This marathon was well organized and enjoyable. The expo, host hotel, race start, and race finish were close together, which was very convenient. The course was beautiful, with lots of shade, and though it had some hills, none were terrible - at least compared to other marathons I have run. There were plenty of aid stations, and I enjoyed having HEED as a sports drink instead of Gatorade. There were a good number of spectators for most of the course, and they were enthusiastic, as were the many wonderful volunteers. Instead of a tech shirt, the marathoners were given nice finisher jackets. Overall, this was a well organized race with a very scenic course. I highly recommend this race and look forward to doing it again in the future.

Great job on a new marathon for Minneapolis, MN. Cool weather for the start, and lots of shade for later in the race when the sun gets up. There was very friendly help, and plenty of pit stops. Very nice finisher jacket, and I enjoyed the HEED and Hammer Gel packs along with all of the water stops. Parking was easy and the price was fair - $3 to $5 for a short walk to the start and from the finish. I saw many buildings and lots of river views that I have never seen before - even a close up view of old Fort Snelling! Not many fans or crowds; that's to be expected from a new race. I think they did a great job, and I will do this race annually if able. Thanks for putting on a race in the spring of the year for the many cool-weather runners.

I can only compare it with the Twin Cities Marathon, but here goes:

Pros: Beautiful course (I run it almost weekly, so if there were hills, I was used to them); great swag (!); lots of water and porta-potties; smaller crowds made logistics very easy; iPod-friendly.

Cons: Splits at odd intervals (15K and 16-mile only); spectators really thinned out where the half-ers turned around; needed better/more food at the finish; like others, my GPS got messed up at mile 1 (what's that all about?).

I liked it just as well as Twin Cities, but for very different reasons.

The first 5 miles of the course had too many sharp turns! The course is hilly with some of the steepest grades in the last 10K. I would run again if the beginning of the course were improved and the end were less hilly.

I thought this was a very good first showing for the Minneapolis Marathon. The expo was nice, with a cool venue. The race started on time, and there was great weather, lots of volunteers and spectators. Plentiful water stops - although HEED has to be the worst-tasting sports drink on the market. The last mile of the course was straight uphill, but that is part of the challenge. My only real complaint was that the finish area was very cramped. Within 20 feet of crossing the line, somebody handed me a nice medal, and there were 2 tables with bananas, cookies, and cups of water. And that was it. No one taking your timing chip, and no one directing us to where we should pick up the finisher's jacket (which is pretty nice actually). I was about brain dead by the end of the race, and after running into another 20 runners in the finishing chute, I was in such a rush to make room for others that I missed out on the little bit of food that was there.

Besides the finish line issues, I really think they did a great job. There were no problems that they can't fix by next year.

I took the bus down from Duluth for this marathon, lucked out by having a friend who lives less than a mile from the start/finish, and we had awesome weather. I was doing so well with my time that I decided to back off and relax for about 4 miles and just walk it - which I am glad I did because a comfortable run through the finish line felt great. Of course, the reason why this event was so good was because it was kept small and not a lot of people know about it (yet) - we had a lot of people cheering us on though!

My only gripes were these (and they are petty, but to me they're important): shirts, finisher jackets and medals had no date on them. Sorry, but I want to look back at my finisher stuff and be able to say, in 10-20 years, "Oh yea, that was the '09 race, etc." What I ended up doing was, rather than getting my time engraved on the back of the medal, getting "05/31/2009" engraved. I know this is the first annual, but most people want to remember the date of their event, particularly if this is their first marathon.

Another thing is the finisher's shirt. Jackets are nice, but marathons and finisher shirts just go together better. I can understand an October race with a finisher jacket, but a shirt (one that isn't the same one for the 5K, half and full marathon!) is a must-have. I joined the Facebook group, and loved that the coordinator of this marathon communicated with me personally - that level of personalization is unseen today in fitness events. As much as I love this event (and time of year), I can see this being one of the biggest marathons in Minnesota by 2019. We shall see. Other runners were "okay" - not overly friendly, but everyone had iPods on too.

I did the half-marathon. Pros: Great scenery. Easy parking. Great shirt. Cons: Water in plastic cups (hard to crease and drink). HILLS, HILLS, HILLS. Mile 1 didn't seem to be marked right (about 20 Garmins all beeped 150 yards before the marker). The first mile had 2 sharp left turns, which slowed the field too much and had people bumping into each other. One street had large cobblestones, which had the runners jumping to the sidewalk to avoid turning ankles, knees, etc. Crowds were okay in places, and VERY thin in others.

Having run a number of smaller marathons, a lot of organizers could learn from this marathon. In this race they used Minneapolis' resources perfectly. Take existing bicycle/running trails, on an out-and-back course with almost no intersections, and beautiful views of the Mississippi River, Downtown Minneapolis, Fort Snelling and Minnehaha Park, during a great time of year in which to be out running, and you have a winner every time! Even though there were not tons of volunteers, the ones that were there were knowledgeable and helpful. Because the course is out-and-back, the same water stops could be used twice. The spectator crowds were not large, but they made up for this with lots of enthusiasm. Nice medal and finisher's jacket, although in the future I would probably put all of the resources together (the food, jacket and porta-johns were spread out over a few block area). If you do not require a "big" marathon and just like to run, this is a great event.

It was the inaugural marathon, and with that being said... IMPROVEMENTS need to be made (in my opinion)!

Well, the course was very scenic and I thought it was a nice but challenging course. That hill coming up to 26 was BRUTAL!!! I did not like all the cottonwood fuzzies out on the trail either (however the region is in a drought this year)! I would give the course a 4.5 out of 5 stars. Pretty cool running along the Mississippi!

The expo for a race of this size was PITIFUL, in my opinion! Plus, I found the workers to be rather rude. Not very convenient for runners who come in late or do the whirlwind running (come in the night of and leave right after the race). I give the expo a 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Organization (which I link to the expo as well) was not all that good! For example, where was the course info at the expo? I also think the finish area (after the finish line) SUCKED! Water was nasty and warm, and they only had cups. I think water bottles from a water company could have been a nice amenity! Not much food; the bagels were stale, though the cookies were good. They could have used a bigger area for the grub and water!

MEDICAL SUPPORT was horrible. People were going down left and right, and I did not see one single ambulance on the course. I saw three people go down at the finish line, and the only people who helped them were (what appeared to be) family members/friends! Overall organization gets 1.5 out of 5 stars.

Now, onto the jacket. Well, it is nice and all... but it is summer, and a tech T-shirt would have been nice as well! Actually, I would have rather had the shirt! I'm not overly impressed with the goodies for a marathon of this size!

HEED IS THE MOST GODAWFUL, NASTY, VILE CRAP ever invented! One sip of that, and I nearly vomited! PowerAde or Gatorade would be a much wiser choice for next year!

I have run races as small as 15 people and had a much better overall experience. I have run races such as NYC and Chicago and had GREAT experiences. I have run everything in between the small and large and had better experiences! But to end on a good note, the course itself was really scenic and well laid out!

This race had a scenic, mostly flat course; fantastic support from Team Ortho; water stops every mile; an awesome medal and finisher's jacket; and a cheap entry fee. Lots of hotel rooms in the Twin Cities! I had a PB here and qualified for Boston. The only reason I gave the course a 4 was due to some very narrow/congested trails at about the midway point. Other than that, this marathon rocked!