Rock N Roll Savannah Marathon

I have run the Savannah Rock n Roll half marathon now for three years and it is one of my favorite courses. It’s a very flat course and goes through some scenic parts of Savannah. Savannah itself is a great town to visit, very walkable with many nice shops and places to eat.
The race is very well attended, with over 12,000 runners in the half marathon. A very well organized. I like the free parking they offer at the convention center with the tug boat ride over to town. It was nice this year to have bananas and water bottles offered before the race. The snacks after the race were also pretty good, including a pint of Michelob beer. The race ends in a park where they have a rock concert after the race.
There are lots of people lined up along the streets, and it’s nice to have so many people cheering you as you finish. There are several water stations long the route with water and Gatorade, and one stop with GU gels.
The Rock N Roll series has many races in different cities across the globe, and I am looking at some of their other locations outside of Georgia to register for, since the Savannah race is so well run.

I finished the inaugural 2011 Rock n Roll Savannah marathon in Savannah, GA. Race day was 11/​15/​2011. It was my first time ever to the state of Georgia and to the city of Savannah herself. This was my 32^nd marathon and 20^th state on a crazy quest to knock off 50 marathons in all 50 states from Hawaii. The Competitor Group, which owns the Rock n Roll Marathon series, organized this one in Savannah, GA and proved to be one of the better ones in the race series. Along with the Seattle and Arizona Rock n Roll marathons I have also ran in the past, the inaugural RnR Savannah marathon seems to take a play from its organizer. It draws a vast amount of people wanting to run 26.2 or 13.1 in beautiful Savannah GA. Myself included. Here I was in Georgia and I couldn’t have had a better race experience myself. Other than crossing the finish line and checking off Georgia for my 50 states goal, it was a good race with all the bells and whistles that the Competitor Group can provide.
Most people arrive here either by air, arriving in directly into Savannah, or in other regional airports and drive from there. For me, the direct approach is usually the best. No fuss or drama. For the inaugural session of the Rock n Roll Savannah marathon in 2011, I was a little skeptical that they were going to put on a well organized event going into it. They really proved me wrong. With the miles and smiles on race day, it was clear that the Competitor Group did well with this one and everyone loves to run or wants to do their first marathon or half, or both, flock to this southern belle city to vacation, enjoy, and experience the thrills and spoils of their first half or full marathon. Competitor Group & the Rock n Roll Marathon series generally attracts the new and novice runners, while catering to the more experienced marathoners and racers themselves. The Rock n Roll Marathon expo is uniform in what they do and it’s not limited to the specific city. They go large and make everything carnival like atmosphere, like you’re the stars of the show. It’s housed in the downtown convention center and it’s quite an event. Plenty of running related gear to keep you mesmerized for days and months!
While that may be awesome, your registration fees are surely paying for all the fanfare and ambiance associated with the race. There are a lot of bands out on the course and streams of Volunteers and ecstatic crowd support and spectators who are cheering you on towards victory! Remember that you are paying for this endevour, so best believe that you need everything you can get! Aid stations are roughly 2 miles apart and the Rock n Roll race officials love to use stretches of sectioned off concrete highway points for its course. I’ve been on that in RNR Arizona and Seattle. Not really fun, but it works apparently. The start is enamored with many thousands of runners eager to run. There is a coral system in place, where your coral is dependent on your estimated finish time. The finish line scene at Forsyth Park was adequate and there was several timing check points along the course to keep everything running smoothly. Parking for the race was okay. I parked the rental car at a shopping mall, where there were shuttles to take us to the race start. The finisher medals were pretty nice — at least with the inaugural running of the RnR Savannah marathon.
If you like small town hospitality and yearning to come to Savannah to knock off your first marathon or half, this is the one to do it. Be advised that the race registration fees are pricey, so best bet would be to register once it opens up in the following year. I myself had a good time here and looking forward to returning in the future. Love the city of Savannah and hope you will too. I recommend this race for the first timers and the experienced veterans for BQ’ing and attempting a personal best. Be forewarned though, it gets crowded at the start!
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B

