I ran the Rock n Roll Marathon this past Sun with my husband. For him it was his first marathon experience (my fifth), so for this review, it is a collection of both of our comments.

Kit Pick-up/Expo: The kit pick up was seamless, and there was barely any waiting despite the masses of folks looking for their bib number and picking up their T-shirt. We were given out bib, T-shirt, and a 1 day Metro pass. The expo was interesting with a number of samples (thanks Oasis Canada!), but we were in and out within about an hour.

Race day: With an 0830 start, we were up early to catch the bus and subway (Metro pass came in handy!). It was an easy ride to the race festivities - however, notably the start line on Jacques Cartier Bridge was quite a distance (i.e. I almost made my 10,000 step count even before the race began!). The coral system is a great idea but with that many runners on the bridge, the rolling start times meant that I started about 45 min after the first coral - by then, I was cold, stiff, and dreading the 42.2 km! This being said, the course was lovely, winding throughout Jean Drapeau Park and across the bridge to Montreal. We were treated to parts of Vieux-Montreal, though the second part of the marathon was less scenic (more residential). The support along the route (water stations and music) was always fantastic!

Post-race - again very well organized. Liked the fact that you were given a food bag instead of having to self serve. And beer! A free beer too! The post race party was great - lots of additional samples of yogurt, juice and snacks. Bouncy castles for the kids too!

Overall: I had seen a review of this race from a previous year that indicated this event is more focussed towards the half marathon event. Very true - the marathoners in red bibs were the definite minority amongst the green half-marathoners. The support and scenic route was much better during the first half for these racers. This was the biggest sticking point. If the organizers separated the marathoners (start an hour earlier), then there would not be such a long wait for marathoners to run with the HM-ers, who run a different strategy. It was psychologically difficult to be running the same course as them, and as they were finishing by km 20, the path split as the marathoners were diverged to a much less scenic route continuation whilst the HM-ers ran towards the finish line where the welcoming crowds were. However, upon balancing everything, The race was a great experience - many thanks to the Rock N Roll race organizers for a fantastic weekend!