I was excited to run a race where I could walk to the start line (I live in SE Boise). The course was nice, Federal Way has a great veiw of the foothills. I was not impressed with the support, however. There were few water stops and no food at all. I have run other races and they at least provide orange slices or bananas at the 5 and 10 mile markers. I didn't bring gels, so bonked about an hour and a half in. My fault I guess, but they did advertise providing gels. Overall, though, a fun race and one I will do again (with gels in my pocket). There was hardly any support from the city as far as spectators, which I thought was sad. Where were you fellow Boiseans?

Unseasonably warm but obviously that isn't the race's fault.

The host hotel was convenient to the start/finish, relatively inexpensive (yet nice) and close enough to the airport to allow for a 'no rental car' trip. There were a few restaurants near the hotel but they also offered a downtown shuttle.

Not much of an 'expo'; it was little more than a packet pickup with shirts from prior years for sale, but for the size of the race you couldn't expect more.

The course was scenic and wasn't as hilly as the (terrible) map seemed to indicate; no split times but there was a mat at the start. There were a fair number of water stations but no entertainment and little crowd support. I thought the course was well marked with chalk and cones but apparently some people still went off course. Even on-course, the race was long; I clocked 26.6 and could not have been that bad on the taper.

The 'shirt' was a pullover rain jacket; the medal was nice. The post race included chili, and beer.

There are apparently a lot of choices for Idaho but this was a good one.

First 30 mile Marathon. Course needed a human at one turn that fouled up 8 of us. BQ was in sight until the extra 24ish minutes.

Thanks to the organizers and the wonderful volunteers. They were a great help for some of us slower runners. It was a beautiful lap around Boise with great weather. My suggestions should be easy to fix: 1.- The map was marginal and could be made better by a savvy person with google maps. Also the hand written instruction could be replaced with printed instructions as they were hard to read. 2.-There needs to be some improvements in marking. Colored chalk would help and also having a volunteer at critical corners would help. I was one of the people that went on a 1 mile diverson at Ann Morrison park. Apparently (reports from park employees)some people moved the corner marker as a prank and that is why a number of us had an extension to our run. This was a tough blow at mile 21.5 for a tired Marathoner. 3. Additionally the entrance to Ann Morrison Park is a high traffic area and would benefit from a road guard. My final comment is that to caution anyone running 11:00 miles and slower that you may be running alone for a large portion of this marathon. It would pay to have pacers or a buddy in this course to help you out. Over all this was a great return to marathon running after 16 years and I appreciated the volunteer, cheer leaders, and positive community support.

This was my first ever marathon and I'm glad I ran it in beautiful Boise, Idaho. Not only did I visit my 2 sisters there, my son and daughter drove up from Reno, Nevada to visit and provide support to their old man.
Wonderful weather, good organization, and a supportive populous made my first marathon a success. I can't believe some of the runners had 'problems' following the course; I'm 63 years old, from Texas, and I had no problems at all. When you're a runner, you need to know the course. There were plenty of course maps available at the packet pick up. Next time, pick one up, study it, know where you're going! Thanks Jeff, keep up the good work !
Mike McDonald, Lubbock, Texas

I have run 7 marathons before and so far this has been the smallest. I would say it is definitly worth your time to run it.
Pros: Pretty, air smelled like pine trees, volunteers were super nice, path took us through nice areas I didn't know existed in Boise. Plenty of toilets, water and volunteers.

Cons: Small race (200 marathoners this year)so if you're slow, you'll be on your own for a majority of the race (I ducked into a potty then came out and all the racers were gone, I was by myself for a mile before I saw the racers again!)..bring your confidence!

Suggestions: 1. A couple of cones through long stretches just to show that runners are still on course would help with the mental aspect of it.
2. More advertisement throughout town so locals know a race is going on..one driver yelled at a volunteer for stopping traffic, poor girl..maybe Boise isn't into running as much as other places?
3. Make BIG mile marker signs...I mean BIG...like go to Kinko's and have some poster board sized mile markers made. It helps psychologically :)
4. See if race directors can get someone to donate walkie talkies for volunteers near the 19-25 mile markers. I'm a slow runner and when I got to a crucial confusing turning point near the very end the volunteer asked if there was anyone behind me..then said she was supposed to go home an hour ago, but didn't want to leave anyone stranded..What a great lady to stay for us slow pokes!!

All in all, this was a great little race and I would recommend it for everyone, although the faster runners might like it more :)

I participated in the 2011 City of Trees marathon, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We stayed at the host hotel just a block & a half from the start, and the finish. That's ultra convenient. The course was entertaining w/scenic views of Boise and its neighborhoods. If you're interested in a marathon with less than 500 participants I strongly recommend the City of Tree event. The course volunteers were excellent. Way to go team.

For my first marathon I had a great time. The course was good and people were out to cheer. Only negative was not enough food stops with waters stops. Overall had a great time.

At about mile 21, there were no arrows to point the right directions, meaning that my small group of runners turned the wrong way and ended up doing almost a whole mile extra. During the second part of the race there were very few volunteers, and I ended up having to wait for traffic lights at a couple of places. Perhaps there were police officers there earlier to stop traffic for runners, but there were none when I ran by.

Disappointed. Having run 250-plus marathons, this has to be one of the worst-marked/monitored road courses I have ever run. Because of the limited number of marathon runners, you had to concentrate on looking for course markings to guide you through parking lots, paved trails, etc. Unfortunately I veered off course, costing me about two minutes. This could have easily been avoided with a 50-cent orange cone or a volunteer. Upon finishing the race, I spoke with at least 6 other runners who had gone off the course at different points between miles 18 - 24. There were also a number of places on the course that could have easily been "shortcut" by runners and more timing checkpoints/mats should have been strategically placed and/or better monitoring. I had run this race in 2005, which was a much better/different course.

Boise is a great, small town that deserves a marathon to match!