This race will always have a SPECIAL place in my heart among the marathons I have done. What a great time was had by all whom I spoke with at the post-race feast! Liza is a fantastic race director (every e-mail was answered within 24 hours). The volunteers on the course were outstanding, and those behind the scenes did a wonderful job also. Though the spectators were few, each was enthusiastic and encouraging. The course is very scenic and some light hill training would be advised. This has to be one of this best-kept secrets in marathoning. Post-race meal is SECOND TO NONE!! It is a FEAST. Believe me when I tell ya, if you register for this one and expect a great time, you will not be disappointed. This race has sold out the last two years, so don't wait till the last minute to register. Thanks again, Liza and the CBRC. I hope to stay injury-free and return to LPR next year!!

Scenic course, low-key atmosphere. Very friendly and enthusiastic volunteers. Headwind helped make the hills a bit more challenging.

OK - I give credit to all the folks who worked hard. Nice first 13 miles, and then a "highway to hell."

Boring highway with cars going 60 mph - NO crowd support. I have never seen a community not support a marathon in any way. Horrible water stations with volunteers expecting you to pick your cups up and throw them out. So lame in spirit of a marathon. The pasta party was the worst, bar none. The shirt was sad.

Nice day weather-wise. The steamship academy that hosted the post race party was the saving grace, with indoor good grub.

Sorry running club, but this was a clunker.

Sad but true....

Lower Potomac River Marathon
Sunday, March 11, 2007, 8:00 AM
Piney Point, MD

This was an EXCELLENT small marathon/marathon relay (limited to 300) organized by runners (Chesapeake Bay Running Club, CBTC) for runners. I flew into Washington National Airport on Friday and drove 63 miles to Lexington Park, which is the commercial center of St. Mary's County, and checked into a Days Inn (about 12 miles from the race site).

Start and finish were at the Harry Lundeberg School of Seamanship. Race-day temperatures ranged from the low 40s to the mid 50s. It was sunny and windy. There were water/sports drink stations at about every 2 miles. Sports Gel at the half point. At about mile .8, we crossed the bridge to St. George Island and ran the next 7 miles there which was out-and-back, scenic, and flat (we had to climb onto the bridge twice which was relatively easy). At about mile 8, we were back in the mainland and ran a 4-mile route to and from Piney Point Lighthouse Museum that was flat and scenic. From approximately mile 12 to mile 19, we ran north on the wide shoulder of a two-lane highway, which included a few lengthy inclines (the lowest and highest points were 3 feet and 110 feet, respectively) and a fairly strong headwind (the toughest part of the run). At about mile 19, we made a U-turn to the other side of the highway and ran south to the finish line, which included a couple of inclines and a pleasant tailwind!

The post-race lunch buffet was quite fancy and I must say that I have never seen anything like it at a running race! We were treated like loyalty by the students at the School of Seamanship! The race T-shirt and finisher's medal were nice. As expected, there was no crowd support, but race volunteers were cheerful and enthusiastic. As a member of 50 States Marathon Club, I received a $10 discount and paid only $45 to register for the race. The race director, Liza Recto, was quite helpful, and I very much appreciated her driving directions from the airport to Piney Point.

The winning times were 2:33:05 (overall male), 3:24:05 (overall female), 2:57:22 (Masters male), and 3:33:20 (Masters female).

I am a 50-stater and this was #26.

Thank you, Liz Recto, for organizing this marathon! This marathon just has everything a small marathon should have: A beautiful course (especially the first 10 miles around St. George's Island and around the Piney Point Lighthouse), amazing organization (it just doesn't get any better organized, really!), and the friendliest collection of volunteers and runners. If you are looking to make 200+ new friends while running 26.2 miles, this race is for you. And, the post-race buffet lunch is, by far, the best you'll ever see. Other nice things: Getting to sit inside on a couch before the start, being able to have your friends or family cheer for you around the course, and just feeling special for being there. I've run it twice (2007 and 2006); by far, this one gets a perfect 10.

Consider yourself lucky to run this one.

The first 11 miles of this race are beautiful and flat. The last 15 miles are out and back on a two-lane road with 6 - 8-foot shoulders. There are some rolling hills in the middle to keep it interesting. The weather was perfect (40s - 50s) and sunny, but a stiff headwind from mile 11 to 19 made it tougher than it could have been.

Kudos - there was a good attitude from other runners, supportive, albeit sparse, fans, a great post-race dinner and hot shower, lots of age group awards in addition to main awards, highly visible mile markers, and well stocked water stops with candy, pretzels, gels, and fruit. Complaints: the water stops were too far apart for my liking with only 2 stops that I recall after 20 miles, there was no obvious medical aid on the course (but there were plenty of people checking on you), and there were very few porta-potties. Running on the slanted shoulder of the road was a burden for me over a marathon distance, and traffic could have been controlled better at intersections. It seemed to me that the last 1.2 miles may have been measured wrong - it seemed longer based on my split times - but I could be wrong.

Overall, it was a nice, well organized race. I'd recommend it.

The race was everything the race director promised. The course was scenic and the weather beautiful. Water stops were well staffed and had water to the last runner. I will re-enter the race again.

Have done many marathons and would rank this one near the top. The race for the first 12-plus miles was as scenic as one would like to run at. The last half was on a busy state route but the shoulder had plenty of room. Water stops were fully supplied and manned by cheerful volunteers. The post-race buffet was as good as I have ever attended. It's always great when the start, finish and post-race festivities are at the same location. The hospitality provided by the staff and students of the Harry Lundberg School were second to none and I thank them. The Lower Potomac River Marathon will without a doubt be on my spring marathon calendar next year. Thanks Liz Recto for a job well done.

I wish I'd been in better shape to run this marathon, because the course is cake and the race support is tremendous. As noted by others, the temperature was pretty warm for mid-March, but the course itself is sweet - bucolic country roads on the first half, and a fast (well, not for me, but theoretically fast) second half on a state highway. Food and water were plentiful, and actually I didn't think the crowd support was that bad. It's such a small race that spectators can drive along the course and stop several times to see their favorite runner. For instance, I don't know who they were cheering for, but the same father with his two daughters stopped six or seven times along the way to cheer on someone in the race (mommy, I presume). If you want to have family and friends see you in a race, this is a good race to have it happen.

Also - the school where the race starts had clean bathrooms and plenty of space for runners to gather indoors to stay warm before the race. I couldn't stay for the buffet, but the school was a great place to start. Thanks, school officials/race organizers!

First 12 miles of course were very scenic along coastal roads. The rest of the race is a mostly uninteresting out-and-back run along a country highway. The only thing that made the second half interesting was the rolling hills. Race was warm and sunny, which is unusal for this time of year. If I were to do this race again, I would like to see a 7 a.m. start for the faster runners with a 6 a.m. start for the slower runners. First 12 miles would even be more scenic with the sun rising earlier in the morning.

Aid stations could be improved - maybe add a few more and don't use little tiny cups. Not all the aid stations had the tiny cups but some did and I had to take 3 of those cups to try to stay hydrated. The course seemed long. Once I hit 26 mile-marker, it was more like .3 to .4 mile to the finish than .2. Nice destination marathon with things to see in the area such as St Mary's City, Solomon's Island and Calvert Cliffs - all are nearby.

Book hotel accommodations early to get the best rates as I found the motel rates to be a little high in the area. Post-race party was superb. There didn't seem to be much of a pre-race pasta party - just an informal gathering which I didn't attend. There is a Cici's pasta and pizza buffet nearby where I went to carbo load.