The good points: pretty course, great weather, lots of volunteers, fun finish line, and yummy post-race food. The room-for-improvement points: sport drink was too diluted, beverage cups consistently had only 2-3 ounces of fluid, and part of the course was on cement sidewalks.

For an inaugural run in a small town, this run was well done. Kudos to the race director. You rank in communication and organization. You can tell you really put your all into this race. Mankato residents along the course were awesome. It was so nice to see all of you who came out and cheered on us runners. You were out in front of your house or trail or wherever. The course is not easy, but that is just the way it is. Thank you to all of the volunteers. I hope you will continue to have this run.

I would highly recommend this race. The city really came together for the event. Mankato isn't flat, but the course was as flat as possible. There were two big hills before mile 7. I knew they were coming and they were early on, so it wasn't a big deal. Once you conquer them, you know it is easier from then on. The run was really pretty with all of the trees changing colors.

The things I really enjoyed:
-The layout made it easy for fans to see you at several places throughout the race. My friends were able to make it to 6 different places. I was surprised with the number of fans on the course. They cheered for everyone!
-Lots of port-a-potties at the start and several at every water stop. I never had to wait in line.
-Plenty of volunteers. Every intersection had someone, so safety was never a concern.
-Every water stop had water ready for runners. They weren't scrambling to pour water like at some races.
-The finish at the end was really neat, with an announcer and you turning the corner to sprint it in with lots of spectators able to watch.
-The communication by the organizers was excellent. They put together an information packet that answered most common questions and would respond to emails and Facebook posts quickly.
-With the start at the MSU campus, there were enclosed bus stops. It wasn't super cold, but in the future if it is, those will be very helpful.
-MN pacers were there to lead runners to their goal pace. My dad commented about how accurate they were on times.
-They had bicyclist toward the end riding the route to make sure runners were okay. I have never seen this before, and it was a really nice touch.

The organizers did a great job with all of the details. There were a few very minor issues (crowded start corrals) that I know will be fixed. The organizers were really open to suggestions, which will help make this event even better next year.

The city of Mankato truly pulled out all the stops to host their first ever marathon, and it showed. Congratulations on a fine event!

Some things I would improve:

1) More porta-potties along the route. I saw one guy run behind a bale of straw, and another go into some bushes. 2) I can only imagine how hard it must be to plan a route, but wow!! Those hills into and out of the river valleys along the first half were killer. 3) Perhaps you could partner with some nearby place to offer showers afterward. 4) The in-town miles were well supported by spectators and volunteers. The rural, farm miles, however, got really lonely, especially for a guy like me who is a back-of-the-packer and was jogging alone much of the route. 5) I *know* there is nothing you can do about the frequent smell of cow poop, but it certainly added a dimension to this marathon that I've not experienced before! :-)

Some things I loved:

1) The finish line was spot-on perfect! Ample food and drink were right there, within inches of the finish, and there was a wide variety -  more so then I've seen in the past. Wonderful! 2) The mittens were a nice touch, and the shirt was above par. 3) The course (minus those hills) was beautiful and a nice blend of in-town, farms and woods. The path through the petting zoo around mile 23.5 was by far my favorite! 4) Communication leading up to the marathon was stellar. 5) I think the thing I enjoyed the most was how much the community seemed to be behind this event. Every volunteer was cheerful and enthusiastic, and even the hotel staff where we stayed seemed giddy about it!

It's great to have another fall marathon in my home state, and I look forward to doing this one again in years to come. Thank you to everyone who put so much work into making this happen.

Very organized, volunteers were amazing and knew what they were doing. You never went without water, Gatorade, or gels. It was easy to know where to go and what to do. Nice course, but don't expect a PR here - hilly. Miles 1-18 are pretty much around country cornfields; I would've liked a little more variation, maybe a little more through the city itself. Spectators were friendly and encouraging. I loved reading all of those little signs that they posted on the course as I ran by.

I ran my first full marathon at Mankato and I think it is a beautiful city in which to spend the weekend. My experience with the trail alone is more on the scenic side. It has a few friendly elevations to it, nice water stops every 2-3 miles from volunteers, and of course, like many other races, it gets physically tough near the end so the citizens of Mankato cheer for you. This event held its inaugural marathon/relay/half marathon/10K in October 2010, which makes this Minnesota's newest marathon, and I felt really proud that I had that chance to run it. Some more info about this year's competition: we had 680 marathoners with 577 finishers (I was the 183rd with a 2nd-place division medal). And yes, everyone gets a finisher medal, T-shirts, and goodie bags, so that makes me want to come back for 2011. Pre-race meals are at discounted prices at 14 restaurant choices around town too. I'd say overall that this is an exceptionally well organized race.

All the things you'd think would be unorganized for an inaugural race were spot-on perfect. Start line logistics: perfect. Expo: great. Crowd control: top-notch. Crowd support: impressive. Volunteers: spectacular. Since many comments that follow will detail specific great things about this event, I will start this section off with a huge "THANK YOU" to Steve Bongers and his cast of thousands that ran this event like pros. If you'd have flattened some of those hills, it'd have been a perfect day.