Frankfurt Marathon

A great organization. The festhalle messe in the start line was very helpfull with all the amenities you need before the start. The finish line is inside the pavillion with a fantastic atmosfere. Be ready for the light inclination in many parts of the course. Great team of volunteers. The showers at the end were perfect.

The Frankfurt Marathon has a lot of things in its favour: - autumn (fall) event = heaviest training during summer (for northern hemisphere runners) and reasonable chance of clement weather. - loop course with central location = not leaving hotel in the middle of the night to get to the start in time. - flat course = time potential. - big enough to be 'proper' (ref: IAAF Gold Medal certification) but just under the radar enough that you don't have to enter, like, a year in advance. - excellent transport links getting there and again after you arrive. - great organisation all round, cant really fault it. - good strength in depth time-wise - 1100 (nearly 10%) of the field sub-3, 7100 (59%) of the field sub-4. Miscellaneous points: As noted by others (#1), the first 5-6km through the city are a bit tight; I can imagine this would be a problem further back in the field so be aware. Organisers could think about sub-dividing the corrals a little better to allow a smoother get-away and/or using barriers to create a bit of a pinch-point just before the start mat. Also means running the tangents can be significant. As noted by others (#2), the chip return is back up two levels in the main expo hall, bit of a PITA but no big deal. Recommend you get a hotel within walking distance - the course shuts down the tram/bus/taxi options, leaving just S/U-bahn. No issues with the water stations (cups, BTW, which works better for me)  water is first, then some fizzy stuff. Bananas and gels at a couple of locations later on. Post-race nutrition offerings were excellent. For US runners - be aware that all markers are in kilometres. Nice friendly support from the locals. One dead spot at about 24km where you cross back over the river from south to north. This, and a stretch from 9-10km, count as the only noticeable inclines (cant call them hills). No comment on the expo  in/out with my number+chip in under 10minutes which counts as a win in my book (does anyone derive anything positive out of these things?). Not too many loos at the start, mustve been more inside the Messe building. A couple of hundred meters of cobblestones in the city centre which you encounter at about 8km and again at about 40km. Overall, I'd thoroughly recommend it.

I wanted to run Berlin Marathon 2015 but I was unsuccessful. So I applied to do Frankfurt Marathon 2015 instead and I got in instantly. It is rated as one of the top fastest Marathon in the world. And I must say it has been very well organized. The Germans were extremely kind and friendly people. The Good Points about the Marathon were the free pasta party the day before the race. The various drinks at the water stations and also bananas and running gels at certain drink stations. Also loads of hot or cold drinks at the finish including Protein bars and bananas to eat. Also the special red carpet finish. Chip-timing breakdown information Points that were not so good. The road were too narrow and congested with runners The running route was quite boring. Lack information where to put your running chip after the Marathon. But what I really loved and enjoyed about the organization of the Frankfurt Marathon was the chunky medal, the free tasty pasta party, also the friendly German people who helped and supported the race. In fact I'd enjoyed every single minute of it. For me I felt like I bonded with the runners, the sponsors and with the people of Frankfurt. It was truly an utterly memorable experience and myself and my family can't stop talking about it. Well done to all involved.