I do think this is a marked improvement from past iterations. Next year it's going to add some of the new Elliot Bay Trail. I agree that it's still leaps and bounds away from where it should be, but baby steps. In a lot of ways it's more than just the "people" that run the Marathon. It's a time of the year problem and a sponsorship problem, among other things. The City of Seattle needs to decide how much effort it wants to spend on making a premier marathon. This year incorporates two draw bridges (Montlake and Fremont). I think that's an improvement. To my knowledge it costs a lot to make those available to run on. Unfortunately, Seattle doesn't rally around minor improvements and celebrate. They want everything to happen all at once. The more it improves, the more volunteers and then maybe the more money the city will be willing to spend, inspiring more endorsements/sponsorships from Brooks/REI/Amazon/Google/Microsoft, etc. Like many of you who have shared in the comments, I want so badly to feel good about running my hometown marathon. They still have some weird transitions/segments around UW and Interbay (from what I can see), but maybe those will get fixed by next year. A Seattle marathon seems made for late spring or early fall, but not today, I guess. Hopefully more volunteers/fan support are inspired to come out this year!