I was wondering if anyone can pass along some advice about their experiences at either the Rock N Roll San Diego Marathon or Grandmas Marathon? I am looking to race a marathon around this time and I am looking for something fairly fast, relatively flat and women to run with around the 2:44-2:50 time range.
Definitely look at San Diego, Grandma's is a complete crap-shoot with the weather. In addition, the San Diego course is fast, mater of fact, the course is so fast that it is considered illegal or is unrecognized by the IAAF, meaning that a world record would not be recognized if it were to occur on this course. The USATF does however recognize this course for the purposes of Olympic Trials Qualification, which you would be in that range given you are female of course.
The fact that San Diego is not recognized as an IAAF qualifying course is not due to how fast it is but rather due to the start and finish lines being several miles apart (start in Balboa Park, finish at Sea World). It didn't strike me as exceptionally fast, though not slow either.