This was my first marathon. I enjoyed the peacefulness of this the marathon. If you are looking to run with thousands, then this one is not for you. The only drawback was that breakfast was not available to runners on the morning of race.

I've run all 6 years and I love, love, LOVE the new course. It is prettier then the old; but it is also tougher. Injury took away most of my training time and I was really slow. Didn't matter, the volunteers were awesome - treated me like I was in 1st place. Will definitely be back next year, hopefully healthy!

Beat my previous PR by 7:03. Got my 1st BQ with 6:36 under which hopefully will be enough to get into 2012.

Comments:
* Drove the course the day before and had the same impression as others who drove it - the course is intimidating but was not as difficult as it looked. I did feel though that it was the most challenging that I've run - others were NYC (2x), Marine Corp.-DC (2x), Philly (3x).
* Don't plan on running even splits - you need to let gravity help you pick up the pace on the downhills early in the race and put time in the time bank that you may need on the uphills after mile 18. I know this violates the - don't go out too fast - cardinal rule of marathon running, but gravity helps you conserve energy.
* The host hotel was within walking distance of the finish line (which is where you picked up the buses to get to the start) and the hotel did not have a checkout time which was a big help.
* Crowd support was sparse but encouraging.
* Event was well organized and the responses to questions posted on the Facebook page was a nice touch.
* Pasta dinner was disappointing.
* Highly recommend this marathon.

PROs:
-A race rep responded to every comment/question posted on Facebook. Wow.
-Easy drop-off for those who didt ride the bus.
-Hanging out in the gym before was GREAT.
-Perfect weather.
-Beautiful route.
-Nice volunteers and plenty of water stops.
-My spectator was able to spot me 6 or 7 times & because he did some thorough Mapquest research and creative driving.
-Great medal and T shirt (..with NO advertising on it!)
-Charming, friendly town.


CONs:
-Seemed like there was a lack of info at the expo. No info on road closures, the course, spectator routes, etc. Perhaps the RD could post this stuff on a wall at next years expo?
-It felt like EVERY inch of this race was either up or downhill. (How do you train for that?! My quads will never forgive me.)
-When you think you re nearly done (turning into the school), you still have a long way to run & weaving through parking lots then almost a full lap around the track. Ug. (I love a finish you can see from a distance!)

FUNNY: In most goodie bags you get a bar and maybe a tiny tube of sunscreen. In this goodie bag I got a chip clip and a light bulb. Ha ha ha ha!

OVERALL: Well organized, beautiful marathon &but I won t be back. The hills ate my lunch.

The course was great, but as true flatlander, it felt like there was nearly as many ups as there were downs. This was definitely the hardest course that I've experienced through 12 marathons, mostly in part because I did not do any hill training. Anyway... it is a great race, but if you are not running on hills and are looking to qualify for Boston, I would steer clear of this one.

Well organized. Decent number of water/Gatorade stops. Do not let the elevation charts fool you. It's a tough course. Most of the downhills were very steep, which really pummels the quads. Nice finish around the track where family and friends can meet you. I hope to do this one again.

The race itself is a gradual downhill and mostly flat all the way up to mile 18. Then there are some rolling hills that will almost guarantee a pretty big positive split. There is no traffic at all until mile 25 where you have to run along the shoulder of main street, where the road is bit bumpy. The pasta dinner was the worst I've been to (nothing but water to drink) and unappealing pasta. My shirt ran small, but they wouldn't exchange it for a larger one at the expo. That's a little bush. I ran my PR on my 17th marathon, so overall, if you want to run fast (of course you have to train running downhill), then this is a great race to run!

This was my 5th marathon. Many runners like to compare this race to Steamtown but at least Steamtown had spectators out rooting you on in every town. Due to the course, you are in a pretty secluded area and you don't get much cheering until you get to Stroudsburg. The general decline is nice. The weather was threatening all day but my partner and I were able to finish without any rain.

My only issue with the race is the training of the volunteers. At the expo, I asked about gear check and the volunteer said there was none available (which there was). When we finished the race, we asked a volunteer about showers and he said there was none (but there were). Since this race is a fundraiser for the Red Cross, remember you are there for a good run and to help support a great cause so don't be expecting the amenities you get at a bigger race. I am happy to have run the race but don't plan on running in the future. I like the support of the crowds.

This is a smaller race that has a massive downhill section in it; if you're willing to open up on it, you'll bank a lot of time that you will need later on, as there are serious rolling hills in the second half of the race. Knowing this going in, I was able to PR by several minutes, so I was very happy with the results. The course was beautiful, closed off, and well supported. The groups of fans along the course all cheered loudly when you passed them by, which always helps. All in all, it was very well run, and if you can handle hills, you'll do great on this course, but don't mistake it as being an easy, downhill course. It's not!

This was a very well organized race. It is a small-town marathon (724 finishers); therefore don't expect large crowds or a huge expo. Although small, they have great pacers and a beautiful, rolling course. There is certainly a lot of downhill running over the first few miles, but beyond mile 16 there are certainly some challenging inclines. I loved the rolling course lined with trees. I had an amazing race (BQ'd and PR'd). The 3:30 pacer was great and very encouraging - I heard great things about all of the others as well. I highly recommend running this race.