I am so glad I chose the Mohawk-Hudson River Marathon as my first marathon experience. The course is beautiful, with some lovely views of the rivers. I appreciated the moments of serenity in nature, which one does not get to experience in the monster-size races. The water stations were placed well. The volunteers were great. The runners were friendly and supportive of one another. I gave the fans five stars because they gave great support.(But if you need people constantly cheering you on, you will not get that here. There are big chunks without any, but you get beautiful nature instead.)

My only suggestion would be to have more bathrooms at the start, and maybe a few more along the course.

This is a great marathon!!! Very highly recommended.

In a nutshell, this was a great race. My first time qualifying for Boston (3:08:14) and an 8-minute PR.

Where to stay: I recommend the official hotel, the Crown Plaza. Why? The expo is there, it was cheap ($100), held the pasta dinner (which was ok), was totally silent at night, is clean, and is 2 downhill blocks from the free buses to the start race morning. Free parking at the hotel too. Ample parking at the marathon start should you decide to drive there.

Downside of the Crown Plaza: they promised late checkout, then denied it to everyone. Upside: they did provide 2 rooms for people to shower in post-race, and I guilted the manager into giving back access to my room since the maid didn't make it there by the time I was done. Also, Crown Plaza is close to Bruegger's Bagels, which opened at 5 a.m. Brueggers was halfway to the buses. All downhill. Logistically perfect and hassle-free.

The course: Flat. Downhill. Fast.
One slight uphill at around mile 13. REALLY steep downhill around 17.5. Not the kind you coast down, mostly the kind that you try not to fall down. Then it's all flat to the finish.

Most of the course is on a bike path between the trees. SUPER scenic and there should be nice fall foliage. But few spectators. Water and Gatorade every 2 miles. Mile markers the whole time, but the only clock was at halfway point (which was the start point of the half marathon's course), so bring a watch. My Garmin was spot on, mile to mile - first time ever.

There is a brief bit around maybe mile 20 that lasts a couple miles along side a "busy" street. Cones separate you from the traffic, but coming from NYC is was nothing new and felt safe though ugly. Then you finish the final 4 or so miles back on the nice bike path and it truly is totally flat. There were some bikers and walkers, and I caught the tail end of the half marathoners (both races end at the same place). Oh, downside: 5 porta-potties and a small bathroom at the start. LONG line. Drink an early coffee and use your hotel. Many guys (and gals) were peeing in the trees which seemed generally accepted.

I'll be back next year. For sure. I loved this race. I've run NYC 4 times and 3 ultras in Central Park, and this was a cool change, with a different feel and it's nicely organized. I can't stress enough how fast the course is.

Ive run the Mohawk-Hudson River Marathon for the last three years (and qualified for Boston in the 2009 race), and I think that it is the best small marathon in the world. Why?

* It's limited to fewer than 750 entrants
* It's flat and fast, with a net elevation loss of 370 feet
* It's held in early October, at the peak of the fall foliage season, when temperatures are cool - perfect for fast times
* It runs for 18 miles on bike trails along the scenic Mohawk and Hudson Rivers
* It has the highest percentage (34.9%) of Boston Qualifiers of any marathon, except Boston itself
* The course is great for spectators, who can intercept the runners at several points during the race
* It is run by a terrific team of volunteers
* If you aren't up to running a full marathon yet, there's also a great half marathon

So, if you are looking for a fall marathon where you can set a PR or qualify for Boston, you should consider the Mohawk-Hudson River Marathon. I think you'll really enjoy it.

I chose this marathon because it met the fast, flat, small marathon criteria I had in mind. I found Albany to be a friendly, historic vacation site, and the host hotel to be excellent in every way. We spent a few days in the Lake Placid area prior to the race, which we also highly recommend. Coming from pancake-flat central Florida, the downhills mentioned in earlier posts SHOULD NOT BE IGNORED. I missed a BQ time because, by mile 23, my (you've heard this before) quads were "trashed." If you don't train on downhills, you will be amazed at the "short" downhill segments and their after-effects a few miles later. I would definitely do this race again (but tweak my training for the downhills).

Note: I ran the half-marathon, not the full.

