Good 1st year marathon.

Pluses:
- Good route; no major hills and no feet pounding down hills.
- Course mile markers well marked for every mile, plus clock at the 1/2-marathon point.
- Nice track loop finish.
- Nice date picked (Saturday), so as to offer a double marathon weekend for the 50-staters (with the Mystic Places Marathon in CT).

Areas for improvement:
- Need signs/arrows on the course. Almost made a wrong turn on a sparsely attended turn.
- Pick up your finisher's medal by walking 200 yards to the auditorium? Is that the way to keep you moving?
- More water stations on the back side of the course (Indian Ave.).
- Lots of traffic after 9am!! For a small marathon, I can understand the roads cannot be closed, but it made for quite a bit of car dodging!! Some roads were 2 small lanes wide, and with packs of runners competing with cars going BOTH ways, it was tight!
- Parking. Too many cars, too few spots.
- Overall winners don't need the age-group trophies. Eliminate duplication of awards. Saw a 3rd-place age-group woman become bitterly disappointed because she thought she won 3rd in her age group only to come out with nothing because the 1st place female was also in her age group (so that put her 4th in her age group).
- Man/ration the food counter. First finishers had the pick of the food. Late finishers got lean pickings.

Overall a good marathon but, as with many small marathons, could use some more volunteers.