This was my first marathon. The course was beautiful, but there were a few too many turns and we ended up running over the same territory over and over. Organization/staff and volunteers were excellent. Good cookout after. Well prepared and thought out. I may run it again someday.

Pros: Great scenery; fairly flat; small number of runners.

Cons: Access to the starting line (it takes 90 minutes to get from I-465 to the parking lot); the course is long (26.45, and I ran very careful tangents); ZERO crowd support if you need it - the temps could have hurt the turnout (32 at the start), but it's also very difficult for crowds to access most of the course.

Running through Fort Harrison Park was incredible - a very fast course. The fan support was less than in large marathons, but there was good support at the times you needed it.

This is a very well organized marathon on a very pretty course. Just budget extra time to get to the start in the morning. The roads leading to the event were very congested. Otherwise, absolutely no complaints.

Overall it's a good course and a nice alternative to the "big city" type of marathons.

I missed the start of the race since it took us almost an hour to exit from the interstate and drive down to the parking lots - a distance of about five miles. When they say leave early, they mean leave early.

The course was good, though the out-and-back along the narrow bike path was way too crowded. When you're having to slow down because there's no room to pass, it requires a lot more mental energy than the rest of the race.

I really don't understand having a marathon relay when there's also a 5K available. But then again, I don't like the marathon relay idea in general.

The course was very well marked and staffed.

It wasn't great, and it wasn't bad. It was just a good, low-cost race.

Since there are no hotels within walking distance of the start, everyone has to drive there. This is a problem. The traffic back-up from the north (I-465) and along 56th Street was over an hour long. I started the race almost half an hour late. When I ran this in 2005, there were 1,700 marathon and half-marathon finishers. This year there were almost 4,000. The streets leading into Lawrence and the parking are not capable of handling the volume of traffic. To add insult to injury, the results posted on-line are gun time, not chip time, so unless they update those, I'm officially listed as 28 minutes slower than my actual time.

Having said that, a bad day running beats a good day at the office any time.

If you like quiet rural settings, this is a nice course, although you see the same parts multiple times. Much of it is along bike paths and park roads. Very pretty.

Spectators were enthusiastic, but few in number.

Volunteers - you guys are awesome! Thanks for allowing us to race.

Suggestion for future runners: IF YOU COME FROM THE NORTH, PLAN ON ARRIVING AT LEAST ONE AND A HALF HOURS EARLY TO AVOID THE TRAFFIC.

Suggestion for the race organizers: Recommend alternate routes if coming from the north.

Some moderate hills and several miles of sometimes challenging pavement (multi-use trails, etc.) made this a little tough on novice knees. Several runners with GPS (including me) had the course at 26.5+ miles (maybe due to difficulty in measuring those serpentine trails). The race showed off beautiful, Midwest, fall colors in a state park. Support was outstanding. Volunteers (and local police) were SUPER - even to 5+-hour finishers. Nice post-race meal. Despite having 6,000 runners this year, traffic was no problem and parking was easy (and free).

For a smaller race, this one is very nice. Plenty of aid stations and port-o-pots for the size of the race. Nice smaller expo. Moderately hilly. Not flat, for sure. Very scenic, running through the park. Long-sleeve technical shirt was nice.

This race was the best of four marathons I've run in the Midwest. The course winds through scenic and historic areas of Indiana's Fort Benjamin Harrison. In 2007, we had a near-perfect day. In 2008, I volunteered on the final water point. The race keeps growing, but the volunteers didn't increase in 2008. I expect this to detract from 2009's experience, but not so much as to be noticeable to the average runner. The local authorities go all out to support this, and their presence is very encouraging.

For me, it was a perfect day for a PR in a smaller-sized event.

Course: There was a lot of out-and-back stretches along the course. Some may not like that, but I don't mind. It gave me a constant visual of other runners. It's also a course with a lot of turns. It means you have to be smart about running the tangents. If you run the outside of the curves (as opposed to the inside), I can see how you'll end up running significantly farther than 26.2. The nicest part of the course, I thought, was through a state park around miles 7-10, I believe. Very pretty. There were also a couple of decent hills in that part. Otherwise, this is a mostly flat race. I set a PR by almost 7 minutes.

Organization: From my perspective, it was spotless. Pasta dinner the night before was solid enough. Race parking was easy (came up Post Road from the Interstate) and there wasn't that much of a walk to get to the starting line. Plenty of port-a-johns in the staging area. Aid stations were frequent and well-serviced. The cookout at the end (free for runners) was a nice touch you don't see at other races. It's clear the organizers know how to put on a race.

Fans: There are a couple of places where fans can see runners, but this is a pretty quiet course for the most part, especially in the second half. Given that much of this course is rural, I kind of liked the quiet. Just felt like we were all out for our weekend run with a picnic at the end!

If you're looking for a BQ, this is a good race (provided you run smart on the tangents). Once the half-marathoners break off, there's plenty of running room. Plus, it's just a well-organized event, certainly worth checking out, especially if you live in the Midwest and don't want to fight the crowds in Chicago. I probably won't run it again this year but I certainly may do so in the future.