I was so pleased with this marathon! I ran it last year, because it's a local race for me, and was disappointed. But this year I was very pleased!!!

Pros:
-nice course, well marked
-finisher's medal, and age group awards
-great spectators
-fairly flat course

Cons:
-not even close to enough port-a-potties (but there are lots of bushes if you don't mind that)
-finisher's medal is the same that the 5K runners get
-same shirt as 5K runners, so when you wear it, nobody will know what distance you ran


Overall I was thrilled, because it was much better then last year! I hope it will continue to improve!

Criticisms:
1) I worry about this race ACTUALLY being a Boston qualifier, since the course has changed and it hasn't been certified since 1999. (So obviously, it's NOT REALLY A BOSTON QUALIFIER, and when USATF gets wind of that fact, a lot of people could be disappointed).
2) Waiting in a long line at the port-a-lets at the start. I ended up running a couple of blocks and peeing behind a bush. Not a problem for me, but the neighborhood might mind.
3) The marathon finishers should be treated differently from the 5K finishers, as far as hardware, shirts, blah, blah.
4) The course could have been marked better, or had people stationed at the turns.

Good things:
The course was, for the most part, scenic.
The volunteers were enthusiastic.
The metro area was accommodating of out-of-towners.

This was my 2nd marathon and overall I was not pleased. (My first marathon was the Olathe Marathon the same year.)

The things that bothered me most:
-Not enough port-a-potties at the start. I had no choice but to start my marathon with a very full bladder, and the first port-a-potty was 9 or 10 miles into the marathon. I had to find a bush, and I saw MANY other people doing the same. This was awkward for me because I am a girl.
-The race t-shirt was, quite frankly, ugly enough for me to never wear it. It would also be nice to have a shirt saying that you ran the full marathon, rather then giving the 5K runners the same shirt.
-The full marathon finishers got the same finisher's medal as the 5K runners, and it did not say the you were a marathon finisher. This was very disappointing to me.
-Age group award was an extra hat from last year. I liked the hat, but this was highly disappointing after working so hard.
BIGGEST COMPLAINT:
The course was badly marked. There were turning points with no signs, and since this is a smaller marathon, often there would be no people around me to follow. At mile 24, I came to a turn and had no idea where to go. I started crying; I was so exhausted and I had a time goal that I was a few minutes behind. This was very upsetting to me.

Positives:
-Friendly race with supportive spectators. Most of the race was pleasant and enjoyable.
-It was easy to get to the race start and the race started promptly.
-Course was interesting and scenery changed often.
-Overall, a good experience.

As a marathon participant, I missed the turn for the marathon course from the half marathon course. I thought there would be a person at the break, and I was focused on the aid station at that point. I ended up running approximately a mile and a half before I could ask about my mistake and how to get back on course. The worker gave me directions back, I ran about 1/4 mile back to the turn I missed, and a policeman picked me up and took me back where I had made my mistake. I sure appreciated that policeman, and not too many marathoners can say they got to ride in a police car during a marathon.

Agree with the posts so far on the scenic and enjoyable course. Several areas for improvement, though.

Negatives:

- (this is a big one) The RD did not reply to repeated emails from me and other runners on key questions (number and placement of water stops, etc.). It wasn't until I contacted the sponsor and got his personal (non publicized) email address that I got a response.
- The water/Gatorade stops on first half of the marathon course had "Dixie cup" size cups - nowhere near the 5-7 ounces that the RD had described and not sufficient for a long race (unless you stopped to take 5 or 6).
- The course wasn't really well marked - several of the turnarounds had no monitors and you were "on your honor" to turn around only after you'd reached a sign
- As mentioned in other posts, unless you had studied the course well, it would've been easy to miss a couple of key turns, since monitors weren't very aware/attentive.
- The packet pickup was a mess, with a single line of folks being processed (would've been easy to double the staff and not have the process be single-threaded).
- (minor issue) The post-race food was pretty paltry - generic sandwich cookies, rolls and bananas, but no bagels, donuts, etc.
-(minor issue) The age group awards were very lame. The yellow hat I got said, "10th annual." Left over from last year (??). Tacky...
- (minor issue) It would've been nice to have a lanyard for the medal, and the stick pin ribbon is pretty weak.
- (minor issue) Would prefer to not start all three races together - pretty big crush the first few miles until the 5K-ers finished their race.

