I ran the Rock N Roll Half Marathon in Lisbon on 10/2/16. Expecting a scenic course and never having been to Lisbon, my future Wife and I were excited to run this race. The Half-Marathon and "mini-marathon (5k) start in the same position with no separate corrals so walkers, older folks and children are mixed in with those intending to run 13.1mi. Starting was a near impossibility as in the first 1k, we encountered dozens of people stopped on the bridge taking selfies, walking backwards towards the start, walking 5 or 6 wide. Of course, one could avoid all of this by getting to the line early but the only way to do this is by bus, which would then require you to wait at the line in a crush of people for 2+ hours.
Once on the course, and you get past the people stopped in the middle of the road, the views from the bridge are nice. at 4k, the mini-marathoners peel off and you find yourself pretty much all alone running through a mix of dockyards, warehouses and factories - oh and the infamous Lisbon cobblestones are everywhere.

More cons:
-Fire truck had come out to spray the runners, which is awesome except there was a massive puddle and i had to run the rest of the race with soggy trench-foot.
-Due to the out and back course, the scenery repeated itself, so it was double-unremarkable
- At one of the aid stations, they gave out water and bananas. Think about what the next 500m were like with wet pavement and banana peels everywhere.
-the race starts at 10:30 when the weather is already getting warm. You're sitting idle for at least 75 minutes on the bridge prior to the start of the race, then add another 20:00 to get to the start line.
-I saw about 3, possibly 4 total porto-potties on the entire course.
-The whole "Rock n roll" experience isn't that big of a value-add for me. There's a bar-band every mile or so, which you hear playing some off-tune cover of a song and 20 seconds later, you're past it for another 7-12 mins of quiet depending on your skill level.

I loved my trip to Lisbon, but the race was a massive disappointment.