This is the 4th time that I have run the Rob Burrow Leeds marathon and I genuinely feel that the organisation and overall experience has improved every year. The crowds have always been superb and they were on top form once again this year, with particular highlights being Headingley, Lawnswood, and Otley! The course is definitely challenging but good pacing through the hills in the first half and then good fuelling from miles 12 - 17 will get you ready for the Chevin hill between miles 17 and 20. The only feedback which the organisers don't seem to have acted upon from previous years is the merging of the half marathon and marathon routes at about mile 21. I knew this was coming and was prepared to weave my way home for the remaining miles, but it is not ideal and definitely slows marathon runners down at the point when they have finished the hills and would like to be "trying" to speed up. Finally, in terms of toilets, there are some available that most runners don't seem to know about (opposite the Leeds gift shop in the concourse upstairs). This will probably be my last Leeds marathon (as I want to branch out) but I would highly recommend this 26.2 and it is definitely in my top 3 marathons!

Just adding my review to the other voices in the hope that some changes might be possible for future years. The Leeds marathon is a fantastic, challenging event with great support and for the most part, well organised. The frustration was the merging of marathon and half marathon runners over the final miles. I narrowly missed out on a sub 3:30 marathon as I found myself weaving around half marathon runners for the last 4 miles. Others have already noted this and it looks like no changes have been made from previous years. There must be a way to alter the start times to create more of a pacing match between marathon and half marathon runners over the final miles. Would be great to see something done for future years.

A generally well organised race with brilliant support throughout. The course was challenging, but scenic and fun and unlike some, I didn't find there were any issues with the toilets. I was able to quickly get through to the urinals in the stadium. I can imagine the queues being more of an issue for ladies though! One negative issue was the congestion caused by the marathon joining slower-paced half-marathon runners for the final few miles. It is disappointing that the bulk of the negative comments last year on this site were about that, but there has still been nothing done to rectify the situation. There were also a number of issues surrounding the numbers of people who had entered the Yorkshire Double. First myself and many others were sent a number for the wrong wave, then when the numbers were resent, the t-shirt information on them was incorrect. Finally, and perhaps most critically, the new numbers did not seem to track. I did not receive a chip time, only a gun time, and my family and friends were unable to track me throughout the race. There is a lot to like about this race and I would recommend it to people (as long as they don't mind hills!), but I hope Run Through will rectify some of the issues both here and at the Yorkshire Marathon.

I really enjoyed the marathon, it’s a very tough course and if you don’t pace correctly it could go horribly wrong. It’s not supported all the way round, but when you are in the sections with the support it is loud. The last 5k which is mostly down hill was a lot of fun HOWEVER The toilet availability beforehand is ridiculous! They rely mostly on stadium toilets and there tends to be only one or two crucible’s in each. They provided very little in way of portaloos. They must improve this You have to pay extra to get a t-shirt…terrible The set up of having the half marathon runners and marathon runners merge around mile 22 just doesn’t work. All they need to do is start the half marathon later so that when they merge everyone will be running approx same times. There was too many slower runners in the way and the roads get narrower, it just doesn’t work Getting back to my hotel was hard work, I had to walk all the way round the stadium as you just couldn’t get across the road and the streets was packed with people, they need to improve filtering people after It seems like there was an issue with one of the timing mats which effected everyone’s timings on a particular section They should make better use of the stadium, you finish in the stadium which is great but you are then funnelled out straight away, surely there should be an option to go into the stands and sit and cheer others on

I love Leeds Marathon, my 3rd year running it, what an awesome run it is. No real issues with bag drop or toilets. The course is amazing and the people out on the course route certainly know how to entertain and provide stuff. The course and in particular Chevin hil, on my 3rd year of doing the marathon I actually ran the length of it All in all a very pleasurable experience and I will be back again.

This was my first ever marathon, however I have ran half marathon races before. I did thoroughly enjoy myself! The toilet situation at the start is the same for every race, not enough & queues too big. I was still in the queue 5 mins before the start when I decided to leave it as I was in the first wave. There was people queuing for the toilet doing the half marathon that started an hour later. A member of staff was shouting for people in other waves to head to other toilets, but no one followed. For the size of the stadium, there should’ve been no need to queue for toilets as the capacity is much larger than the event. My second comment is about the merging of the two races. It was absolutely horrendous going from running alone to then thousands of runners infront. I ran the marathon in 3:21 and ended up running past the half marathon 2:30 pacers. It did make it extremely difficult. If they are to keep them on the same day, I’m not sure how this congestion can be helped. The finish line was also a little busy, but nothing too bad. There was plenty of water stations on route. But the stand out has to be the crowds, even in the villages there was people supporting, handing out sweets and drinks etc! The crowds really made the marathon special.