Positives:

- Really pretty course and no terrible hills (comparatively speaking).
- Race volunteers are all friendly and helpful (maybe not terribly well organized but definitely well-intentioned).
- The pre-race activities (announcements, etc.) were fine and the race started punctually.
- The award ceremonies were well-organized and began promptly as publicized.
- This is a small, friendly race, and it was easy to get to the starting point.

Overall: This is a fine race for a local runner who knows the area and course. Folks from out of town need to be aware of the limitations listed above and be sure to come into the race prepared.

This was my first marathon, and I loved the course. Very scenic and a lot of variety made for a very nice run. I was a little disappointed in the organization though. After arriving at check in at 4:00 on Saturday, I was informed that they were already out of XL shirts, and I was given a smaller size and told to bring it the day of the race to exchange for the proper size. Of course, the morning of the race came and no XL shirts, so needless to say, I went home without a shirt. They had also ran out of marathon course maps by 4:00 and my girlfriend and I had a tough time planning for the day. Also I ran for about 7 miles in need of a port a potty without seeing one. That seemed like a long stretch to go without. But these problems only slightly dampened an otherwise great race, and a little extra planning could have made this even better.

I am trying to do all 50 states. This marathon was good for the most part. Constructive criticism:
a) Get rid of all of the down and back portions (at least in the industrial park).
b) Mark the path a little better. I am a 'mid pack' runner and when I was a few minutes ahead of some and behind others, I thought I was lost because I was alone on the course without any markers at a couple of areas where there were some turn offs.

The weather was perfect. The cookies and gatorade were absolutely fine. Lots of food and drink along the course. Very good spectators and good race support/organization. Staying at the Double Tree was great.
The medal should have been on a lanyard. The shirt was really nice.
This is a good race.

I couldn't disagree more with some of the comments about the course. There were at least 3 out-and-backs - and the first one, at around mile 2-1/2, was only about 1/2 of a block long! Why not just move the start back an little bit? And it didn't even have a cone to run around and nothing marked on the pavement. I'm sure it got shorter and shorter as runners came though; the rest of them at least had a cone or something to run around. The course had 2 areas that had tough hills at miles 7-8 and 20-21 the rest was flat with some rollers. The volunteers on the course were very helpful, but there were areas that didn't have them and some people got lost. The start area and all three races starting at the same time. I wouldn't think that 5K'ers would want to start with marathoners. The finish area was very disappointing, with just water/Gaterade and cookies, and when I came through at just under 4:00, they were already out of heat blankets. The age group awards were another joke - a yellow baseball hat that said, "10th annual run." We were running the 11th annual!

I ran the marathon and had a great experience. The weather was PERFECT.

With all three races starting together, I was worried about a crowded start, but it wasn't a huge issue. The course was very flat, except for the hills around mile 6-8 and then again at mile 20. On a hot day, the hills may have had an impact, but for this race they weren't a huge issue. The crowd support was thin but expected, given the layout of the course. The aid stations were spaced out nicely.

I read the post from the guy who missed the marathon/half marathon turning point. When I approached the turn, along with the sign, there was a guy pointing people in the right direction. I was probably 15 minutes behind the guy so maybe they didn't have a volunteer making sure everyone saw the sign. Whatever led to the confusion was unfortunate and shouldn't have happened.

Since I usually don't run the same marathon twice, I'm not sure I'd do it again, but I would recommend it to anyone.

The only two negatives that stood out to me were the lack of port-a-pots before the race and the medal. I think I counted 6 port-a-pots and it looked like about 500 people in line ten minutes before the start. The race medal was a little weak. I would have preferred a standard ribbon you can put over your head, not a one inch ribbon and a pin. No big deal though.

Thanks, Gobbler Grind!

It could have helped to have pace bikers; the arrows were easy to follow, but when competition is low they can really help. Great community, great volunteers/aid stations, well marked course, and good course layout. I did experience a point where I was running into traffic on a bike path and some runners seemed unaware, but that did not stop me from setting a PR. Do it!