Pros:
1. Nice course (two loops for marathon, so get to run through Ritter Park and the campus twice.
2. Traffic control was done extremely well (roads are not completely closed for the race).
3. Great bling (marathoners get jacket, tech shirt and finisher medal).
4. Nice stadium finish carrying football.
5. Easy packet pickup.
6. Showers available after race at rec center.
7. Rec center open before the race so you can stay warm and use bathrooms.
8. Many hotels within easy drive to race (a couple miles) and near I-64.

The race director promised this race would get even better and he lived up to his word. Across the board they really did it right. As mentioned in the many positive reviews of past races, there are a lot of great things about this small race - great flat and fast course, easy parking, cool finish in stadium, great burgers hot off the grill at finish, and of course the best jacket I have ever gotten at a race. This race has a lot going for it, despite being a double loop. Highly recommended for 50 staters.

Great race and great time of the year for it. The course is flat but there are a couple steep uphills but they are really short and over fast. The part through Ritter Park is beautiful! Couple places where you could tell they were adding on just to get the distance right. Needs more volunteers at some places to prevent people from cutting off parts of the course. Great tech shirt and jacket. Great value for the low registration fee. I think the race is great for PRs and they have a gem of a marathon with a small town feel of it. The secret needs to get out and see this race's numbers grow. I highly recommend this race!

I signed up for this marathon late to serve as a substitute for the NYC Marathon. For a 50 Stater, this was a great race and I would recommend it as the West Virginia race for any 50 Stater.

Huntington was surprisingly easy to get to, with a flight into Huntington connecting from Charlotte, NC. I rented a car for <$30 and drove to the packet pick up. It was small and crowded, but went pretty smoothly. There was a pre-race pasta dinner on site included in the registration fee. For those who signed up early, they received a Brooks running jacket in addition to the race t-shirt. Including the pasta dinner, the $55 entry fee was a tremendous value. In addition, they do offer race day picket pickup, which I didn't need this time but have on occasion.

The race started promptly at 7AM in front of the football stadium. It was calm and cool, with temperatures in the 50s most of the race. It was generally flat and consisted of two loops in and around town. The highlights were the portions along the Ohio River and those through the city parks and university. Aid stations were plentiful, but never had any Gels or Gu's or anything. I generally plan on supplying my own but was a couple short this time. Thanks to the kid at mile 21 handing out oreo's. Spectators were pretty sparse, but I don't mind that. Almost right on cue, John Denver's tribute to West Virginia, 'Country Roads' came on my iPod at mile 24 and took me home. The finish was on the goal line inside the stadium. You could carry a football the last 100 yards. I didn't have enough left to do a dance in the end-zone, but I did spike the ball! The University closed the rec center and allowed runners to use the shower facilities, which was a huge bonus for those of us looking to get out of town.

I was very pleased with the Marshall Marathon. It is a great value, small regional marathon that should appeal to any 50 Stater.

Everything pre-race spoils you: nice, close-by hotels; no traffic; parking right next to expo, race start, 1/2 point, and finish; lots of indoor/outdoor bathrooms; no need to stand in bag-check lines. You can hang out at your car, and feel relaxed right up to race start. At the half, changed shirts at car, used no-line john and only lost a few minutes to feel real refreshed for second 1/2.

Course was as advertised; seemed 60% scenic and 40% business area. Very light car traffic, with friendly volunteers at the intersections. No sucking up car fumes or worrying about cars coming close. Very few spectators, so you could concentrate on your running and the scenery.

First time (of 29 marathons) running a double loop. Liked seeing what fast runners look like, and liked the familiar feel of the course in the last few miles.

Stadium finish was OK, but didn't like the football interuption of the marathon-finish feeling. I would also suggest adding a photographer for some finish pictures, and some bagels and lighter food. Hot dogs are my favorite food, but not at a marathon finish. Was happily surprised to find all the fast-food outlets right behind the stadium.

Would definitely recommend this as your 'West Virginia' race.

The event was top notch....it is my favorite event shirt due to lack of insane number of sponsors and commercialism....nice , neat and clean. Plenty of water at water fountains at the stadium finish, can't believe folks didn't drink from the fountains when the fancy plastic bottles temporarily ran out. I guess few know that football stadiums all have a large number of water fountains?? Course was perfect....ALL miles VERY WELL marked. Not sure why folks need a mat of any kind when all you need is a watch....will never figure this out. PLENTY of support throughout the entire course.

This race is very small but well organized. I have no complaints about anything. The expo is super quick since it is packet pick up and only one vendor. The start is great with plenty of parking, potties and close spots to the start. The course is a double loop and had some very boring parts. Basically zero spectators but a few good ones at the water stops. Very pretty to run by the river and it was nice to do it twice.

The only negative comment I have is that they allowed spectators to eat the water and food. So when I finished in 4:03 there was no water or healthy food to eat. I waited for 15 minutes and drove to my hotel for water.

Some people complain about no mat at the start but it is not a problem for me since I was not trying to BQ and did not get close to my sub 4 to make a difference.

I really liked the race! I LOVED THE PARK AREA PART OF THE RUN! I thought national guard did a great job.

Only few things I would change...
1)would rather have start time over half time.

2) NEED, AND I MEAN, NEED GU ON COURSE!!

3)need fresh fruit and other good for you stuff at finish. Nothing like promoting healthy west Virginia by offering snack cakes and hotdogs. In a half you barely burn off enough calories to have all of that. Just an idea.
LOVE MY JACKET! Thanks so much for making 8th marathon memorable! Again loved the park area it was my favorite part!

This was a really nice race. The swag included a Brooks running jacket if you registered early enough. Packet pickup was a breeze, although the expo consisted of one table from a local running store (no big deal for me). The pasta dinner was free and not too bad. The race itself is fairly small, 500-600 runners. Was able to park 1/2 block from the starting line and hang out in my car until the race started. The course itself was a nice mix of urban streets, riverfront, park, etc. It was a loop course, 2 loops, and generally flat, with any elevation change not noticeable. About 1/2 mile before the finish line, we were handed a carnation flower to place at their memorial fountain, to honor the plane crash victims of 1970. Finished inside their football stadium and got to carry a football across the finish line. Post race spread included hamburgers and hot dogs hot off the grill, and we got to use the rec center to take a quick shower afterward. Overall, a wonderful race.

I give credit where it is due, the organizers seem to be nice people who are trying to put on a good race. The jacket is awesome, and there were some cool parts of the course such as the parks and stadium finish. Other parts of the course are dreadful. Covering the same ground four times (there are out and back portions, double loop) in a very unatractive commercial area was pretty boring. Runners going in both directions is a single lane is ridiculous. The community support (other than race volunteers, who were great) is non-existant. The worst part is a bait and switch on the fun run. They advertised a 5 mile with everyone getting a long sleeve tech shirt. My wife signed up as she usually will run the shorter distance run when we travel to a marathon. With no notice they changed to a 5K with a short sleeve cotton t shirt. They wouldn't give her the time of day when she asked about the shirt. To then sell the long sleve tech shirts after the race is shameful.