Akron has everything necessary for a good marathon.

The good:
1. The course is closed to automobile traffic.

2. The course has numerous ups and downs and will not yield a personal record for most runners, but completing this course both years gave me a better feeling than having run on a flat marathon course.

3. The 4-mile, hard-packed dirt Towpath Trail section was probably the best section of a marathon course that I have run. It had the feeling of being in the country when we were minutes from downtown.

4. The 3-mile road that went through Sand Run Park was another excellent section. This section of road was tree shaded and had some of the most difficult hills on the course. This section is at miles 16 - 19, so these hills come at the time my legs would rather stop than run.

5. Plenty of free parking at the downtown start.

6. Large clocks at every mile and recorded splits at 5k, 15k, 20k, and 30k. This is something that only big-time marathons have.

The bad:
1. Although most of the roads are blocked in both directions, there are about 6 or 7 miles of the course where the traffic is blocked in one direction only (Brown Street, Market Street, North Portage Path). If the number of entrants continue to increase, these roads should also be blocked in both directions.

2. There didn't seem to be as many spectators and bands along the course in 2004. Although there are spectators along the course, there seems to not be much enthusiasm in the city for this race. Most of the town seemed to not know that a major marathon race was happening that Saturday. Possibly when this race has more tradition, there could be more enthusiasm.

3. Some of the water stops watered down their Gatorade.

This was my 12th marathon, and out of seven courses it was the toughest. Well organized, nice wind-shirt and hat, good course that wasn't boring. I'm used to hill running but they ARE a challenge in a marathon, especially where they're located. I think they were harder than Boston's. It was nice that there was a guy around mile 12 pointing to the marathoners and telling them what place they were in... it was one of my favorite moments, because it gave me incentive to stay on pace and not get passed; that section of Towpath was nice but mostly deserted and I struggled a little to stay on pace. I'll probably just run the relay in the future because at this point in my running I'm still always looking to PR. I like races with relayers, because when they pass me it gives me incentive to keep running strong. The only other marathons I've run with relays was the late lamented City of Pittsburgh Marathon.

I have run Akron both in 2003 and 2004. 2003 featured a point-to-point course and in 2004 the course was changed to a 3-loop cloverleaf design. The 2004 loop course was an improvement over the 2003 course due the convenience of starting and ending near the downtown hotels. The course is hilly as others have said. If you run the first half fast then you may have to slow down from mile 16 through 22. I would label this course as challenging but fair due to many of the hills being a gradual incline. The hill at mile 18 is about 1/2 mile long. I saw many walking during this section of the course.

It is difficult to figure if Akron wants to remain a mid-sized race or grow to mega status. With the race date in 2005 on October 1 and the race date in 2006 on September 30, it seems that Akron wants to remain small. This is a bit too early in the fall season for a major marathon to be scheduled. It seems that Akron may want the marathon to be a non-competitive run for local runners while concentrating on bringing in the Olympic caliber runners for the 5-person relay. The relay attracted many more particpants in both years and seems to be the popular race to enter rather than the full marathon. Possibly many run in the relay to train for a full marathon later in the fall season.

I hope the Akron Marathon continues to be run as it is a good race to participate in. It might get hot with the early October/late September start though.

This race was extremely well organized. They thought of everything. Signs were everywhere. The course is very pretty, the section on the towpath is beautiful, then you hit the 3 mile hill to climb out of there. That's a challenge, so this might not be a PR course, but it's still a good course. The crowd was a bit thin in spots on this drizzly day. They were enthusiastic.

We had a pace group that was great. Nice bunch to run with. I'd do it next year.

This marathon offers more amenities and better organization than 90% of the over 100 different marathons that I have enjoyed running. During 2004 the organizers have corrected the few minor glitches from the inaugural year and made the course even easier. While the course is not entirely flat it is very interesting and hardly difficult. I qualified for Boston both years as did many other runners.

Only a few marathons offer as many perks overall as this one. They have an expo with terrific goody bag full of real stuff, carbo dinner, neat wind shirt with tasteful imprint, chip timing, free food and drinks at the start, digital clocks, large mile marker signs, pace teams, covered finish area, convening tent to meet your party, lots of bands, beer and sub sandwiches at the finish, free drawing for new Toyota, no busing, tons of free parking at start-finish area, and you name it. Even the race director shook every finisher's hand and said thank you as they passed under the clock.

Bill Rogers ran the first leg of the relay so it was fun to run with a legend even though he blew me away! I have already registered for 2005.

The weather was great for a marathon and the overall course was pretty good, except for the sandy trail section of the Erie Tow Path (about 4 miles). There were also a few unexpected elevations past midway, but these were compensated for the last 3 miles which were nice downhills into the finish line inside the town stadium. Very nice Pre and Post-Race food. They even raffled off a Toyota Camry for all Marathon Finishers. 1 in 830 chance - not bad odds! Will run again

I thought it was a very good course but around 16 mile mark the water was too close to the relay exchange and a lot of marathon people miss the water, which causes a lot of runners to pull muscles and cramps.

I went about 3 1/2 miles before I saw water again. And of course it was where all the hills are at. But overall, a great race - will do it again, but this time I will bring my own water to make sure.

Course: The hills are longish but not very steep. During the race it seems that you are either going slightly up or down but probably there are flat stretches. It is just that after a flat stretch comes another hill or two. If you are looking for a fast finishing time on a course that is flat and has cool temperatures, then Akron is not the course for you.

If you run at a reasonable pace, do a lot of hill training over the summer months, don't mind that in early October the temperature may by in the mid 60-degree range, then Akron could be your marathon of preference. Even runners in good physical shape will have problems on this course if they train only on flat roads or start out at an overly fast pace.

From miles 17 through 22 this course is very challenging. This is a good course to prepare for Boston on. It is not a good course to attempt to qualify for Boston on though.

I have run it twice; I finished the 1st year but I had to drop out at the 30k mark in 2004. I forgot how difficult the course was and started out too fast because of overconfidence. I will have more respect for this difficult, challenging course in 2005.

This was my seventh marathon and first Road Runner Akron Marathon. By far this is the most organized of all of them. The care and thought process on so many areas was incredible. Mile markers and clocks at every mile. At mile 15 there was person telling people what pace they were on. A blue line indicated the course route. 20 water stations with free Gu at several of them. Signs giving advance notice where water stations, aid stations and porta potties were located was just one subtle touch. The volunteers and race staff were so friendly and treated you like elites even though I finished in just over 4 hours. The fans were fantastic as well. This community knows how to support a race.

This race was a little expensive but the goodies were the best of any event... wind shirt, technical hat, sunglasses and more. Also, I received a free subscription to Running Times. You would have though this race was 20 years in existence but in reality only its second year. They won me over!!! Although the course is a little challenging, I would highly recommend this event to any runner... you won't find a better venue around.

This was my first relay marathon. I ran the fourth leg through the park. I was so impressed as to the number of people on the course cheering everyone on. There were so many fans out on the streets, it was truly inspiring. My group can not wait til next year. Loved the ending in the stadium and the announcing of the teams. Had trouble finding teammates at the end. Very memorable experience and unbelievably organized, no detail overlooked.