This is my second year running this Georgia Publix event and my first time attacking the marathon (also, my first marathon). Atlanta is probably not the best city to do 26.2 for the first time in. The city support is outstanding, the hills and geography make it very difficult. Just a heads up. I train here, and knew this in advance and it still hit hard.

The expo this year was in a hotel expo hall instead of the world congress center. It made parking cheaper but the expo itself was smaller too. It was nice to try Nuun and Clif bars but I liked the booths with cute race shirts and such that were at the expo last year. The marathon t-shirt is long sleeved and SO soft and comfortable. Love, love it and will wear it a LOT! Its unisex but fits great, and I don't like the women's cut shirts anyways.

Race morning was very well organized. It was very easy to get dropped off right at the park as the roads hadn't closed yet. Corrals and booths were clearly marked (although some booths hard to see because the sun hadn't come up yet). I don't always notice the national anthem before every race but I'm glad I heard it before this one.

The first few miles of the course were exactly as I remembered from last year, and the sun came up as we ran over Freedom Parkway, giving us the BEST view of downtown Atlanta. Aid stations and cheer squads were plentiful and there were plenty of porta potties and garbage cans along the way. I remember seeing people clearing the cups from the roads to keep them clean.

The vibe was a lot more relaxed for a few miles after the marathoners split off. There were still plenty of aid stations and volunteers with signs to direct us. The volunteers this race were excellent - many of them shouting how far ahead aid stations and porta-potties were. The city of Decatur had the best signs.

The course is VERY hilly, especially in the second half. The hilly Lullwater/Highland area will get ya if you aren't ready for it. The volunteers in those areas especially need recognition, including community spectators who were ready with Vaseline and pickles, the lubrication and salt were so appreciated at that point.

My only complaint, and its a big one to me, is the lack of mile marker signs. After the mile 17 marker there were no more signs until mile 25. Unless you memorized the course, you had no idea where exactly you were, and by that point in a race nobody had run perfect tangents. I figured the timing mat was at mile 20 but didn't know for sure until after the race was over. The volunteers had an idea of about where the mile points were, but a lot of them were very OFF (someone in Piedmont park told me I had about a mile and a half left, when I had double). Everyone around me seemed to be confused and irritated by this as well so it wasn't just me. This was my first marathon, so I don't know if mile points the entire race are a normal thing, but it seemed weird to skip 18-24 like that. There also wasn't a mile 26 marker this year, but there was a mile 13. I am almost positive I remember seeing the 26 last year as I was finishing the half. I'm not going to pretend I was the fastest runner out there, but I was definitely not out there long enough to warrant someone removing the signs either if that's what happened.

The GA tech aid stations were very helpful and there was a volunteer who even ran next to me while filling my bottle so I didn't have to stop. The medal was awesome!

Overall I will do this race again, and wouldn't rule out the marathon distance. I would just like to see some improvement in the mile markers for the marathoners (in other words, have them!).

I had never heard of this race until a little over a month ago, but I am very glad I found it and decided to run it. It is run on a very scenic (and predominantly flat-ish) course through Berry College. It is a great course for setting a PR too.
Expo- there wasn't one. I can't speak to what packet pickup was like the day before the race, but race morning getting bibs and t-shirts was a breeze! And it was held indoors (near heated indoor bathrooms, a major plus because it was COLD this year), and we had our materials in seconds. The chapstick in our swag bag was appreciated for sure.
The t-shirt is a nice technical shirt, but I had forgotten I had chosen unisex/mens cut (I tend to hate womens cut shirts) and I think I ordered a size too big. I might have been able to swap sizes but I didn't ask. I didn't even try it on till the next day after I'd gotten back home.
Parking- there is plenty of it and the walk to the start/finish area wasn't far at all.
Aid stations- I'm used to there being an aid station every couple of miles, but with the course housing 3 races (half, 10k, and 5k) the aid stations were far more frequent than I expected, maybe every 1.25-1.5 miles or so, at least on the shared routes. This was a nice bonus for sure.
For me, the course was not very difficult. I heard people saying it was hilly, and maybe it was if I trained there, but I train around hills so comparatively it wasn't hard. The hardest part of the course is the mile or two-ish spent off and on running on gravel. It was large rocky gravel pieces that required a lot of concentration to make sure I didn't roll an ankle. Also the wind made it difficult this year but that's no fault of the race itself.
The course itself though is beautiful. I grew up around Berry College and it had been 15+ years since I had been on campus. Scenery does not disappoint.
And the medal is huge!
Race photos weren't free but the photographers did manage to get some good ones of me that I may buy. They were in at least 3 if not 4 different spots on the course.
Overall an exceptionally organized race. Community support was excellent. Look forward to coming back up to it next year.

There were a few changes to this race over last year, starting with the start/finish area being in Centennial Park instead of Turner Field. The good thing was I could park at my work deck. The bad thing was, I had to walk from there, to gear check on the other side of the park, back across the park (at a sprints pace!) to get to the 15k start line. I did not notice any definitive clear signage and only noticed one person directing 15k runners one side, 5k to the other. I barely made it to my corral in time. The start lines were out on the streets on differing blocks, so clearer directions would have been nice. I looked at the maps beforehand at home but by the time I was downtown in the chaos, all had been forgotten.

The 5k course split less than a mile in I think. I think the route was about the same as last year, but because of the start/finish changes you hit the hills at different times. I saw a pic of Facebook touting it as a "flat and fast course perfect for PRs!" which is laughable bc unless you're running in circles on a high school track, I'm not sure a flat course in Atlanta exists. Though I did PR.

The hot chocolate swag is among the best and I love the jacket, though I think the cut of last years was better for me. The medal is unique and the post race chocolate is delicious! I fully intended to stop and try more of the provided course sweets this year but my stomach wasn't having it. The first aid station had marshmallows that I saw, and the one at mile 6 had m&ms which I had about 5 of. Unsure what the other ones had. All aid stations had water and electrolyte drink which was appreciated. I already plan to register for this race again next year