What a incredible turn around this race has made!! The former Longest Day Marathon was two loops out into the prairie where your biggest battle was always against the wind and there virtually no spectators. The new Brookings Marathon is AWESOME! They have a event for everyone. From the Friday evening Scotty Roberts 5K to the marathon, half marathon, and marathon relay. I can't begin to tell you how impressed I was with everything!

A great pasta feed on Friday night, a speaker to get people pumped up, a great course, wonderful volunteers, excellent aid stations, there were not a huge amount of spectators but the ones there were cheering very loudly. My hat goes off to Race Director Andy Stockholm, Bob Bartling, Doc Roberts, and the many other folks including the city of Brookings for making this event such a sucess! Without doubt I will be back to run this great event again, and I would say if you're looking for a race where you are not running elbow to elbow the whole way, is fun, excellent course, great volunteers, and very well organized, the Brookings Marathon is for you!!!

Dick Beardsley

Small marathon - 104 finishers in 2004. Extremely well organized. These people know how to put on a marathon; it was the 35th annual event for Brookings. Weather was near perfect except for some rain near the finish. Temperatures were in the 40's and 50's. Not many spectators other than the many enthusiastic volunteers. Course wound through Brookings touching all parts of the city. I would highly recommend.

I liked this marathon. This was my second marathon. The course was fast and flat. I liked the volunteers and the course had plenty of Powerade and water. They did give out some fruit but you might want to bring a PowerBar, etc.

This was only my second marathon, but my favorite. That says a lot considering my first marathon was Grandma's in Duluth, MN - one of the highest-rated marathons in the U.S. The course was absolutely beautiful, and the time of year is perfect. Cool conditions, pretty flowers, nice roads and trails, wonderful organization, fabulous spectators, and no crowds make this a wonderful marathon. And it's an official course, so it can be used as a Boston qualifier. I thoroughly enjoyed the race and will be back. Brookings is a wonderful city for the family as well. The race organizers deserve a huge pat on the back for this one.

The Brookings marathon/half marathon that I ran on May 15, 2004 was a blast. The race was well organized and took us through the city of Brookings, South Dakota. I only ran the 1/2 but all the parks that we ran trough made it very interesting. Another aspect of the race that made the miles and time fly by were the number of people that were along the race route. I am sure there are other races that have more, but the people of Brookings turned out and were very encouraging. The young people of Brookings used sidewalk chalk to decorate their driveways and the streets we ran on. I was very glad I ran in this race and will run it again in the future.

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this marathon. The volunteers and people of Brookings were all extremely friendly and pleasant. The course is mostly flat and it's very easy to establish a good pace. The aid stations were well placed and well-stocked. I felt a bit sorry for the volunteers - the cold rain and wind didn't seem too pleasant for them, but it was great running weather. I'm glad I chose this one for my South Dakota marathon.

The race was a 'blast from the past' for me, as I lived in Brookings from 1979 to 1986 while attending SDSU and running CC and track for the Jacks. I hadn't run through town since those years so I really enjoyed reliving, in a sense, faster days for 1:10:42 as I competed in the half-marathon. I'm also glad for the new date as the fourth Saturday in April always conflicted with the Get-in-Gear 10K in Minneapolis. Thanks for the fun, and hopefully it will become an annual event for me and my family!

Dan 'Digger' Carlson

I did the half marathon and loved it! This marathon was billed as the inaugural marathon because it has a new name, new date and new course. The course for the half was beautiful. It was scenic and gave you a feel for the community. It was a flat and fast course as well. The organization and the volunteers were wonderful. It was everything that a big marathon has but of course not many spectators. The weather was cool and later on rainy. That was okay as I like cooler weather. I would run this one again and suggestion that you do if you need a small-town marathon or half marathon experience.

Dick Beardsley was there as the motivational speaker, and he was just that. I haven't heard someone speak that was as humble as he is and yet so motivational. What a great man!

Thank you to all those who organized this race and to the Race Director, Andy. Job well done!

Overall, a great experience. The field was the smallest I had run with yet, but that was OK with me. The course was very winding, but well-marked and staffed with flaggers. I felt like I got to see all of Brookings. The volunteers were excellent. I was amazed at how many volunteers were on the course; I think they may have outnumbered the runners!
Highly recommended for someone looking for a small race as a change of pace from the mega-marathons.

Thank you for a great marathon on Saturday! My buddy, Mike, and I traveled from Northfield, MN to run in your event and we are both happy that we did. Your course was marked very, very well and your volunteers were FAN-tastic! They were all very friendly and helpful, and most important, they appeared to be happy that they were there... even when it began to rain!

I was a little concerned when I first accessed your course map on your website. It looked to me like a circuitous route that one of the little kids in 'The Family Circus' (Sunday newspaper comic section) might take when going next door to borrow an egg for his mother... going here, going there, turning around here, etc., but I was pleasantly surprised that at every turn and at every place that one might be confused there was a volunteer guiding us in the correct direction!

Mike and I have each completed 20+ marathons on a total of over 20 different courses so we believe we can speak with some authority when we say, 'Your marathon and your efforts were terrific!'

Again, thank you.

Richard Daymont
Northfield, MN