This was my first full marathon. WOW! What a powerful experience. The expo was fun, and meeting Bart Yasso from Runners World was a big highlight. The weather was fantastic, and the course was very scenic. The lack of music during the course was the only bummer. They more than made up for it with the gorgeous finisher's medal. I will be back.

The weather was nearly ideal. Thank God they changed the course direction by the shore (due to the wind). There are many close-by hotels, providing easy access. There were too many young and untrained/unsupervised helpers. It's a nice course overall, though some roads were rough. The 100-150 kids in red shirts who ran the last 1.2 miles were all over the road recklessly and in the way. We got cool finisher's medals, though. They need to have start corrals with reserved time slots to start the race. But overall, there were good facilities on the course, plenty of aid stations, and nice scenery by the shore and in the city parks.

It was much better than when I ran it in '05. I liked the course changes.

My bias: I like the big marathons, where it is just as much about the crowd and experience as it is the race.

The good:
1) Excellent organization - lots of well-stocked Gatorade stops. Lots of porta-pots.
2) Nice party at the end, with cheap beer.
3) Fairly flat course.
4) Excellent, encouraging pacer groups.
5) You get to run right along Lake Erie shore for several miles.

The bad:
1) Sparse spectators after the half-marathoners leave the group.
2) It finishes (miles 20-25) in a more questionable neighborhood.
3) Aside from Lake Erie, there's not much interesting about the course (though that might be said about Cleveland as a whole - and I live here, so I should know).
4) The wind can whip off Lake Erie and cause your pace to vary quite a bit.

Well organized, and well executed; I'd run it again. If I didn't live here, I wouldn't travel to be a part of it. But that's just from my bias above. Kudos to the organizers.

This was my 4th marathon and I thought it was great. Loved the course. Very well organized water stops, great volunteers, plenty of porta-johns, and the finish line was awesome. In 2009, we had a picture-perfect day for running. Cleveland rocks!

I ran the full marathon in 2008 and liked it, but in 2009, due to a number of changes, I absolutely loved this marathon. They made great improvements in the course so that the wind was at runners' backs when running along the lake. The race took the runners through some lovely parts of the city. It was well organized and the city and race hotel were great in terms of embracing this event. I strongly recommend staying at the Hyatt, as they include a breakfast box for each room that is booked for the marathon. They also provide an automatic 3:00 p.m. checkout on race-day for race participants! I will be back next year!

First the positives:
The course was absolutely beautiful. The changes they made really paid off!! The weather was beautiful and I PRed by a lot (though it was rather windy - that's what you get for being on a lake shore, however)!!

A couple of other things:
1) I would have expected that they would have had a greater variety of food at the end. That was a little disappointing. I can get a banana at home.

2) I think that the mile markers need to be more conspicuous. Some of them had blown over, and I was not able to see them at all. It won't take much to make them a little bigger and more stable.

3) My last real gripe: Another member of my family is a walker and was also doing the marathon. Cleveland says that they are walker-friendly, and that the course is open for 8 hours. However, people began to be forced onto sidewalks and all of the aid stations were abandoned WELL before that time limit had come up. If you're going to say it's open for 8 hours, keep it open for 8 hours!

Overall, this was a great race, and I had a great time. The city was beautiful, the organization was good, and the field wasn't too large.

The course was substantially the same as in years past, but run backwards. Excellent aid stations and volunteers. The finish area was moved and much improved. That plus the near-perfect weather made this race one of the better marathons I've done.

The first half of this race takes you past the major sports stadiums and through the western neighborhoods of Cleveland. There are a few long-ish uphill stretches, one going across the Lorain Bridge.

The half-marathoners turn off shortly after mile 12, and things start to get a bit lonely as the course heads east past the old lakefront airport, along the lake shore, and south through some lovely park areas.

While the first half featured a revolving music playlist, there was very little music to be had during the second half, and the spectators were much more sparse. There are a few major intersections, and the Cleveland police did a great job of keeping the runners safe. Around mile 21, the course heads back toward downtown.

The 2009 medal is very cool, with a revolving guitar and a brightly-colored ribbon.

Post-race food was decent, with bananas, salty snacks, and ice cream bars available, as well as one complementary beer (canned).

The new course was flat overall, picturesque and well organized. The finisher's medal was one of the best, with a swivel guitar. All hotels were so convenient. Within 2 blocks, there was the expo center, start line and Starbucks. I had a great time, and will be back.