This was my first marathon. It also happened to be one of the hottest days in October. The course is rolling hills in the first 5k but after that, it is extremely flat. I thought the second half of the race was better running through the shore towns. They did advertise that the aid stations at certain marks would have had energy chews and they did not have it. My parents dropped me off at the start line but there is a voucher and coupon that was included in the packet. The new packet pick up in Cherry Hill, New Jersey saved me the trip since I am from out of state and my parents could easily get it for me days before the race. The shirt was a long sleeved tech shirt that was pretty nice.
While I am not running the Marathon next year, I am opting to run the half marathon next year. Unless you are fine running by yourself without a lot of cheering or you run faster than a 5 hour marathon you should maybe look somewhere else. It is a fast flat course though. There were not a lot of runners even though they combined the start times with the Half and the Full. The half course is pretty much the first 11 miles of the full and then they go back on the boardwalk.