My comments echo what some of the other runners said.

The course is scenic but challenging. This year we were supposed to run on Pike Island, but flooding prevented that, so we ran through Fort Snelling instead. The revised route included more than two miles of gravel road 'very hard on the feet!' but I expect the organizers had no alternative.

The trouble began in the last few miles, as the marathoners ran up into slower half-marathoners. The half-marathoners started an hour later than the marathoners, but had the same finish line. This meant, for example, that marathoners running a 3:00 - 4:00 pace ran up into half-marathoners running about 2:00 - 3:00 pace. This was a real problem, as marathoners had to dodge and weave, and even run up onto the grass beside the very congested road. It made for an unpleasant and slow last few miles.

The organizers have to solve this problem, perhaps by starting the half-marathoners two hours after the marathoners instead of one.

I hope they do solve it, because aside from this, the whole Minneapolis Marathon experience was really good. I'd definitely recommend it, and I hope the event continues to grow.

This race has quite a bit going for it. The expo was small but nice and the course along the river was pleasant and offered some shaded. The short gravel section and the considerable hill at mile 18 weren't too bad. The post-race entertainment and amenities were great!

However, the course congestion at mile 22.5 where the half marathoners join the marathoners was awful. The events were sequenced so that marathoners running a faster pace merged with half marathoners running a significantly slower pace. There was nowhere for marathoners to run. I had to come to a complete stop twice to avoid collisions and actually ran into one half marathoner. At one point, I ran on the grass on the side of the road to try to get around slower moving half marathoners. It's tough enough at mile 24 of a marathon without having to stop for or dodge half marathoners! One half marathon pacer recognized what was happening and yelled for the runners around her to get out of the way of the marathoners, but that didn't do much. I don't think you can expect half marathoners to look out for and stay out of the way of marathoners.

With a little work to make some organizational and logistical fixes this could be a really nice race.

This race was a pleasant surprise - it was much prettier than I expected, running along the river and through the park, and a fast course (despite the one major hill around mile 18 - hard to know what to call it as it was more like a long table turned on its side but you didn't lose much time by walking it). The quality of the organization was remarkable. A few notes for 50-Staters:

-Easy to get/to from airport via Light Rail system
-Depot (host hotel) was delightful and offered 2pm check-out for full marathoners
-Good pasta dinner at hotel
-Deli for extra drinks/snacks one block from hotel (not much else in the area)
-Start line next to host hotel
-6:30am start for full marathoners (approx. 800), 7:30am start for half marathoners
-Shuttle back from finish line to start line (approx 1 mile or so but largely uphill)
-Individual goody bag which included chips, nut roll, banana at finish line
-Plenty of water stops and Powerade at each station, gels as well
-Nice t-shirt (v-neck, short-sleeve) and medal
-Packet pick-up was fabulous - options included paying extra to have bib/chip/t-shirt sent to you the week before which I chose or expo closed at 9pm the night before the race - I was so grateful for this as too many marathons have expos that close at 5/6pm the day before the race with no race day pick-up; given the state of airline travel these days, delays are frequent so the late option is always appreciated, and the mailing option is the gold standard.

Thanks to everyone who worked so hard to make this race a success.

The course is fine. It's pretty much a long out and back along the Mississippi River. It would be fine if it was just a marathon going on, but you end up running into the back of the slower half marathoners around mile 22 or 23 on a really narrow road. This leads to lots of congestion and weaving in and out of people very late in the race when you're really suffering. There was a hose across the road at one of the water stops and I saw two people trip on it. One of the banners wasn't weighted down and fell over taking out another runner. Also there was very little crowd control and bikers were cutting in and out of the race very dangerously.

The organizers seem to not be able handle more than one even at a time and it really shows with all the problems this race has.

Highly recommend Grandmas or Twin Cities for Minnesota marathons.

Some day Team Ortho's operations team will be as good as its marketing team. They do a great job with pre/post event parties and swag, but every Team Ortho event I've run has had major logistical problems. Yesterday there were water stops where you needed to grab your own water, slow half marathoners and relay runners wandering the course, a course that was way too tight (six foot bike lane in Ft. Snelling for two way traffic), long lines for the bus to get back to the start (anyone remember 2010 Monster Dash), and a pacer at a middle of the pack time who dropped out. I understand the Ft. Snelling stretch had to be changed at the last minute but you need to reassess whether that should even be part of the course.

Net, I appreciate the free beer at the finish, but I'd prefer being treated better in the four hours on the course. This event has an opportunity to be a real spring alternative for the Twin Cities running scene, but it has some serious work to do.

This is a small-medium sized race that follows the Mississippi River (mostly) through Minneapolis and the surrounding area. The course is mostly on city roads with rolling hills, some of which are more than just bumps in the road. Small parts of the course meander on National Park trails that aren't in great shape. There is a short (3/4 mile-ish) section on gravel, and there is a section of rather tight two-way runner traffic. There is a very serious hill at mile 18. Steepest hill I've ever seen on any race course.

The race is well-organized, with packet pickup, the start area, gear check, and the post-race stuff well-set out and clear. Volunteers were numerous and as always, quite helpful. Water stations are more than adequate. My only beef here is that they used plastic cups. Impossible to drink from while moving.

Spectators aren't wall-to-wall, but there are many, and they are enthusiastic.

Medal and T shirt are nice, but I wish the medal had the date. Small problem, I suppose.

I'd absolutely recommend this race to anyone.

Overall this is a great marathon.

Pros:

Packet pick up is easy. Marathon started early enough to avoid most of the heat. Waterstops were well manned. Gorgeous course!

Cons:
Super hilly!!!!!
Would be nice to have waterstops at every mile after 20 instead of every other mile.
Last three miles were very crowded from the half. Very frustrating weaving in and out of people at that point!

Highly recommend if you are looking for a beautiful course for fun. Not recommeded if you are trying to PR.

The pre- and post-race experience of this marathon were fantastic - well organized fair, nice function shirt and hat, good food supply, fantastic medical staff.

The race itself was challenging - despite studying the elevation map I was taken by surprise by the hill at mile 17 and then on the very last mile - that's just painful when you are trying to get into your last mile sprint. The course change led to a 4 or 5-mile stretch on dirt roads - hard to run in flats as you feel every rock. And, the one failure of the organizers - there were no water stops for those miles, and with the temperature in the 80s and 90s, that didn't go so well.

The field was comparatively small - under 900 people altogether - which made for stretches of running all by myself - quite nice. The start, however, was at the same time as the half marathon which meant another 2500 people on the same course. Ir spread out rather quickly, though.

I didn't make my BQ as I had hoped, as heat and hills really hit me, but ran a PB and overall much enjoyed the race. Great great audience, too.

Team Ortho puts on a great series of runs throughout the year. The swag is great and this course is both fun and challenging. The hill coming out of the river bottom to Ft. Snelling was brutal. Everyone I know that ran this course talks about that hill and the hill just before the finish.

I chose to run the Minneapolis Marathon for my MN race as a 50-stater. I had wanted to run Twin Cities but chose Minny b/c I wanted to run a summer race.

I had initially avoided this race bc I wanted to see MN in the fall, and I also was a little intimidated by the profile of the large hill late in the race and was looking for a fast course. The hill was a tough one, but not as bad as I thought.

The organization was amazing for this race. The crowd really got into it to. There's nothing about this course that I would say was specifically stand-out, but I felt like they had all of the little things figured out for runners.

The fact that they re-certified the course at the last minute to ensure that some last minute flooding didn't diminish the value of the race says something about Team Ortho.

Ultimately, I picked up my first BQ on this race. I'll always remember it!