This review is apt to be rose-colored because I really ran well this year (qualified for Boston for the first time), but I thoroughly enjoyed this marathon.

This is my 10th marathon and my second marathon that was larger than 1,000 runners - the other being Dallas last year. The race was very well organized, from my perspective. It just seemed like it was put on my people who have run a lot of races, and know what runners need and what to avoid.

I'll just start at the beginning; Burlington is a great little city. It was fairly easy to get to via the airport, and certainly drivable from NYC or Boston. A lot of participants came from Canada as well. We had trouble getting lodging, so book a room early, and be persistent! We got a room because someone canceled their reservation. If you happen to get a room downtown, you really won't need a rental car at all, unless you want to sight-see farther afield. B'ton (can I call it that?) has a great selection of places to eat, in all price ranges, and a lot of healthy and vegetarian options. VT has a bunch of local breweries, which was great; but I had to watch myself before the race!

The expo had a lot of booths but was slightly crowded. They could use a larger space. We met Bart Yasso, who was there signing his new book. Star power! Even though I'd heard the "Yasso 800s" were an overrated predictor of marathon success, I did them anyway, 12 days before this marathon. When I told Bart at the expo he shook my hand and said, "Excellent!" The host hotel also had a bunch of free seminars, and we took advantage of a free yoga class at the hotel Saturday morning. Ommmmm! We declined the official pre-race dinner, and opted for dinner in town instead. As mentioned B'ton just has too many great local dining options to go to the same old pasta feed.

The race itself: really well organized, I thought, and well supported. The weather was on the warm side, but the humidity was pretty low, so staying in the shade where possible was a good option. They call it the Vermont "City" Marathon for good reason; it is all urban and suburban, with some forested bike path in the last 5-6 miles. If you want to come to VT to run a marathon that represents the "real" Vermont (green hills, farms, dirt roads), I respectfully encourage you to explore other options. Or run the Green Mountain Relay or something. I digress. The course was mostly on city streets and was plenty wide except for one spot on a bike path around mile 13, which was a bit tight. There are no half marathoners to mess with your pace, but there were a lot of marathon relay runners who were generally running faster then you. I've had worse with pace issues. Speaking of pace, they really could do with officially pacers; I think the race is large enough to warrant it.

The crowd support is really incredible for this race, considering the size of the town. The town really turns out in support, and I think the layout of the course itself encourages more support than usual; there is one intersection that the runners pass 4 times, and the race runs down the Church Street outdoor mall twice. So as a spectator you can see a lot of action without having to be on bike or in a car. You could tell the town was into it; we got asked a bunch of times if we were running the race by random people. It seemed like everyone knew about the race and was excited about it, even if they weren't running it. I've never seen that level of awareness about a marathon before, and it helped keep the excitement level high.

The course had a couple of really cool bands; there was a Brazilian drum ensemble at around mile 6-7 (you passed them twice), and the awesome Koto drummers were there at the bottom of Battery Hill to help gird you for that "assault" at mile 15. Also there was a really good rock band at mile 19 and 22 (I think).

The course was not flat, but did have a net downhill, which was helpful. From 15 on, it was pretty much all downhill, which was much appreciated! Like I said, the weather was probably hotter than normal, which usually sinks my day, but I managed to race well and got my Boston qualifier time (finally!). And I did happen to run almost exactly the time my "Yasso 800s" predicted, so I guess it was just my day. Thumbs up to Burlington and the Vermont City Marathon; it is a first-class event!

This was my first marathon! I've done about eight halves and many shorter distance races before though, so I feel at least somewhat qualified to make comments.

The course wasn't hilly at all - I was expecting a lot worse. There was one hill at mile 15 that we were warned about over and over, but it actually didn't seem bad at all - I was sorry I had wasted speed in the early parts of the race by saving energy for it. My only real complaint would be that miles 4-8 were on a road that was severely pitched. Not cambered, where you can go down the middle of the road and thereby have a flat spot to run, but the entire road was tilted to one side and so there was no way to even out my legs. My hip flexor is now killing me because of it, but I suppose every course has its rough spots. The rest of the course was fine, even if miles 22-25 were pretty boring. Throughout the rest of the course, there were plenty of spectators to liven things up, but the bike path at the end was just dead, while the thick trees and a row of houses blocked the lake views we were promised.

