I ran the marathon in 2009 and again this year. I love this marathon! The organization is excellent, the course is beautiful and the spectators are enthusiastic! Aid stations are regular and well-stocked. Also GU is provided throughout the course. There is a lot of variety in the course (uphill/downhill and flat as well as various surfaces), but I find I don't get as sore on these types of courses as muscle use is more varied. The start is very inspirational and the finish cannot be beat!

I recommend this marathon to anyone!

Awesome organization; tough course. The only con I can think of is that, from about mile 18 on, you are pretty much running up hill... but the cool part is finishing in the stadium with tons of people cheering you on. Awesome swag, great medal, good food and beer at the finish line... I wanted to do it again this year but running buddies wanted to do something closer to home. Next year, next year....

Jim Barnett knows how to make the average Joe marathoner feel like an elite. Yes, the course has a few hills, but it's a delightful jaunt into many interesting areas including an all-too-brief run down the famous Ohio-Erie canal towpath. If all you want is to PR, then by all means choose a pancake-flat course. Actually research shows that varying degrees of hills makes for an efficient and enjoyable marathon. And, if that's too much, stick to 5Ks. As long as Jim's around, Akron will be one of my most favorite marathons!!

Do you like a course with numerous hills, constantly either going up or down, which adds between 5 and 7 minutes to your finishing time and possibly prevents you from getting that coveted BQ? You do?! Well, then the Akron Marathon is the race you want to enter.

I've run the half several times and have enjoyed the organization, course and crowd support. I ran the marathon in 2009 and still experienced the wonderful crowd support and organization. However, I feel that the second part of the course could use some work. This is not the course if you are looking to PR or BQ. Bottom line: the marathon course is just too hilly.

Akron is probably the most well organized marathon I have ever run. They have the best volunteers, crowd support, expo and goodies (including the jacket). Mr. Barnett puts on a class A marathon, but I hope some consideration will be made to a course change through the Valley.

This was a wonderful mid-sized race on a moderately hilly course (there are hills, but nothing very bad). Organization is top-notch and spectators are amazing. Would absolutely run again. Only thing I would change if I could is the cups; they seemed to be pretty stingy with the fluids at some aid stations.

I ran Akron Half as a training run for my target marathon in Columbus, so I really did not expect much.

But I left after the race completely blown away with the quality and organization of the entire race - from the website; to registration; to the expo; to the give-aways (the Brooks long-sleeve tech shirt given to halfers is better than what most marathons give their full runners - and Akron's full runners got a really nice Brooks running jacket!); to race-day organization (with FedEx bag check, which was awesome/efficient); to the finish experience in Canal Park; etc.

Akron is a well run, rapidly-growing-in-popularity, mid-size race. You would expect that a rapidly-growing race may outgrow its quality, but they could not have done better.

The course is tough, and the change to the half course to run mile 12 on the towpath on a 5% uphill makes it probably one of the most challenging finishes around for a half. Besides that, it was a well designed course with a lot of variety (downtown, neighborhoods, Akron University, towpath).

The finish in Canal Park Stadium is second to none, and best finish I have experienced!

It was crowded in the stadium, but nice to see the energy of all of the runners, relays, and families enjoying the day!

Would strongly recommend.

Akron has it all. The expo, race day organization and volunteers were fantastic. I will definitely fit Akron into my schedule next fall.

I can't think of anything negative to say about the Akron Marathon. The organization was perfect, fan support was strong, water and PowerAde stops were plentiful, the finish at the stadium was amazing, and the medal was substantial. The Race Director has done a great job of making this race about runners. Well done!

Everything about this marathon is great. I have run two marathons (this one and NJ) and multiple half-marathons. The course is very hilly. There is a hill up or down nearly every mile. The biggest hill is 16.7-18. My first marathon was 4:14. I was going for Boston (3:10:59 for my age), and I completed this course in 3:16. Overall, a great race!