Nice, scenic course with some rolling hills. Some uphills were steep but none of them lasted very long. The downhills I feel made up for the uphills, so it's possible to run a good time on this course. I was surprised by the amount of spectator support on the course (for a small city). The out-and-back portions enabled faster and slower runners to encourage each other. Water/hydration stations were more than ample being 2 miles apart. There were parts of this course where there was vehicular traffic alongside the runners with no cones separating them. However, this was never an issue as all the drivers were cautious and courteous. It's a well-organized event with probably the perfect amount of runners. Not too many to make it crowded and not too few where you were ever running by yourself. I noticed plenty of staff monitoring the race on bikes to ensure the safety and well-being of the runners.

It was a thrill to hear my name and home town announced when approaching the finish line! All of the volunteers did a great job! A special thanks to the wonderful volunteers in the medical tent that helped me feel myself again! Post-race food was yogurt (yum!), bagels with peanut butter, bananas, orange slices, cups with pretzels/Cheese Nips, Gatorade and water. The $10 pasta dinner was simple yet delicious and well worth it! For my $45 registration fee, I think it's a great deal! Even got a nice, long-sleeve tech shirt! I definitely would recommend this race! Don't forget to visit "Old Port" afterward for some good seafood!

The only suggestion for the RD would be to have the mile markers higher up on the ground instead of lying flat, especially the first six mile markers, since the field is a bit crowded with the half marathoners and it's too easy to miss the mile markers unless you are running right next to it.

I chose this marathon because it was offered early in October and it would give me ample time to get ready for my winter marathon at the end of January. Hello Miami, again!!

I took the early start offered to slower runners and walkers, although I knew I would not be eligible for an award. I had family commitments to attend to that I would've missed by taking the regular start. But, who cares about awards? When you are a 60-year-old 4:45 marathon runner, the only award you might get would be for tenacity. And, heaven help me if I missed a family event due to a fun event like a marathon.

In addition, after having the opportunity to have an early start (for slower marathoners like me), Carlsbad last January offered a 6:00 a.m. start for the walkers, a 6:30 a.m. start for slower runners and a 7:30 start for faster runners. I will always take advantage of one when offered. There is something to be said to see the elite runners pass you by (most times mid/backpackers never even see them at the start or at the finish) and to be able to get to the food and drinks while they still are plentiful and to take advantage of other things like massages while they still are offered. All of the marathons - especially those of a smaller size - should offer this advantage.

A pet peeve of mine occurs when a half-marathon (the focus of the MM appears to be the half) extends its course willy-nilly to create a full marathon. That's what the MM appears to have done. Nothing wrong with half-marathons; they are the most popular now, and if the emphasis is to be the half, then advertise the race as a half, with a full as a secondary race - not the reverse. It's just frustrating to see when you finish the race that all of the massages have stopped and there usually is a limited amount of food and drink due to the fact that all of the half-marathon people and the fast marathoners (usually the youngsters) have finished. The promoters, sponsors and suppliers of services think that they are done, when the individuals who have been on the course for five or six hours really need all of the assistance that was available to the faster runners.

At the start, the runners and walkers were told that there would be limited support for the first few miles and to be aware of this. However, I didn't start to see any resemblance of support other than police, blocking off the side streets, until I reached about the 10-mile mark. In fact, the police at around the 2-mile mark sent me in the wrong direction for about 100 yards until a young lady told me I was going the wrong way. This in itself isn't any big deal, since we all encounter little support on our long training runs. What did concern me was the traffic along route 88 THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN STOPPED FROM 8 TO 9:30!!!! For the entire time that I was on Route 88, there were vehicles and bicycles on the road when there weren't supposed to be any!! Police problem or organizer problem? My wife told me that at the intersection where she saw me she saw flagmen and police tell motorists to slow down because of the runners (I didn't notice that, but I guess it was true after about 9:30, when she saw me.)

At around mile 12 or about 8 to 8:15, I WAS NEARLY MOWED DOWN BY A PICKUP TRUCK!!! I turned when I heard the sound of a truck speeding along the road and after I dodged the truck off the narrow shoulder, I took a pretty good header - good enough to scratch and bruise my left shoulder, arm and calf. Runners, walkers, etc. SHOULD NOT have to concern themselves with vehicles in races. I have run other races with traffic, but there usually is one lane open to runners and one for traffic flow. I understand that in a loop course, both sides of the road shoulders are being used. However, with fewer than 1,000 marathoners, the runners tend to stretch out and this makes safety a greater concern for the organization. Not so in my instance! I'm still stiff, sore, and now that I have had more time to think about it, MADDER THAN HELL!!!

Why, even in a major event that my little track club (about 110 members) promotes, The Boston Prep 16 mile, we use traffic cones and monitors and coordinate extensively with our small-town police, fire and public works departments to protect our runners.

Although Portland is a pretty little city, next year, when I choose my fall marathon, I think I'll choose the Baystate Marathon in Lowell. Based upon my prior experience with the Lowell races, I have run their half-marathons four times; their professionalism, better organization and safety precautions make it a far wiser choice than this poor excuse of a marathon.
Well, enough of my grousing. Here are my PROS and CONS.

PROS:
1. There are many opportunities to see the ocean/bay and as such the course can be considered scenic.
2. Small size.
3. When the volunteers finally arrived, they were plentiful and eager to help.
4. Plentiful food/drink when I finished - can't be certain if I took the regular start.
5. Good-sized expo for a small marathon
6. Nice technical shirt.
7. Cutesy medal, in the shape of the state of Maine.

