This was my first marathon, and I am very pleased that I chose this event for my first. The race day support is extraordinary and despite the large number of runners (25,000), the course never feels overly crowded. The course winds through all four of the Disney parks as well as the ESPN Wide World of Sports, Disney's Boardwalk, and Disney Speedway. It is a very scenic course, full of character meet and greets, marching bands, DJ's, and spectators to help distract runners from the miles that they are logging. The weather was very humid at the start, but as the morning progressed, the sun came out, the humidity dropped, and it became a perfect day for a run. The finisher's medals are fantastic and the race shirt for males has a fuller cut, which is perfect for guys with some meat on their bones. The expo is a madhouse, with people and vendors EVERYWHERE, so get there early if you want to purchase some race swag. Everything sold out early, especially since people love to sell race merchandise on eBay. If there is something you have to have, preorder it. Getting to the race was the biggest obstacle. I stayed on Disney property and took the internal shuttle to the race. I got on the shuttle at 3:45 am, and I was dropped off at the race at 5:10am! And I was in a hotel next to Epcot! Traffic to Epcot was horrible and would be the only reason I would ever have pause about doing this race. I have many more words on this event on my blog here --> http://runninglarge.wordpress.com/2014/01/16/walt-disney-world-marathon-recap/

The 2013 event was canceled due to cold and ice, but there were several runners that ran for the children of St. Jude anyway. I was one of these runners, and honestly it was my most rewarding event. I feel the amount of runners in Memphis and other areas showed truly how much this event is for the kids of St. Jude and not the individual runners. St. Jude Heroes raised over $8 million for St. Jude with fundraising for this year's event! A longer explanation of what I and others did during the canceled event: http://runninglarge.wordpress.com/2013/12/14/the-race-that-wasnt-but-then-was-anyway/

This is the cheapest half marathon that I have ever participated. I actually paid less for it than many 5K's. The course has some rolling hills and takes place on country roads while the leaves are changing colors. It provides for a very scenic run. The race shirts and medals are not the greatest, but I loved how the medal incorporated the theme of the leaves changing. The course volunteers and race personnel were the friendliest that I have ever encountered at a race. MY full recap can be found here: http://runninglarge.wordpress.com/2013/11/04/midsouth-championship-half-marathon-recap/

Very scenic course that, as the name indicates, takes runners over four bridges in the beautiful Chattanooga. The course winds through the entire downtown area and various terrains. You run in a park, on public streets, and very briefly, you go down some stairs. When you finished, instead of a cup or disposable bottle of water, participants received reusable water bottles. The race started in the low 40's and warmed to almost 50 when I crossed the finish line. Parking is a nightmare in Chattanooga, and that applied to this race as well. There is also the 7 Bridges Marathon taking place at the same time as this event. My full review is here: http://runninglarge.wordpress.com/2013/10/24/4-bridges-half-marathon-recap-pr/

Very small race (just over 600 participants for both the marathon & 14.2 combined) that is held in a small town in Mississippi on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. The course was on country roads that were still open to the public. The race's claim to fame is the tie-dyed, long sleeve shirts and awesome finisher's medals. It was very hot and humid, even with the 5:00 am start time, so this a feature you should expect if you run in the event in the future. The post race celebration was a little underwhelming. I have a comprehensive review of this event on my blog here: http://runninglarge.wordpress.com/2013/09/02/tupelo-14-2-recap/
Update: Starting in 2014, the course will be changing and sadly, this will be a traditional 13.1 mile course.