It was a good choice for my first marathon. I selected it because I favor big races with lots of participants and course entertainment, which all add up to much-​needed distractions and motivation for me. Plus, a pretty city like Savannah seemed like it would be fun to run through.
We arrived on Thursday, so were able to avoid the crowds and ferries and other general craziness that occurred at Friday’s expo. The center had a lot of exhibitors, a fair amount of freebies, and some interesting stuff like Brook’s giant booth set-​up, complete with active volcano, and Geico’s see-​the-​course fast-​forwarded video.
On race day, the corrals were easy to find (though not enforced at all). Lots of official picture taking at the start line. But oddly placed porta-​potties. They all seemed to be on the north side of the road, with only a few on the south side, which was where I had lined up. Luckily, I was able to slip in and out of one as our corral was lining up for the countdown.
The course does go through some poor-​er and industrial areas in the beginning, but honestly, the course support there seemed to be just as strong as it was downtown. The locals really put a smile on my face! There was little-​to-​no bottlenecking in the beginning which was nice as well… the streets had been completely shut down for the race, with parked cars removed and everything.
Water, Gatorade, and Gu stops were frequent enough and — for the most part — well-​staffed. And the bands along the course were rocking out, as promised. My favorite part was running through the college campus; those two miles were full of enthusiastic students, and they gave me the pep I needed to go stronger a little longer. The worst part was the return trip on the Truman freeway. On the way back, the DJ was no longer on the overpass (though there was music playing). There were race clean-​up crews cruising down the freeway in the opposite lane. The clocks had malfunctioned or something, so they were all reading a blank time, which was kind of discouraging. The crowd was sparse, the sun was beating down, and there was a headwind. Most people around me were walking. I was hurting. And it was just a bummer all around. Miles 22 – 24 are when most runners really need a boost, and it was like the opposite of that. But most of the scenery was great — lots of pretty homes and moss-​covered trees. We had great weather, and nearly an entirely flat course.
The final two miles had encouragement from the last water stop (thanks, volunteers!), lots of cameras to smile for, and a finisher’s chute that allowed you to see your destination and sprint about a quarter-​mile to get there. Unfortunately, it was fairly narrow, so I had to verbally request permission to pass a couple of times.
I loved all the race food at the end — bananas, beef jerky, powerbars, chocolate milk. They had race blankets, but I didn’t see any ice, which would have been nice. I may have missed it… or it may have been in the medical tent, which I didn’t locate on the field. I thought the 2013 medals were ugly (rubbery looking) and oddly small (both the medal itself, and the ribbon it’s strung from). However, the race shirts are great — I liked the design, and the fact that they’re Brooks tech tees! The after-​party was also fun: a beer tent, live music, folks reclining and soaking in some sunshine and glory. They had the family reunion letter markers scattered around — and this helped disperse the crowd and meeting points pretty well.
A pretty positive experience, and I’m looking forward to the inaugural Rock n’ Roll Raleigh event (although dreading the hills that come with it!).

Such a great race! Perfect weather, awesome spectators. Everything was well organized from the expo to the end of the race.
We stayed in the Hyatt Regency since the race started right out in front. The ferry to the expo was also very close to the hotel and our wait for the next boat was less than 10 minutes. As soon as you exit the ferry boat the convention center is right there. As far as expos go, it was pretty standard. I was able to pick up my race number and shirt quickly. The exhibitor choices were a little underwhelming, but it just means I didn’t spend a lot of money there, which is good.
The race was set to start at 7am, but since it was pretty cold outside, a lot of runners hung out in the hotel lobby until about 6:45. We were able to find our corral easily and it never felt over-​crowded.
The course takes you through some gorgeous parts of Savannah. It also takes you through some not-​so-​nice areas. The one thing that stood out though was how supportive the spectators were through every part of the city. They really made us feel welcome and made the race even more enjoyable.
At the end there were plenty of food and drink options to help refuel. In fact, they had so much extra chocolate milk and muffins at the end that they were trying to give loads of it away to whoever was still around.
I would absolutely recommend this race to everyone! It’s a great way to get to know such a beautiful city.

This was an awesome race and a good choice for my second half marathon. Great running weather, enthusiastic crowd support, and a flat and fast course made this a good experience. Even though there about 17,000 participants, this was an organized race from the expo to the finish line. I decided to stay in a hotel near the airport (the hotels near the start of the race were ridiculously expensive) and utilized the shuttle service to get to the start line and back. The start corrals were clearly labeled and there were bananas and small bottles of water for people who needed it before the start of the race. The course did start in some of the not-​so-​pretty parts of Savannah, but people were still out in their front yards cheering us on. The one portion of the race that could be improved upon is the finish line– it really got congested due to people trying to get their medals and recovery food. It would be helpful if they could have volunteers/​workers there to keep traffic flowing. Also the race directors should consider putting some of the recovery foods in a bag so your not stuck carrying a bottle of water, chocolate milk, Gatorade, banana, etc. in your hands while trying to get out of the finish area. Like I said before, this was a great race and I look forward to doing it again next year.