evidently Thursday is the day to attend the expo.  A friend went Thursday evening and found no lines at all.  The information packet is accurate when it states local residents may want to avoid the lines on Friday when all out-of-towners arrive for the race. 

When looking at the photos of the 1/2 marathon and those participants, it's no wonder some of the stations ran out at varying times.  My sister and other friends ran the 1/2 marathon and endured a different aspect than I did running the full.  The finish line and recovery zone at their finish times was extremely crowded and some stations did run out of supplies near the end of the race.  Unfortunately, with 23,000 1/2 marathon finishers, it's difficult to gauge exactly when the majority will finish and determine how thick the crowd will be at times.