Wow this was an amazing race. 

The bib pick up was easy and made harder by walking to the end of expo to pick up tshirt :)
The race village was a mask only zone, for bag drop  (Locker room) also when you finished you had to mask up straight away. 
The bag picked up from the expo was loaded with goodies, drinks, nuts, hand cream, sanitiser, insane what you were given.
The race was split into 4 start times and went off on time, worked really well. no hassle or drama.

Feed stations were regular with water and powerade (smuff wee), nuts and gels and fruit also available. 

Loads of drums, live DJ sets and old school rave music. 

Plent of sights to see along the way, the Valencia football stadium was my fave.

The route is very flat and PB potential for most people if you want it, 

Medal was nice, the finish goodie bag was loaded, satsuma, brocholi, nuts, drink, dried fruit, bar, water bottle for reuse, protein powder. fruit juice x2 all in a nice New Balance finishers bag.   

Overall this was a absolute dream, i could of got a pb if i didnt wait 13.1 miles to open up the legs.

I will deffintely becoming back once the covid restrictions go away (surely it will happen)

What is not to like, sun, beer, tapas and beautiful people. 

I have run this marathon in 2018 and 2019 and I've got a place in the 2020 event which will be the 40th anniversary (like VLM). I ran VLM in 2018 and found it over-hyped, over-crowded and lacking in entertainment - just miles of spectators.

Valencia is something else! Flights are cheap, we are lucky enough to know someone with an apartment 15 mins walk from the start and the city is beautiful.

The City of Arts and Sciences is the Expo, Paella Party and Start and Finish area - it's stunning. The 300m blue pontoon which is built over the water especially for the run to the finish is really special.

The Expo is good, some great photo opportunities. There is a pre-event goody bag rammed with stuff and great bling with a post-event goody bag which includes a net of Valencian oranges. 

The race pens and toilets were much improved last year and the Expo was made bigger and more streamlined. This year's event is marathon only with no 10k. The number has increased to 30000 and they are hoping to be upgraded to Platinum IAAF.  It's an amazing event!

The race starts at 8.30am - perfect as it's still dark and cool, plus you get your afternoon back. The temperature is not too hot and there's no humidity.

The course is flat with so much entertainment - you'll never see so many drumming bands, DJs and fancy dress cheer stations at any other marathon. The Spanish are brilliant support, they will shout so much encouragement.

Can't wait to go back!

Fast and flat, if not too hot and good PB potential.

Few out and backs but mainly long, wide straight roads and decent crowds too. Water signs completely wrong which messed up my fuelling and the fuel stations are quite spread out for a marathon too.

Bag drop is a nightmare to get to down then up some stairs is less than ideal post marathon - saw this cause many people cramp! Start pens also not vry clear and a bit of a free for all to get in.

A marathon that should be on everyone's list. I was lucky enough to gain a free place through a competition, but even friends who also ran can confirm that the Valencia marathon team have set a very high standard for all other events. The information was frequent and informative without being overwhelming. 

Number collection was a breeze, and there were many stands at the expo which were of use. Despite over 20,000 people, there were no queus at any point. Also, with the number of entrants, the start pens were clearly marked, easy to get into, and each wave started without a lot of standing around which is common at many big events. 

The route covered the entire city, with a clearly marked course (including a blue line like the Abbott majors) and marshals were visible and knew what they were doing. Each kilometre is clearly marked, and aid stations frequent. Each had water and energy drinks, and many had bananas also. 

The locals really came out to support, and the nosie at times was louder than Tower Bridge is on London Marathon day. The course itself is virtually pancake flat, and it felt special to run along wide avenues near the beach and the narrower streets of the old town, crossing bridges over the fantastic park. 

There is a breakfast run on the saturday morning which I didn't do myself, but saw when out for a pre-race day run, and seemed very well attended with a friendly atmosphere. The finish is in the science area, which is a futuristic looking collection of buildings set in the middle of large water pools. You finish on a temporary wide bridge that runs across one of the pools, and large crowds gather. It is quite a competitive race, with ym 4hr time seeing me finish behind about 65% or the entrants, yet the support didn't waver at all. It's not often I'd decide to travel abroad to the same place, however I plan to go back to Valencia to do this one again.