This is my second Cleveland Marathon and my second marathon. I thought the run was very much improved; they took away a lot of the uphill run on the second half of the run this year. The fan support on the second half was not great but neither was the weather.

The only negative was the porta-john problem: there's always a long line.

This was only my second marathon and first Cleveland. The expo was good and packet pick-up was a breeze (I arrived Saturday afternoon). The only issue here is that they ran out of pins for the bibs. Race morning went ok. The website indicated that runners should be downtown before 6 a.m. because roads would be closed. I arrived downtown at about 5:15 a.m. and the roads were already blockaded. After moving a few pylons, I was able to park very close for $10. The start is just outside Browns stadium so there were plenty of bathrooms (lines weren't too long). The race itself was great. Aid stations were well run and seemed to occur about every 2 miles. The finishing area was great with lots of support and grub. Overall, a great time, and a race I will do again in the future and highly recommend.

Loved the course! Some beautiful mixture of residential, downtown core, green space and waterfront. Scenic!! Unfortunately, no corals meant a mixture of slower runners in front with the faster pace runners. Medals were fabulous.
Weather was awful this weekend. Rained pretty much all weekend and was very cool and windy.
Improvements could be made for the start line with corals and the finish line approach needed more closing to spectators. The Toronto Waterfront Marathon is a good example of what is needed.
Not sure if I would run this race again.

Cleveland put on another fantastic medium sized marathon this year. There were just over 2600 finishers in 2011, with over 6000 half runner as well. The weather threatened to be bad but then cooperated - the rain held for most of the morning and 55 degrees made for great running weather!

The city really put a huge amount of effort into the race and made it a wonderful event. Great volunteer support, two gel stops for the full (there was only one when I ran MCM last October), and lots of fans too. The best fan areas were in Ohio City, along Euclid, and near the half split off. I was so impressed at how many fans came out to cheer despite the chilly weather! The finish was fantastic too - tons of food and so many fans.

One other thing that I was so impressed with - the city opened up Brown's stadium for the bag check/massage area. It was so amazing to be able to hang out indoors in a heated room for the 45 minutes before lining up and then again while stretching/eating after the race. I've never seen a city do this before and I think it was an amazing touch.

My friends and I chose Cleveland because we wanted to run a spring marathon and it was only a 3 hour drive away.

While I really wanted to like this race, there were, in my mind, major problems.

The positives:
- very nice finisher medal (although the ribbon on mine says 2010... but the medal has the correct date)
- the course isn't as hilly as I thought, and the rolling hills were challenging enough but not steep
- the Hyatt was a good deal
- glad to see the bathrooms at the football stadium were open before the race

The negatives:
- lots of potholes to contend with
- the starting corral was simply too narrow. We had to stand on the muddy wet grass..
- why were there WALKERS starting ahead of me?!
- the first few miles of the course is extremely narrow. I expected to have to weave and bob for the first couple of miles but at mile 5, there was still a lot of runner congestion

The really negatives:
- no mylar blankets at the end! I finished in 4:20 (gun time) and there were NO blankets available. I was shivering and soaked in my short sleeves when I found out from a spectator that some blankets had been given to NON RUNNERS. Seriously?! So my friends and I were left to find our own way to stay dry and warm after running 4+ hours..
- I almost had 2 accidents with cars. I RAN INTO one car, as did the runner next to me. I had to put my hands out onto the car to stop my momentum. The 2nd incident was a couple of miles later, where I managed to not hit the car this time. The people hired to control traffic were not doing their job very well. Having to come to a complete dead stop in the middle of a marathon, to let cars through the intersection, is not something I signed up for.

I could overlook the negatives, but the 2 major problems need to be addressed.

The Cleveland Marathon was my 8th marathon and even though I did not PR, I enjoyed the overall race experience.

The Positives: The course was pretty flat with some rolling hills thrown in. Visually, I thought the areas/neighborhoods we ran through were pretty nice. The water stations were well stocked with water and Poweraid and the volunteers were great.

Negatives: Not much to complain about other than the final mile to the finish. I thought the steep uphill at mile 25 was a bit sadistic and the sharp turn to the finish line could be revised. I prefer to see the finish line at least 1/4 mile away.
The spectators were slim after mile 13. However, the weather turned on the back 13, so the spectators could have fled.

Overall, I would give the race a 4 out 5.

Really nice marathon that is growing every year. This is the fourth consecutive year that I have run this marathon.

Pros:
- Spinning guitar medal
- Technical shirt with women's sizing.
- Good pasta dinner right at the hotel (Hyatt at the Arcade...THE place to stay as they provide a 3:00 p.m. checkout and runner breakfast box)
- Well supported race with plenty of powerade, gels and water.
- Friendly volunteers
- Enthusiastic fans
- Convenient shuttle to the expo (since this year the expo was about 12 miles from the hotel...usually it is within walking distance...it was great that shuttles were provided...I used these and they were really convenient)
- expo was nice...very easy to get the packet

Cons:
- Event is growing every year so may be a good idea of corral and wave start for less congestion

I picked this race to click off OH on my quest for the 50 states because of the reviews here. I was not disappointed! Relatively painless to get to the start and to leave after I was finished, great medal with the spinning guitar and a very nice women's cut tech shirt that did not have any sponsor ads on it! Cleveland rocks! I knocked off a star from the course rating because the first few miles had a really bad camber to it, so bad my knees really started to hurt, and they really needed more porta pots on the course. I held it until after the half marathoners split off, but there were still long waits because they cut down the number of toilets at each stop. The weather was kind of crappy this year, raining or drizzling the entire time and in the low 50s. Strong headwind at the end. But the volunteers were fabulous and the on course entertainment was out in full force! Great time...really reminded me of Richmond marathon, so if you liked that one, give Cleveland a shot!

Ran Cleveland again this year after several years and was very pleasantly surprised. The start and finish by Browns stadium was excellent, the course was interesting and fast, logistics were handled well and my overall experience was very good this year. The race field has grown to make this a substantial event. All in all a great experience in Cleveland.

After several days of mid-summer temperatures, the weekend weather turned. We had low 50's, wind, steady drizzle, and it was just fine. Give credit to the fans who hung in there. The new course layout worked well. Having the Brown's stadium open before the race was great. It got a bit congested at about 11 miles as some of the half participants were starting to fade, but after the half turned to the finish, it was time to steady in to a good pace. The Cleveland race is a good opportunity to get in a spring marathon.