The finish was a bit too crowded to enjoy, and I was disappointed by the ice cream shortage. I'm an ice cream fiend and that was actually my reason for traveling to do this marathon as my first!

Course support was great - tons of water/Gatorade, and some gels as well (though no actual food on the course - except for 1/2 granola bars around mile 20). The volunteers were really cheerful and peppy, though, and shouted encouragement as they pressed cups into our hands. The race director was great and full of energy, and her sidekick provided some great humor at the course overview and the dinner. The pasta dinner was a bit pricey at $25/head for just the basics, but I had a great time with the other runners I met and considered the experience of the group dinner worth it. Overall, I had a good race, and while I wouldn't go back to do it again, I would recommend it to others.

Key Bank Vermont City Marathon
Burlington, VT
Sunday, May 25, 2008
8:00 AM

Burlington, with a population of nearly 39,000, is the smallest city in the U.S. which is the largest in its state. Home of the University of Vermont, Burlington College, and Champlain College, it is a college town, located on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain and north of Shelburne Bay.

I flew into Burlington and stayed in Rodeway Inn. The packet pick-up was very efficient. Nice race T-shirt. On Sunday morning, I took the race shuttle at 6:45 a.m. to the start line in Battery Park, overlooking the beautiful Lake Champlain and the Adirondack Mountains. Temperature ranged from low 50s to mid 70s. Wind was not a factor but sun was. As expected, it was a scenic, yet challenging, marathon to run. Miles zero to 3.7 were through downtown and residential neighborhoods. Then a 4.4-mile out-and-back on the Northern Connector, which I didn't like! At mile 8.1, we returned to the city streets and ran a loop through Burlington's South End, which included a 2-mile run alongside Lake Champlain. Mile 15 brought the "Assault on Battery"; 6 blocks climbing Battery Street. The next 6.5 miles were on North Avenue and included running through several neighborhoods. At mile 21.5, we entered the Burlington Bikepath and ran to the finish line in Waterfront Park. The crowd support was excellent. There were ample water/Gatorade stations, staffed by a large number of enthusiastic volunteers. There were several musicians/bands throughout the route. There were adequate refreshments at the finish line, which included Ben and Jerry's ice cream and beer. I liked the high quality finisher's medallion. In short, the 20th edition of the marathon was very well organized.

I am a 50-stater and this was #38.

I love living in Vermont and running in Vermont but I probably won't bother running this one again. The course was pretty average. Not exactly what I would call scenic. Some cute little residential areas that can be found in any small town in America. A bike path that has needed repaving for the past 10 years on the southern section. How about somebody fixes the holes and large bumps in that section of the path instead of wasting money on spray-painting circles around them all every year? Someone's going to break an ankle.

There are a few sections along the course with great spectator support, but they are few and far between (Church St/Battery Hill/The God Awful Neighborhood Loop around mile 18/the finish). Where the heck was everybody else? Lots of people were standing around with their hands in their pockets. At least the guy with the pot was making some noise!

Organization of this event is superb. Extremely well executed. The one area for improvement might be the Burlington Police Department. One or two officers having a bad day make the entire department and city look bad. There's no need to be screaming at spectators and runners an hour before the race has even started. They were an embarrassment to their department.

The spectators cheering my race number at the end of this marathon were so supportive that they made me cry. I also can't say enough about the wonderful (downright cheerful!) volunteers throughout the course and those that helped at the expo too. However, things got a bit scary for those of us at the back of the pack for the full marathon. By the time we hit the two food stations, there was NOTHING left over. I was very lucky to have brought my own nutrition with some to share. Unfortunately, there was not an orange or banana left in sight, even at the finish line.

