My main complaint for the 2010 marathon was the lack of public transit (or at least public transit information) in the City of Mississauga! Most if not all people had to take a taxi or - dare I say it - drive, especially when the city has a population of 700,000. After finishing the race none of the volunteers reminded me that I had to take off my chip until I asked them for the area where the food and massage area was. Then I wasn't able to get a leg massage because it closed about an hour after I was done with the race. I know these races last up to 6 hours and I was done at 4:42:58! Imagine not being able to walk or bend down and being told to more or less suck it up because they have to leave early. Remember, I just ran a marathon. I shouldn't have to deal with bad planning afterward. Overall, it could've been a lot better if transit service was shown to be at the port credit location on the map instead of the park near Cawthra and Lakeshore for shuttle buses (which was given to me on expo day and could've been fixed). Volunteers were great at the aid stations but the finish line definitely was crammed at the end, as I was a sprinter. There was even one aid station that was offering up Advil, which helped me through the race!

I really enjoyed this race even though I ran like a dope and crashed and burned after 30K The course is very scenic; those really aren't hills on that course; the water stops seemed to be around every corner; and the spectators were very cheerful and supportive. Mississauga's downtown had this other-worldly Matrix-like look to it in the morning light... very cool. If you go next year, stay at the Waterside Inn. The owners have converted an apartment building into a "boutique hotel," whatever that means. You can get a suite with a separate bedroom, fireplace, 6 appliances in the kitchen, hardwood floors and a balcony for $10 more a night than the Westin, and it overlooks the finish line. There's a posh resto on the first floor, but The Pumphouse Grill across the street made an excellent post-race burger, and the Irish Pub up the street has got a genius in the kitchen - the salmon special with mango salsa was brilliant. Oh yeah, did I mention that the race was fun too?

This was my 22nd marathon. The course was pretty and the spectators were pretty nonexistent. I preferred last year's course. They ran out of Gatorade at 4K, but they did have it at all of the other stations. The three power gel stations were a nice touch, but they need more than one Vaseline station. The final water station could have used more porta-potties (just had one!). Also: More buses for next year, better swag (like in previous years) and less restrictive parking to make it as good as it could be (or once was).

I actually did the half marathon, and I normally do triathlons, so I don't really have much to compare it to.

The course was beautiful and mostly downhill, as stated, except for a little hill at 10K, which was fine. My only complaint about the course was that it wasn't very challenging, but I guess that can be good or bad, depending on your personal preference.

The neighborhoods were lovely, and the day was beautiful. I would have liked to have seen more spectators, but what can you do? The waterfront section was spectacular and really picked up my mood and pace.

I brought my own drinks with me but was running very low around 17K. I had decided to get a drink there but found only two or three people struggling to keep up with the demand for both water and Gatorade, and they had none out at all. Some of the earlier stops had had about 30 people, so that was not so good. I didn't stop, thinking I could get a drink at the finish line.

Well that's where the problems really began. The bottleneck at the finish line was fierce. We were crowded together like sardines, on an increasingly warm day, all of us having just completed a long run, and there was no water in sight! Very poor planning there. If we had to wait in that hot throng to get through, then someone should have organized water in that area. Better yet, they should have had it open further to allow people to get out. I'm sure some people must have had a pretty hard time there, physically. It wasn't pleasant. Those conditions could definitely send a dehydrated person over the edge, possibly even into heart failure. Not good.

So, having finally gotten through, got some water, found the food and lined up for ages to get it, all was fine until I tried to find my way back to the start line for my car. No one seemed to know where the buses were, and when I finally saw a sign way off beyond the general area and followed it to the bus station, I found a very, very long lineup in the hot sun. Again, no thought to possible dehydration. I don't know exactly how long I waited but it was about an hour. And I was one of the luckier ones. As I got closer to the buses the line seemed to increase exponentially behind me.

Apparently the number of buses was cut down this year even though the number of participants went up. Two poor people on my bus had to get the driver to stop and let them out to throw up, and I'm sure the long, long wait in the hot sun did not help them any.

So all in all, it was a great day, and I got a good PB (although I take it with a little grain of salt, considering the easy course), but I would have to advise the planning committee to seriously rethink the finish area.

The race itself was fantastic, consisting of a fairly fast course through the urban and city environs of Mississauga and finishing along the waterfront. For those that are used to running in miles, the kilometer postings come a little quicker, thus giving a little mental relief when the wall hits (even if it's just an illusion). The big screen at the start is a great touch, allowing all of the runners to see the start line activities. The expo was fine, and no extra large race merchandise was available, but all in all, I had a great experience. If you are looking for a fast spring race, don't overlook this classy event.

This is a great marathon. It is just the right size and the course is mostly scenic. The water stops are plentiful and well-attended by very enthusiastic volunteers.

The only problem was with the expo. I don't know if it was the organizers or the runners who didn't quite get it. The line to get t-shirts was out the door when all that needed to happen was for people to get their bibs/chips and move to the t-shirt table. The problem was exacerbated by this packet pick up/t-shirt area being located in a very long, narrow corridor. There was also a rumor circulating that if you did not scan your chip, it would not work. We all know that scanning the chip is simply to make sure that the chip you were given is the chip you have been assigned.

That's it for complaints. If you want to run a fun and fairly easy course, this is the race for you.

My 18th marathon! I high-fived everyone I saw, and the few fans were great. Good volunteers, and lots of porta-potties and aid stations. The final finish area was a bit narrow, but it was still a good experience. Free parking was also nice. Maybe they can start the race at 7:00 next time. The box of chocolates in the race kit was nice as well.

Most of the course was scenic, except for the 5K next to the oil refinery. Most of the organization was very good, except that they ran out of Gatorade at the first two aid stations, and had no clear info on the pasta dinner at the expo (not even 60 minutes before it started at the site of the dinner), so we missed Bill Rodgers speaking and ate elsewhere. Although I was pre-registered, the line for those who were not was very long at the expo, and there seemed to be only one person who could answer questions or register people, creating quite a bottleneck. After the race, the shuttle buses going back to the starting line or finish line parking lots were not marked, so in our post-marathon mental fog, we ended up on the wrong bus.

The host hotel was very accommodating of late checkout.

The race staff, sponsors, spectators, and community were all very supportive and enthusiastic.

Overall, a very good race that I highly recommend.

I have run this race ever since it started. I have done the marathon twice. I love the course; it's very scenic and there's only one hill in the early part of the race.
The water stations are plentiful. Great race - I highly recommend this.

This was a nice, small marathon. Good course, good water stations, and the fans, when they were out, were very supportive. The only compliant I had was that some of the kilometer markers were wrong.