A very scenic course with a subtle downhill grade that won't beat you up too bad. Ran a PR by 11 minutes. One recommendation would be more frequent aid stations.

Information for those out there:
-Fastest/easiest course in Colorado, few turns, subtle net downhill, 26% of finishers qualified for Boston

-Course will lack spectators always, small town-travel restricted 1st 17 Miles

-Course and events done by experienced runners and Marathoners (Co-Founders Jon Sinclair and Steve Cathcart)

-Poudre River is only undammed River in Colorado.

-Coolmax Shirts for entrants, over 350 awards given.

-Luxury bus ride to starts.

-Race benefits non-profit running organization in Northern Colorado.

-Race has a cap expected to be full by March 1st, 2003

Course: Wonderful run down the deep canyon with the sights and sounds of the Poudre river to lead the way. Last part on bike trails was nice too. Not running on streets was a plus to me. A big unexpected advantage of running the canyon was cool shade for much of the race.

Organization: Outstanding for the first-time. Only downside was having to wait at the start for an hour . . . seemed a bit long to wait around given the early start (6:00 a. m.).

Spectators: Slim due to first time and the limitations of no access to the 16 mile canyon portion.

This was mostly a 'locals' race this first year. I hope it can be expanded and promoted to bring in more out-of-town/state participants. ANY sort of medal would be nice to add to personal collections. Though the low race cost + free pasta dinner this year for marathon participants must have made this race a major budget-challenge for organizers. This race probably rates as the 'Best Buy' of 2002 U. S. marathons!

For some unknown reason, I chose to begin my marathon career at 6000+ feet, but it ended up being an outstanding experience. There were not a lot of fans until the last few miles, because the first half was limited access. But the scenic beauty made up for it. While the entire race was on the street or a paved bike path, it still had the feel of trail running while in the canyon. The finish in Old Town was great! There was plenty of food and drink, and all the warmup clothing made it to the finish and was sorted by bib number. This is a small race - about 250 Marathon finishers (400 1/2M finishers), but it had the professional, organized features of a major event. I will surely enter it again someday

Course: Starting 16 miles up the Cache la Poudre Canyon, the venue couldn't be more scenic. However, the tight canyon turns results in banked roads and the runners stayed in a 4-6 foot wide ad hoc bike lane that took the brunt of the embankment. For me this translated to shin splints throught the first 6 miles. Also, in lieu of the 1/2 mile detour on CR54 I would have loved to have seen a little more of Ft. Collins and picked up some additional spectator support.

Organization: At least 2 more aid stations next year please!

Spectators: For a middle-of-the pack person, the spectators were thin but enthusiastic. There may have been more for the leaders.

Overall: I'll be back next year with a better plan. Everyone that I spoke with said that it was a deceptively challenging course, and I agree.