CONS:
1. Poor traffic control! I nearly got hit by a vehicle while on the course - in all of my races (quite a few, did I mention I'm 60?!?!), this has never even come close to happening!
2. Few fans! When you saw some, they were not overly enthusiastic and did not interact with the runners like you usually encounter! The only cheering was at the finish and even that wasn't as loud and enthusiastic as at other marathons.
3. Combined start for both marathon and half marathon (this is one of my pet peeves).
4. Poor organization; police should have been made aware of the course's location - I should never have been allowed off of the course. And to be told by another runner while the police were present (with no apologies by the police for their error) is A BIG NO-NO!
5. No gels offered on the course.
6. Marathon course seemed like it was created as an afterthought.
7. No timing mats except at the start/finish to keep runners honest.
8. Turnaround for the marathon was in the middle of a narrow dirt road, lending credibility to number 6 above.
9. Side roads were closed off on Route 88, even though they were advertised as viewing points for spectators. My wife wasn't able to park her vehicle near 88, so she didn't have the opportunity to see me run. From what I understand, there were plenty of police to monitor the parking situation; they would have been better utilized for traffic control on Route 88.
10. No music or musical groups on the course to motivate runners (my wife said that there were drummers at the finish, but I didn't notice them - too focused on the finish I guess).
11. Goody bags offered to only the first 1,500 runners??? Why, when there are fewer than 3,000?
12. In the goody bag, there was a copy of New Runner that was off of the newsstands on July 15th?? Why not get a current edition at least - I'm certain New England Runner might have gotten a few more subscriptions if the magazine was current and then read by the runner.
13. What's with the weird chip promoted by Baystate timing? Use the Champion Chip or other less intrusive chips that most others use.
14. No promotional rates offered by local hotels for marathon runners.
15. Nearby hotels that were promoted by the website, were really distant from the expo and start/finish. Some of the nearest were said to be about .7 miles from the start/expo, etc.; however the start is uphill from the Old Port, and as such, really inconvenient for the rates charged by them (nearly $200 a night by the Garden Hilton)! My wife was happy we canceled our reservations at the Hilton in Old Town when she saw the hills she would've had to climb.

I guess you can see that I will NOT be coming back for another Maine Marathon. They have a lot of work to do, as far as organization and safety, before I chance it again.

Peak Performance Maine Marathon
Portland, ME
Sunday, October 5, 2008
7:45 AM

I flew into Portland, via Newark, and stayed in Days Inn on Maine Mall Road, which was about six miles from packet pick-up/expo/pre-race pasta dinner, as well as start/finish of the marathon at the University of Southern Maine Campus. The long-sleeved technical shirt was nice, and dinner was good too. It was a nice, sunny day to run the marathon, with temperatures ranging from the low 40s to mid 50. We had access to the university's gym, which kept us warm until the start time. The scenic out-and-back route included very few turns, was mainly through tree-shaded residential neighborhoods, and offered the opportunity to see the Back Cove and Casco Bay in several places. There were plenty of hills. There were 14 water/sports drink stations. We shared the first six and a half miles with half marathoners. Crowd support was fairly good at several locations. Splits were digitally displayed at every other mile. Post-race refreshments were good and finisher's medallion was nice. In short, it was a nicely organized running event.

I am a 50-stater and this was #42.

Great organization and support for this event. No complaints. The hills were bigger than I expected, but coming from FL a speed bump is a hill. I was shooting for sub-4:00 but I'll accept 4:05. I've got to run more hills.

As with an earlier post, my GPS showed the course longer by 3/10 of a mile. No big deal. Nice start and finish around the lake.

The route had nice support from families in front of their homes cheering. Little kids were handing out candy, water, etc. They were excited with the occasional high-fives.

I finished my "50 plus DC" at this event on 10/05/2008. The race director met me at the finish line, with very kind words. Everything is great about this marathon. The course is beautiful, the weather was great and the spectators are wonderful! There are plentiful water stops. The hills are just enough to break things up. This race even had an early start for walkers. Military personnel were also participating in full gear! What an inspiration! Go USA! Go Portland, Maine!

The volunteers were plentiful and vey helpful. All water stops had plenty of water and Gatorade Endurance. The tech shirt was better than what you get at a lot of other races. The finisher's medal was nice, but a little small. The pre-race pasta dinner was delicious and a good value. The only negative was that the course was not closed to traffic, and a few cars did get in the way. Also, according to my GPS, the course was 3/10 of mile long.

My first marathon and a great race. Received a nice certificate in the mail a few months after the race and they sent me a new one when the first was a little bent in the mail. Great scenery and a chance to head up to Maine. I will be there in 2008!!

Overall a nice race with rolling hills and some good NE scenery. Liked the sections passing the water as well as though some some nice residential areas replete with fields and fall foliage show. A good mid-sized marathon. Be prepared for relay teams passing you in the 2nd half of the marathon with many folks only running the 1/2. Out-and-back course so you're prepared for everything you'll face on the way back. Well organized and well supported for a marathon of its size. I'd definitely recommend it.

Overall I had a good experience. The course was out and back with little scenic variety, mostly residential and few ocean views. The pasta feed was excellent. The hotel was grossly overpriced, but I paid for the convenience of being within walking distance to start. I won't complain about the small medal because I'm proud to have earned it running in Maine as my 14th state.

This race was well organized, well supported, and, in my humble opinion, exactly as it was presented on the web site. Sure there were some hills, but nothing to get real excited about. I wasn't really trained for this and I was aiming for about 4:35, and ran a 4:10. Lots of kids at the water stops made them interesting and fun. Adults with coffee, wearing pajamas in their driveways was also fun. I didn't have any particular issues with traffic. A couple of us with GPS showed we went 26.5 miles, but that was because we couldn't run the tangents. Not a big deal. When the largest complaints seem to be that the medals seemed small, the organizers can pat themselves on the back for a job well done.