This was my 4th marathon this year and I think this was the best organized race I?ve done once I got to the race start. Though it is not a big race, there was a HUGE bottleneck getting onto Wright-Patterson AFB which caused a late start (around 7:15 AM instead of 7:00) and I heard some runners saying that they actually started late due to not being able to get onto base in time. I left my hotel 3 miles away from the start at 5:45 AM and it took more than an hour to get to the start.

After getting past the bottleneck, they directed us to park on a big grassy field that had a lot of dew on it, so my running shoes got a little wet walking to the start line. Port-o-potties appeared to be plentiful so there was little, if any, waiting.

Weather was cool at the start (low 50?s) and parts of the course were very foggy. Later, the fog burned off to a bright sunny day, and about the last 8 miles were run in the sun when temps had climbed into the 60?s. Aid stations were abundant (nearly every mile it seemed) and crowd support was very enthusiastic but sporadic. There are some hills at the beginning and end of the course (it loops back) but most of the course is relatively flat. There were also a lot of relay teams running in the marathon and fortunately they were wearing a sign on their backs that said ?Relay? so you didn?t feel too bad when they passed you.

You finish the race running between a row of big planes you can see from about mile 24, and they give you a great big 2-sided medal and a bag of replenishments (water & food). At the packet pick-up I also got a nice long-sleeved T-shirt, patch and souvenir water bottle. Added bonus: a sort-of-nice windbreaker that I had thrown away at the start was waiting for me at the finish on a table they had set up for lost and found items :-D. Thanks, Air Force!!!

Like the volunteers, the medal, the expo, the course, jets flying overhead during the run, the aid stations, etc, etc, but something needs to be done to improve pre-race parking efficiency. I made my way to the base 1-1/2 hrs before the start of the race and waited in stop-and-go traffic for an hour to park my car. Was beginning to get concerned that I'd miss the starting gun. Only other issue was that there were no post-race showers available as promised in the application.

This is a small marathon compared to most others I've seen. There were 3,000 total participants for the marathon, half, relay and 5k, and about 1,300 finished the marathon. The expo was small, but packet pick-up was well organized. our only disappointment was that they ran out of posters the first day. The packet included a patch, water bottle and magnet - all with the marathon logo. We also received a long-sleeved t-shirt.

They had a staggered start - marathon first, relay 15 minutes later, half after that, then 5k. The marathon starts on an old taxiway, is flat for the first mile, and then goes up a nice hill (100' or so) and through some rolling hills until about mile 6. Most of the course is on Wright-Patterson AF Base and there are very few spectators on the course. However, there are water stops about every 8 tenths of a mile and the volunteers are very loud and supportive. It was also nice that 3 different places gave out Powergels, and several gave out oranges, bananas, and apples. Several had cold soaked sponges, which were nice as the day got warmer. Near mile 6 you come up an entrance ramp to the highway, then down on the access road around Wright-Patterson?s big runways. You now have from mile 6 to 20 on the flat roads around the base. One nice thing is you can watch planes take off and do fly arounds. We saw a B1B bomber, several fighters and other aircraft during the race. Another nice thing is that miles 13 to 19 were shaded. It was nice because the sun was getting warm. At about 19.5 you come back up over the highway ramp and head back toward the start - rolling hills until mile 23, then the biggest hill on the course - about 130 feet and about .2 miles long. It really wasn't too bad and it gave us something else to do after the long, flat run. At mile 24 you go down the hill that you came up at mile 1. Finally, you have a little over a mile to the finish line. One small problem is you can see the finish line from there and it seems to take forever to reach it. But, then you run between the airplanes, cross the finish, and get your medal from the General.

This was a good marathon for a first-timer. They never ran out of anything on the course and no stops closed until everyone was through them. They have an 8-hour time limit so you aren't stressed to keep from getting swept up. The water stops were great. It took 1 minute to get to the start line after the gun sounded (instead of 30 to 45 at Chicago for back-of-the-packers). The longest porta-potty line was about 10 people and we were able to sit in our cars and stay warm until about 15 minutes before the race started. Overall, five stars!

I enjoyed this marathon a lot. My only complaint was the difficulty getting to the start on time because of all the traffic! The course is surprisingly hilly at the beginning and the end - given the Ohio terrain! It was nice to have the WHOLE road and not to have to compete with cars. Thanks for blocking off all the roads! The tree-shaded middle section was heavenly. There were water stops at almost every mile!!! Most had Gatorade. My only suggestion to achieve perfection there: make the refreshment stops more concentrated at the end. Volunteers and spectators at the stops were SO enthusiastic and joyful - literally shouting their support, military style! My favorite thing was the fighter jets flying overhead; they made for some very cool distractions!!! The very best was getting congratulated at the end by a THREE-STAR GENERAL; how cool is that?! Good job Air Force!

Great crowd support. However, civilians could not get on base to cheer on runners.

Would run it again.

Overall this was a great race. The weather was perfect, aid stations averaged 1 per mile, and the course was fast with no traffic.

I plan on running this race in the future and I highly recommend it. It was nice to run a small race for a change. The crowd support was low (didn't feel like any less than Disney), but the people that were there were great.

This was my second Air Force Marathon, and a few improvements are needed before I run it again. First, an updated webpage with current information, not to mention course maps and news that are current...

Parking was terrible this year (only one gate open). I had to run 2 miles to make the start time. I left my car and my wife - she had to park it. She couldn't see the start because of the traffic situation. The water stops: the Air Force personnel and fans were GREAT, again. The finish line does make you feel proud to be AMERICAN.

My team very much enjoyed the relay arrangement. Very fun. It was cool seeing the planes and finishing among all the older planes.

Spectators are few and far between because of the Air Force base; they could use more on-site entertainment as well.

This will be one of my 4 marathons run in 2004. Looking forward to coming back.

My first marathon, so no first-hand experience for comparison. Traffic was heavy and moved very slowly to parking, but organization was topnotch after that. Plentiful water stations with fruit and gels. Significant hill at miles 2-3 and same again at 23-24; relatively flat otherwise. Fans are sparse. Nice medal and refreshments when it's all over! I'll try an urban location with diverse neighborhoods and more fans for my next (Cincinnati in May, Chicago next fall?).

The marathon was well organized, the route was very well marked, and the goodie bags and medals were great. Getting the medal from a three-star general was very impressive. The hill at mile 23 was hard. The line into the base was so long, that even though I planned on arriving 30 minutes before the start, I was still 20 minutes late. I'm so glad they use the Championchip. Also, the website, which wasn't updated since 2002, said they would have showers, however the showers were out of service. Thanks to the Fairfield Inn, even though we had checked out early, they allowed us to come back and shower anyway.