ROTTERDAM FIRST MARATHON OF THE 2010 DONE ONLY 3 MORE TO GO

Don't run this race if you care about your time. I was frustrated by the narrow course and the constant bottlenecks.So when I fell over and went done hard on my Knee i was pissed off, about 10 to 15 people all fell over and i was at the back of them and could not avoid it.So the next 5 to 10 miles my Knee was Pain full and didn't loosen up till nearly half ways on. It did not thin out either and I was running sideways around people the whole way. At times I ran on grass, train tracks, around spectators and in the bike lane. At one point I even jumped over a hedge to get around people. It was very hard to keep an even pace. Clearly they needed to have a better system for organizing pace groups. Maybe large signs according to predicted time would have helped. Maybe they need to limit the numbers or make a wider course.
Aside from this problem, I thought the race was well organized. I didn't have any trouble with the water stations. In terms of the fans, well, people were a bit quiet. It seemed like everybody was just waiting for someone they knew. I can't say I really blame them, but it was a bit of a let down.But Thankfully i had my beautiful wife cheering loud for me and she was an inspiration as always.If you don't care about your time, then run it and enjoy! Rotterdam is not spectacular like New York Barcelona or Cork City, but it is a nice city!But Not sure if i would run it again roll on cork city marathon in june but jack and jill 10k in kenmare first.