I had an amazing time at the Publix Atlanta Marathon. Before I go too much further, this is a very hilly course, which I knew going into it and was warned about ahead of time. While there are uphills throughout the course, there seemed to me to be just as many downhills.

That was helpful for me, because I live in a flat area and primarily walked the uphills and ran the downhills, finishing in 5:29. There weren't many areas that seemed just flat. I liked the course, which went through different neighborhoods, several colleges and park areas.

I ran the marathon in 2020, which was held the same weekend as the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Marathon, which was amazing! I was among thousands of spectators who came out to watch elites race for the Top 3 spots to see who would be representing the U.S. at the Olympics. The expo also had numerous panels with professional runners and others.

The expo wasn't your typical expo. I gave it a 5-star rating because it was really unique. There weren't a ton of vendors selling things, but the panels featuring different people were a cool asset, and they also had different track and field events set up, such as high jump and shot put. I attended a Women Run Running panel and a panel about course strategy.

Everything was extremely well-organized. The Atlanta Track Club hosted the Olympic Marathon Trials and then turned around and hosted this event the next day. Water stops were frequent and offered water and Powerade. Volunteers were great! There were also different items offered in different spots on the course — oranges, bananas, raisins and peanut butter pretzels, along with gels. There were also lots of pace groups for the half and full marathons.

Swag was a long-sleeved unisex T-shirt and the medal, which are both nice! I also appreciated the free race photos. It seemed like there were a ton of race photos for the photos being free.

I didn't rate parking/access because I drove in with a volunteer who had a reserved parking lot, but there is a MARTA (public transportation) stop near the race start.

Check out my blog post here: https://sherunsbytheseashore.com/2020/03/07/americas-marathon-weekend-part-2-my-mindset-made-all-the-difference-at-the-publix-atlanta-marathon/