Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Marathon and Half Marathon Official Website

The "Nitty Gritty" Details (User Opinions)

Jen .
Houston, TX

  (03-19-2010)

"Having never participated in a Rock 'n' Roll race, I was excited about this one. Unfortunately, it fell far short of my expectations, starting with the expo. It was a major obstacle just trying trying to get inside - so many flights of stairs to go up and down, up and down. The one feature I remember liking was the big screen TV offering previews of the race. Never having been to San Antonio, it was neat to get a glimpse of the course before the race actually started.

On race day, I went to the AT&T center to take the shuttle to the starting line. We got there plenty early and the line moved fairly quickly so we arrived to our destination in plenty of time (or so I thought). It was still a hike from the drop-off point to the starting line, and there weren't nearly enough bathrooms to accommodate the throngs of people. After waiting in line for nearly 30 minutes, I barely made it to my corral in time.

The start of the race is a bit anti-climactic. Each corral is spaced at 2 minute intervals and if you're not near the front I can't imagine you'd have much adrenaline left by the time you actually make it to the starting line. The course is full of sharp turns almost to the point of inducing dizziness, and I don't remember there being mile markers and timers (clocks or people calling out pacing) at regular intervals. I was also thrown by "Cytomax" - it's a Gatorade-like drink but I'd never heard of it until that morning. Volunteers would call out "water" and "Cytomax", and it took me a while to make the connection. If you run this race, I'd suggest trying Cytomax during your training so you're not caught off guard.

As I pulled up to the finish line, one of the volunteers literally WALKED right in front of me and I had to slow down as I crossed...it was pretty disappointing. The post-race party was a letdown as well...there was a wonderful selection of food and drink, but we were herded out to make room for other runners. The reunion area is split up into two different sections and it took me a while to figure out how to get to my section...it's hard to think after a race, especially on a humid day!

On the plus side, once I finally made it to the reunion area it was easy to spot my group! And the UPS trucks were right by the post-race party making it easy to get my drop-off bag. I wish I'd had a better experience, but I'm hoping to do the Vegas race - I've heard great things about that one!
"

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2009

Freddy B.
Los Angeles, CA

  (01-20-2010)

"When reviewing runs I try to keep it at reviewing the run itself, but then again the travel and the city is apart of the whole experience.
So first things first if you are from out of town, you need to book your hotel well in advance.
I didn’t book a room until about 3-4 weeks prior to the run and the best/closest/economical place I was able to find was a Motel 6, luckily shuttle service was only 3 blocks away.
I did not realize how many people ran this event. I heard I it was over 34k. At the expo and at the start line you can tell.
I’m guessing due to this, it took about 25 minutes from gun time to the time I actually got to the start line.
To tell you the truth the whole run was a blur, I do recall certain things small hill mile 5?
I remember and didn’t really like how that last mile (.4 miles before the finish line) was not cut off from the public. So you had to weave thru the people that walking across.
I really didn’t like @ mile 13 the nice little uphill you had to do at the very end.
You always want to finish with one last gasp, the little hill didn’t help.
As always RNR are well known for their post race activities, unfortunately I had to catch my flight back less than 2 hrs from crossing the finish line.
"

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2009

Scott Y.
Frisco, TX

  (12-10-2009)

"This was my first Rock n Roll race of any distance. I thought the start took a really long time. The course was fairly congested most of the way. I thinned out some after the full split off, but that's at mile 10.

In fairness the weather sucked. 75+ degrees, 95% humidity. So my ideas of a PR was shot. I did like running through down and I thought the crowds were good.

The course was mainly flat, there was one decent hill at about 5 miles, but it is followed by a significant downhill. Then there is a nasty little hill right at the finish line which is compounded by a narrowing roadway.

I wouldn't do this race again mainly because I don't get the allure of San Antonio, and it's just not worth the travel time and expense to me. It's a decent race, and San Antonio is your thing go for it."

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2009

Jill W.
Las Vegas, NV

  (08-14-2009)

"I participated in this event during the inaugural race. While the event didn't feel as polished or well-organized as other Rock 'n' Roll events I've done, it was still phenomenal.

The roads were a little rough in some sections; potholes, reflectors to trip you up, excess camber on the roads. But it is still a really cool way to see the city.

The course takes everyone past lots of amazing monuments, so it helps if you can kind of take note of what mile-marker some of these fall at so you can remember to watch for them.

The worst thing for me was how crowded it was the first half of the race. The full and half marathon run together. It just made the course REALLY packed. And I saw several people get confused at the point where the courses split, so people need to make sure they're not completely zoned out on the iPod when it comes time to follow their respective courses!

Blog Review: http://jillwillrun.com/2008/11/19/the-inaugural-san-antonio- rock-n-roll-marathon/"

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2008

lenny m.
Tucson, AZ

  (08-13-2009)

"Good course, great city I really love Texas the lone star state. If your looking to get out and see a city for what it is I think running a marathon through it is a great way to experience it all for sure. And San Antonio is a great city to visit the river walk is a must see and dinning there is spectacular just don't get carried away with it trust me too much salsa the day before a marathon is no bueno.
Rock'n'roll marathons in my opinion do a great job at making your running experience really stretch to the fullest. My only compliant was I didn't too much care for the drink provided on the course. I'm a big enthusiast of XOOD it really is a great endurance drink. With it I run better fell better and recover faster. Check these guys out @ XOODhealth.com

Lenny"

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2008

Marathon C.
Oviedo, FL

  (08-03-2009)

"This was my 4th marathon overall, the 3rd different marathon. It was an Inaugural race, but since it was a Rock n Roll race I figured it would be well organized.

Unlike the other review, I did not ride the race provided transportation - I rode with the TNT folks - so the bus ride was just fine both to the race and back to the hotel.

They did a wave start with each wave leaving 2 min after the previous wave. This worked well to avoid crowded conditions at the race start. The downside is that there were nearly 30 corrals, meaning that my friend in corral 29 didn't start the race until over an hour into the race. I was in corral 20 so I only had a 45 min wait. Since she was also at the back with the slower runners, she ended up being on the race course waiting and running for over 7 hours. When she reached the finish, they were still giving away medals, but most of the post race food and other items were closing up and there wasn't much at the finish line. I was glad the photographers were still at the finish area - this was her first marathon and the end seemed anticlimatic.

The course support seemed pretty good - there were no issues with running out of food or drink. The crowd support through downtown was really good but we spent a long time running through some park with little activity - pretty boring, actually. There were plenty of Rock n Roll bands but toward the end they seemed to be more on break.

The course was relatively flat, which was nice.

I ran this race to be with a friend in her first marathon. Not a bad race - but I probably won't do it again.

The medals were a bit disappointing. The Half Marathon and Full Marathons were nearly identical...and seemed a bit cheaply made."

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2008

Robert P.
Bainbridge Island, WA

  (07-19-2009)

"Elite Racing does a good job with all of their Rock n Roll races, so I was surprised by how poorly organized this race was. They were clearly not ready for 30,000 runners. I arrived at the shuttle area pretty early and waited for 90 minutes to board a bus. Then the bus got stopped in traffic for over a half hour. There was a lot of stress and frustration on that bus as we all missed the start time.
The course itself is the least scenic of any Rock n Roll marathon. Yes, you will see the Riverwalk and the Alamo. But the course is best described as desolate.
The finish area was unorganized. Had to wait a half hour at the gear check and another half hour in line to board a bus back to the AT&T center.
I hate to complain about races, but stay away from this one until Elite works out the logistical problems. "

Reviewed by a: First Time Participant for 2008