Du Nguyen's Staging Area

Good:
Great weather for a February race
Fast and straight route
Plentiful water and energy drinks at the water stations

Meh:
Not the most scenic route, all the Barcelona neighborhoods look the same
That one 180 turn

Bad:
Finish area is filled with people and makes it hard to find friends afterwards

Good:
Beautiful course which showed off all the different neighborhoods AND went into the city
Great aid stations which were well spaced apart and had plenty of options
Great swag bag with plenty of different snacks and so many calories to replenish with
Great organization
Awesome crowd! Really amazing to see people on every single mile of the course
I, personally, had a great performance

Meh:
The bridges need to be covered completely with carpets as the metal grids seem unsteady to run on
Where’s all the bananas? I think I only saw one aid station with bananas
A bit rainy

Bad:
Honestly, nothing was really that bad

Good:
This is the fastest marathon course.
Running the same course as the elite runners especially on the day the world record was broken.
Great spacing of water stations.
Great crowd covering the entire course.

Meh:
Not all toilets have toilet paper…
Maybe all the starting heats/waves shouldn’t start that long after each other.

Bad:
My own performance 🙁

Good:
It was awesome to run across the Golden Gate Bridge!
Fun to run past the piers.
The weather was extremely nice!
The supporters in the last half of the marathon were really awesome as they brought out extra snacks for whoever needed it.
Cool hexagon medal (although sharp corners!)
Spacious start and finish areas.

Meh:
Not being allowed to run on the road track of the Golden Gate Bridge but only the footpath.
The electrolyte solution offered did not taste that well.
The water at the aid stations had a slightly strange taste as well.
Hilly course.

Bad:
Not enough toilets in the first half of the marathon. Huge queues everywhere and I spent 4-5 minutes waiting at one point.
Aid stations located at where the marathon runners and half marathon runners met again and until after Golden Gate Park, were completely overwhelmed and could not provide enough water and electrolyte quickly enough.
The Golden Gate Bridge view where runners had to go under the bridge, there was a path down that was very narrow, filled with loose rocks, uneven and steep which is extremely dangerous for ankles and the likes.

Good:
Awesome course!
Weather was amazing with beautiful sunrise over the city.
Great aid stations with plenty of different snacks.
Extremely supportive crowd and lots of music stations.
Cool and colorful medal.
One of the best organized races I’ve participated in.

Meh:
Early start but the race still began about 20 minutes after the planned start time.
With the amount of people running, the footpath on the Golden Gate Bridge is not wide enough for this kind of race.

Bad:
Running down under the bridge included running on a dirt track which was steep and a bit dangerous to run on.