Others have said but just adding another comment about the madness of merging the marathon and half marathon courses. The time differential between runners is massive, sub 3:30s like me doing 8 min/miles mixed in with 2:30-2:45 half marathon runners doing 11.5 min/miles (or walking). Not only that there were large crowds at this points (surely could be foreseen?) combined with narrow roads. Absolute nightmare for people who have just made it up the Chevin… I’m sure I lost minutes from just dodging and focusing on not tripping in those final sections. Shame as it is otherwise a beautiful course with incredible support, but I won’t be running it again unless changed.

A great event with Support better than any other event I've done. The crowds are simply amazing. Cons Poor accessibility from the North of Leeds Not enough toilets prior to the race with queues 100's long Poor signage to the actual race starting pens. Ridiculous advice telling everyone there was only one bottle of water each per water station. I personally drank 13 pints of fluid during and post race before I needed a wee due to the significant dehydration during the race. The water station when the HM and M merged was absolute chaos. I was running for a sub 3:30 marathon. I couldn't access the water station at mile 21 due to HM walking, stopping queueing up and generally getting in the way. The station was also 0.5 mile late, it couldn't be missed out as it was also the last water station on course and I probably lost 2 mins trying to get a bottle. Really we should have had another water station around mile 24 especially in the heat we had to run in. Having to run through the back of the HM from mile 21 is not only energy zapping but also destroys your time. HM's walking even holding hands blocking the road while I'm trying to run through was extremely frustrating and has been my biggest complaint since the first Leeds M two years ago and really does need to be sorted. The finish zone was also terrible. It must have taken 30 mins from finishing to actually get out of the Sun due to the congestion. There was also no water available on the finish line. It probably took 15 mins to get far enough along the queue before the water was accessible. The other side of the stadium was in the shade but we carried on baking. Why couldn't we have finished there? These are obviously all fixable. Pros However what is amazing is the support. The atmosphere is better than any race I have run or attended, from the London Marathon to the Great North Run. Leeds beats them all. The generosity of the people watching is amazing. With water, sweets, oranges etc. the Carnival atmosphere is just something else through Adel, Otley, Bramhope and Headingley. It takes your breath away. Will I do it again, absolutely I just hope the niggles are fixed because they are in danger of wrecking the best race I've ever done. So come on Leeds / Run for All get it right next year

This was my second year running doing the Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon. Just like last year I stayed in the city centre and got the shuttle bus to Hedgingly arriving with about 30 minutes to spare before my wave started at 9am. No issues with the bag and their seemed plenty of toilets. For the race itself It was one of the toughest marathons I've ever done as it was warm and unlike last year the sun was out from the very beginning. The crowd support was amazing and shoutout especially to those residents who came out with their hosepipes spraining the runnings down as they passed, it was much appreciated. My only gripe is at mile 21 when the half marathon runnings merge back with the marathon runners. You've got sub 3.30 marathon runners merging with 2.30 and slower half marathon runners, some of which where stopping and walking, so it involved a lot of weaving, not what you need in the final 10k of a marathon. It also meant that the next aid station was extremely busy. I'm not sure what the solution is here perhaps start the first wave of the marathon 30 minutes earlier and the half 30 minutes later so that the marathon runners merge with a half marathon wave running a similar pace or maybe merge them a lot later in the course. It's a very slow trudge out to pick up the goody bag, medal and t-shirt. Overall though would recommend it to anyone, especially if you fancy doing a marathon that is a bit more challenging.

The event is absolutely brilliant. Support is fantasting and the crowds were outstanding. However.... If you are running the marathon, once you get to 21 miles you might as well walk. You merge with the back end of the half marathon runners who are either walking, running in groups, stopping dead in their tracks or using the worst running etiquette known to man. I easily lost 5 minutes in my race time this year due to this. Even the finish line was a shambles. Going forward the event either need to be on separate days or set in to two different lanes. Everyone who ran the marathon seemed to be complaining about this if they were under the 4 hour mark. Great event, terrible logistics from 21 miles.