The crowds make this race amazing and unforgettable. As this was my slowest marathon, I expected the spectators to thin out but I'm was a 5+hr marathoner and for more than half the course the streets were still lined with people who cheer like crazy. It makes you feel racing for

"This was a solid run. Challenging long uphill stretch through Prospect Park during the begining, and then an almost perfectly flat run thereafter. Most of the run is on Ocean Parkway, which isn't the most scenic or interesting part of Brooklyn, but it helped avoid an overcrowded feeling in

My first half marathon. Gorgeous New England woodland scenery. Not much of an expo or anything beforehand (at least, not in 2015) but fantastic Smuttynose beer afterwards. I might have had one or three while waiting for my wife to finish the marathon.