This was a fun run. I have done one other marathon. I did a 1/2 marathon in Abilene. The volunteers are great. I loved their water stops every mile... water, PowerAde, bananas, oranges, and Cheerios with M&Ms. The wind was tough going when we turned to get back to town, but it was mostly downhill. I will probably do this run again. A good way to start the running season.

I ran this marathon (my 8th) 36 years to the day after I went to President Eisenhower's funeral on a 6th-grade field trip! It was awesome. The fans at the finish were great. The huge plate of pancakes & eggs were delicious. If you're a country girl and enjoy farm land and small towns, this is a great marathon to run!

This was my first half-marathon and it was a wonderful experience. The hospitality was amazing, the organization calmed by nerves, and the course was fair and well-marked.

I will definitely be back to Abilene again for this race.

The beautiful weather helped make this a great race. Like others have said, the course has gently rolling hills south and west of town, but none were major challenges. Running past a couple of greyhound kennels was fun and strangely inspiring. The locals were extremely friendly and appreciative of the runners visiting their town.

My first half marathon in many years. This one was fantastic. Kudos to the community spirit of Abilene that made the runners welcome all week. The Kirby house folks are great and worth a visit. The race was well organized, the spectators along the route, mostly residents of the homes on the route, were very enthusiastic and genuinely glad to see us. I will be back to Abilene for reasons other than the race, but the race too will bring me back.

This was a wonderful race; I can't say enough good things about it. The only thing I want to reinforce in the comments below is that this race is NOT flat. Their website advertises it as flat... but it is not. None of the hills are steep, but some are long. It is a very fair course, though, because it is an out-and-back: whatever you go up, you will sooner or later come back down.

I would run it again.

Note well: this is a SMALL race in a SMALL town. If you want tons of spectators and entertainment, this is not your race. If you want a friendly, well-managed course with lots of elbow room and wide open spaces, you will like it a lot. Unless the weather doesn't cooperate. :-)

This is a wonderful race, a great alternative to crowded, big-city marathons. The early April date makes the weather chancy, but it was perfect this year.

The course is an L-shaped out-and-back, with a pleasant side-loop through a park, but mostly on gently rolling, rural, two-lane highway (the entire course was closed to traffic--wonderful). The highway is nearly dead straight, but the rolling hills and the farmland scenery keep it from getting boring. A very nice course.

The race was very well organized, with well-stocked aid stations approximately every mile.

There weren't a lot of spectators (whaddya expect, a mostly rural course--and Abilene has a population of about 6,000), but all those along the course, spectators and volunteers both, were very enthusiastic.

I enjoyed the race immensely. I recommend it highly, just cross your fingers for a repeat of 2005's weather.

Everything was overall good. The course is not flat though, but minor rolling hills. There were two types of water, regular (sometimes even bottled) and then some form of blue colored water... (this is a joke, it was actually watered down PowerAde, and I mean watered down). Other than that, every station had great treats and you could tell this community really supported this event. It was a pleasure to support these fine people, they were genuine and sincere.

The Eisenhower Marathon would make the 34th President of the United States proud! Excellent organization, water/electrolyte stops every mile, an out-and-back course with virtually no traffic; combine this with great Midwestern friendliness and you have a very good, small-town, 'no hassle' marathon experience. In addition you may park your car no more than 200 meters from the commom start/finish line and the motels are fewer than 2 miles away!

This was my first marathon, and it was a great experience. The whole town had signs up welcoming runners. The course was scattered with signs cheering us on. The volunteers were amazing; ready to cheer us on, and offer us encouragement. The water stops were awesome! The high school marching band gave me a great boost. They were placed around mile 9/17 and it was nice to here some good 'fight songs.' The clown at the Shriners water station was great too. It was a great marathon with a great small-town feel. I plan to do it again, and I can't wait.