A very good course, although the traffic control when we were on streets was not very tight. Apparently runners were supposed to stay behind the cones near the shoulders of the streets but this is pretty unrealistic unless everyone is running single-file.

The biggest disappointment was the photography associated with the race. There were no pictures of me, and only two of my daughter. We were running this together (for the first time) and clearly saw the photographer at mile 10 (on the half-marathon) point and shoot what appeared to be a number of pictures. Nothing was available.

Finally, this race, like most of the ones I've run in, never has protein of any significant sort at the finish. After the exertion of the marathon or half-marathon, the body needs some quick protein replacement.

I've run this race every year for awhile now. This year's race was sold out because of an article in Runner's World about the top Boston qualifying races. It was capped at 800 runners. It did not seem too crowded to me. All of the drink stations were well manned by friendly volunteers.

The weather could not have been better for a marathon. I like talking to the various runners from around the country that come to my hometown marathon to BQ. This year's race at about Mile 7, I looked into the bush to see a man with a Mohawk haircut, his chest and face painted, wearing only a loin cloth (no running shoes), his chip taped to his ankle, as he came out after taking care of his business. ;-) Just about the entire marathon is along two beautiful rivers with picturesque views. The end of the race in NY's capital, Albany, is a great spot for an after-marathon party, with everything you could ask for within walking distance. If you would like to contact me, I would supply more information. I did BQ this year and I was not too hopeful before the race. It was truly a great day!

This was my 12th marathon, and maybe my last. But this one would be the one to go out in style with. Overall, it was a small-scale marathon, with a 700-runner limit. In fact, there was no expo-registration, as the field had closed. There was a nice pasta dinner the night before, with a fee, where you can talk running with would-be runners from many areas. The race itself was well managed, with water stops every two miles and volunteers cheering us on. The course with very scenic, and flat. As advertised, much of the race is run along the Mohawk River. Add to that the fact that it's fall, and it provided for breathtaking scenery. There was little crowd support though. The only real drawback to the race was the lack of marshals on the course late in the race, around 18 miles in. Finishers were treated to very nice, engraved medal.

I ran this one to rabbit-pace my boyfriend, but this was just such a great little marathon. The course was absolutely beautiful, with the fall foliage in full bloom and running along the scenic rivers and through leave-strewn bike paths in the woods (the only downside was a necessary stretch from about mile 19-21, where the town of Cohoes had apparently uprooted the otherwise continuous bike path for traffic lanes (boo, industrial development!)). This was a relatively flat course, with just a few uphills and some really steep but quick downhills. This was a pretty small race, so there weren't that many crowds of cheerleaders, but the ones that were there were quite strategically placed, considering we were on bike paths far from car-accessible roads most of the time; there were well-manned aid stations about every two miles (which I prefer over encountering the slowdown of aid areas every single mile), with only water and Gatorade except around miles 17 and 19, where they had all of the favorite GUs (with caffeine!). We ended on a surprisingly clean and scenic stretch right at the waterside of the Hudson River, despite being uber-close to downtown Albany and Interstate 87 (thankfully close the parking lot and the road to food and home... hehehe). They gave out bright orange and black long-sleeve tech tees (but no smalls!) and a recycled-materials bag as the swag. As far as road races go, this is, by far, my favorite one to date.

This is a beautiful, and fast, race. I train in a flat area and I always doubt races that advertise as "flat." Sure, there are a couple of uphills and more downhills, but I felt like it was just enough to break up the monotony for my muscles. It is definitely not for runners who need a huge crowd for their races, but I liked the tranquility it offers.

The race is point to point (Schenectady to Albany) and is mostly on paved bike paths through park areas. There is some road running through Watervliet on a main road, and police officers and traffic enforcement folks managing the crossings were really fabulous in all towns on the route. Considering that this was a small race, they afforded everyone the same level of courtesy, stopping traffic for those up front as well as those at the back.

Though the race wound through the trail areas, there were water tables (as indicated) approximately every two miles, they were manned for the entire race, and there were sufficient drinks/GU/etc. for everyone.

At the start, a few more porta-lets would have been nice, but the park restrooms were available (and heated), so that helped.

We had great running weather yesterday, and the foliage was really wonderful.

The course is fast and mostly downhill. Definitely a race I'll consider doing again.