OK, so there was an ice storm. The day before the race was supposed to offer early packet pick-up registration, an expo, and running injury clinic. Because of storm, I called to make sure this was still happening. I was told it was. My son & I drove 45 minutes to Callaway, and were able to pick up our packet but discovered that the 'expo' was not happening, and neither was the clinic. Apparently the 'guys from Macon' weren't sure they could make it over because of the storm. Was the 'expo' REALLY a couple of guys from Macon???

Morning of the race, arrived to find out it had been postponed 2 hours. OK, they had debris, I can understand that. Immediately before the race we were told that the course had been re-routed to avoid the bike trails, but this was OK because it meant the hills wouldn't be so bad. (If they had steeper hills on the bike trail, I'd have needed repelling gear.) Things got a bit suspicious when the last mile marker observed was for mile 4. I have a watch that tracks my mileage, but I don't see how anyone without such help gauged pace without mile markers.

Then as we neared the 'end,' the course just kept going, and going, and going... turns out when the course was re-routed, no attention was given to the distance. How do you reroute a marathon without concerning yourself with the DISTANCE?!?!?! To this day I still don't know how far I ran on my first 1/2 marathon, and have no idea if I met my goal time.

This is a beautiful course. So much better than running through dirty city streets somewhere. However, I was terribly disappointed with the organization. I was told before the race that all the turns would have a monitor. NOT SO!! I came to a spot where there was a fork in the road with a cone right smack in the middle of the road. Not to one side or the other at all. No arrows, nothing. I had to guess which way to go. I guessed wrong and ended up running about 5 or more minutes out of the way. I ended up in a parking lot somewhere. A lady who had run the half-marathon earlier saw me and took me back to the fork and pointed the way to go. This happened at about mile 25 or so. Don't expect an exhausted runner to make the correct guess at mile 25!!! MAN THOSE TURNS PLEASE!!

Also, I came to a spot where there were 2 signs: one about 2 feet behind the other pointing down 2 different roads. I was lucky that I did guess right that time. No medical support staff. Post-race food was all gone except for a few green bananas. Mainly upset about the unmanned turns. Maybe the volunteers got tired and left but all marathoners deserve direction throughout their race. Previous years comments point out that the direction issue is an ongoing problem that has yet to be corrected. As beautiful as this course is, I would not run it again for fear of getting lost on the course.

After an awful drive to get to this through the snow and ice to arrive the day before (because of the 8.00am start), we found out 30 minutes prior to the start that it had been postponed for 2 hours. And that was just the tip of the iceberg. The delay was for clearing of trees from the course which were plainly obvious from the previous day's weather (also due to this the course was altered 'SLIGHTLY' to avoid the carnage). What the organizers did not know is that 2.5 miles was added to the distance!!! I found out because of my GPS around the first loop showed 14.2. I felt for the people doing the half who found their times had +8:00 minutes!

If the organizers delayed the start, they had time to re-check the distance. All that was needed was to move the turn-around point in about 3/4 mile; easy, this was a closed course!

This was my friend's first marathon... to do all that training and to feel 'cheated' at the end. What a waste. As for me, I found out I could sustain my pace for a longer distance!

A bit of thought the day before could have avoided all the bitterness.

This race started off bad. There was an ice storm two nights before, but the morning of the marathon no one had even begun to clean up tree limbs off the course. The race started 2 hours late, and when it was supposed to start, the people setting up the clock, etc., had been sitting around and weren't even ready to go. They had to re-route the course, and instead of 26.2 miles, I ended up running close to 30! There was no Gatorade or any kind of food or gel. ONLY WATER, and for this course, that is ridiculous. Some volunteers were not very nice. They sat in a chair and did not hand out water. They did not know what mile it was and there were NO mile markers past #4. I did not have a very good experience. This marathon could be a lot better if it was run correctly because the course is beautiful.

Race flyer doesn't say that there is a 5 1/2 hour cutoff, which is ridiculous for this course. Race flyer doesn't say runners can start early if they cannot make the cutoff. Race flyer had no information about the awards ceremony for the marathon, nor any information about what type of awards or how many places would be presented for the 5K, 1/2 marathon or marathon. Medal sucks - same medal for the marathon and half marathon is just plain cheap and unprofessional. No bananas or oranges on the course.

Volunteers on the course were GREAT! Race flyer contains a flat out lie ? says the course is fast and scenic qualifier for Boston. With the hills on this course, there is no way it should be called ?fast? and should not be on anyone?s list as a qualifier for Boston. There need to be several improvements before I would recommend this race to anyone.

I enjoyed the first half of the marathon course immensely, but the hills seemed longer and steeper the second time around. It would have been nice to have bananas or oranges on the course along with the Gatorade and water. The cut-off time should be annotated on the flyer if the course is to be shut down after 5 1/2 or 6 hours. Additionally, the time for the marathon awards ceremony should be annotated as well. Overall, it was a challenging but very good course.

Ran the half. Course was really nice, scenic, quiet run through the woods, 99% on pavement (nice), tough wind around the lakes. No spectators, but that was to be expected. Mile markers every mile. Aid stations every few miles, but the need to add to their offerings - no Gatorade, gels are nice, maybe packets of petroleum jelly.

Nice, intimate course. It was a bit cool in the morning but I thought the course was laid out nice. It was rolling hills and a 'double-loop' for us marathoners. The second time around sure felt like the hills were larger. I had a PR on the course though. It is a VERY good spectator course (wife went to breakfast & hotel room in between start, half and ending).

There was the correct number of water stations but I thought they could have had a couple of stations with some fruit. I was fortunate enough to have my wife hand me a banana after the first loop.

I liked the course enough to say it is definitely a 'do-over.'

The ONLY reason I gave organization 2 stars was for the pick up area and the start/finish area. Some water stops ran out of cups, so cups on the ground were 'recycled', no Gatorade at most sites (maybe 2 in 26 miles) CHEAP medals, cars on the course, no gels, no medical stations (to be seen), not much food at the finish line, and no spectators. They had bagels, bananas, and some lemon cookies at the finish line, but I am use to having a much better spread at the local races. Oh yeah, they did have a table with some delicous looking sweets, coffee, and sandwiches, but they were SELLING them. I got a better medal at the AUBURN 1/2 Marathon last month, paid less than $20 and had an AWESOME after-race meal... plus the money raised went to charity!

The course was beautiful, but otherwise I found this race disappointing. My biggest complaint is that the water stops (self serve) were mostly unmanned during the second loop, and some had run out of water or only had dirty water (tree junk had fallen into the cups while they sat there). Gatorade was not provided at every other water station as advertised - it was available only at the 8 mile and 11 mile stations (21 & 24 the second loop). There was only one restroom convenient to the course (~miles 6 & 19). The medal was REALLY cheap looking. The awards were pretty cheap-looking too.

If you are going to run this race, I recommend that you wear a fuel belt so you do not have to rely on their aid stations for fluids during the second loop. Train for rolling hills because there are lots of them! Better yet - run the half marathon here and run your marathon effort at one of the other two small marathons (Museum of Aviation and Cherry Blossom) held nearby. While the courses of those two races are not as scenic, the value and support is much better.