The spectators were phenomenal - Church Street was roaring with cheers, esp. when I came down it around mile 9, and the finish was great too. Reminded me of Boston, with how loud they were! The hills took more out of me than I expected (maybe the sun was a little intense), although I really liked the variation in terrain that the course offered. The shade on the bike path was a big relief. North Ave. was the only drag, in my opinion, but you have to get up to the north section of the bike path somehow.

A challenging course, but not too tough.

You could not have asked for a smoother race. From the parking, to the staging area, to the friendly Vermont State Troopers cheering you on along the way, as well as the aid stations every mile during the later part of the course.

Where it could have been lonely during the race at miles 4-8, the VCM ensured you would not be - with a band and a guy blowing bubbles at the end of the Northern connector. The whole town came out - heck, the whole state of Vermont came out for this race, and WHAT A SHOW! Going uphill from 14-15 was such a rush with the crowd on both sides and the drums at exactly at mile 15. The free food was amazing, and the post-race drum show were incredible - the scene was made for a movie on how perfect a race can be. I TRULY LOVERMONT!

Course was OK - moderately challenging, scenic in spots, much hillier than shown on the course elevation chart, and primarily run in urban/suburban neighborhoods with about 25% shade. I was disappointed because I thought we would see more of Lake Champlain. On the course, the lake is only visible for at most 2 miles. The course was primarily on paved roads with a few miles of bike trails. The roads were full of holes. It is imperative to watch your step constantly or risk being tripped and swallowed by potholes. Crowd, course support and organization are terrific. At many of the tables the Gatorade was full strength. There was quite a bit of traffic on one of the open two-lane roads, and it turned out most of the traffic was from drivers shuttling relay runners to/from exchange points. I don't know why the relay runners couldn't take the buses that were provided.

Post-race food and drink were OK. Michelob Ultra and Ben & Jerry's ice cream were the highlights. The post-race area was crowded and frantic, since there are a lot of relay teams along with family and friends. They don't have a secluded runner's-only post-race recovery section. Hotels take advantage of runners by charging fairly exorbitant prices. Burlington's excellent flat bread (pizza) and brew pubs make it a good destination race. A rental car is not necessary because most of the hotels (except the Marriott) have shuttles, and the airport is ~2.5 miles from downtown. I didn't attend the pasta party because $25 is a bit steep.

This race was all around a great marathon and very spectator friendly, as you pass the same area multiple times. A word of caution: the race's documented elevation chart range is skewed to make this course seem flatter. The chart on MarathonGuide.com very accurately matches the race course.

Burlington is GREAT little city with very friendly people. This race is top-notch, with great organization. The expo was a breeze. The t-shirt was a short-sleeved polyester technical shirt. The pasta dinner ($25) was excellent with all-you-can-eat ziti, meat sauce, 2 types of lasagna, salad, bread, and cake. On race morning, parking was free and plentiful in downtown Burlington. Shuttles were provided by the VCM from several hotels to the start, and back. The race started on time. The course was challenging, varied, and had plenty of nice scenery (Lake Champlain). Ingenious in its design, as it is a series of out-and-back loops that keep returning through downtown. Once you are past the monster hill on Battery St. during Mile 15, there are only a few small inclines, and none whatsoever in the final 4.2 miles (a mostly-shaded bike path). It finishes where it starts, which is always good. The miles were well-marked with clocks and large signs.

Great crowd support. Volunteers, police support, and water/Gatorade stations were all excellent. For post-race food, they provided bagels, oranges, bananas, cookies, yogurt drinks, Nutri-grain® bars, and ice cream from native company and sponsor, Ben & Jerry's (the factory is right outside of town and worth a visit). Free massages for finishers. A plethora of food vendor booths were set up for racers and non-racers alike. The heat played a part this year (reaching 73º and sunny), slowing down almost everyone, including the leaders. I also enjoyed all the musicians out there on the course. Burlington has such a nice feel to it - good vibe. Lake Champlain is gorgeous. I believe this is one of the best marathons in the country. Put it on your list.