I know I may be a bit biased as I always have been and always will be a Philly girl and the last couple of years my sister has been living in easy walking distance of the start line. However, I've done a number of marathons now and my unbiased opinion is that Philly is pretty darn good. Let's start with the basics. I saw a few posts about cost. Philly is NOT expensive as far as big city marathons go. I actually took advantage of a discount for doing the online survey and then signed up the first night they opened to get an even bigger discount so I think I paid all of $75. Even my sister who was a late signer upper in the fall, paid about $130. Compare that to NYC which is about $300, Chicacgo and MCM which are in the $200s! The shirts are nice and every year they come up with a new slogan, which I like so my race swag is different year to year. The expo is at the convention center. Easy to access by public transportation or even by car, street parking is usually available. I enjoyed the expo, not too big, not too small. They offered some fun things for runners like a free pic in front of the green screen with your bib. I picked up a few items I wanted due to a nice expo discount.

Now for the race itself! Like I said, easy access for me as I crash at my sister's place. However there are tons of very reasonable parking garages all in that area including the one we use that is $5 on the weekends! Also the start/finish area is easily accessible by public transportation. I do have to say this year I feel like they could have used more porta potties. I wasn't able to get my last minute pee before the start which last year I was able to do. This year was also much more crowded in the first 5-6 miles of the race than I remember from last year, maybe due to being in a different corrall? Everyone runs together the full and the half so there are alot of runners even with the spacing of the corrals. I just ended up doing alot of bobbing and weaving those first miles which ends up using more energy than if you could just run your own path right away. I do love the course. The first half is a wonderful showcase of the city. You run through Old City, South Street, down by the Delaware river, by the zoo, through Fairmount Park. Sorry there are a couple of hills in Fairmount Park! But I still love it. The second half, people either love or hate. It's an out and back down Kelly drive and Main Street Manyunk. Kelly Drive is beautiful along the river however it's an extremely quiet section as it's pretty much impossible for spectators to access. Main Street is a HUGE party and tons of fun!!! Grab a beer as you go through! Then it's back down a quiet stretch of Kelly Drive but the crowds really turn it up those last couple of miles when you really need them. All screaming your name (since it's on your bib!). And you get to give the Mayor a high five on your way across the finish!

I think Philly is an extremely well organized, runner friendly event! Other than some probably impossible changes to the course (the out and back part), I don't really see any other major issues with this race. AND THEY HAVE SOFT PRETZELS AT THE END!!!!!!!! :-)

You can read more about my personal experience here: http://runningmarathonmom.blogspot.com/2014/12/2014-philly-marathon-bq-or-bust.html