From start to finish there were problems with this race. The course was not approved until a couple of weeks before the race date due to lack of city support and it had nothing to do with the terrorist acts. The course was changed because of closed borders to and from Canada so the bridge and the tunnel were not a part of this new marathon course. That change was unavoidable; however, the new course still needs improvement. You run onto Belle Isle (which is beautiful) at about mile 3 and leave it at approx. mile 10. There are NO FANS on the island and getting over there would be very difficult for specatators unless they arrived before the start of the race. The rest of the course winds through downtown and two neighborhoods (one is very ugly). The final miles take you back onto the main city streets. The ONLY entertaining site you will see in town is the new baseball stadium (which you run around). The race is not promoted enough to generate enthusiasm and support from the city residents. Expect to run for LONG periods of time with little or NO fan support. Not only are they not yelling, but mostly, there are no people around watching. Two cars also entered the course and one, I had to literally run around. Finally, the race results were not even accurate and they appeared on the last page in the sports section. The race times documented appeared to reflect the clock time for me and some friends because they were off by at least 4 minutes. If I were trying to establish a PR, I would have been outraged!! I do not recommend this race UNLESS you want a fast course that is flat and quiet. The police did a good job keeping most traffic out of the way, but you do share the roads with cars. Plenty of aid/fluid stations and good support at the mile markers, which are clearly visible.

I signed up for this marathon looking forward to its international aspect. However, the increased border controls stemming from the September 11 horror forced the cancellation of the Canadian portion of the run. The organizers had to extend the Detroit portion by 6 or so miles, and they did a good job. The course this year was very flat. As with all big city races, much of the course went through some gritty areas, but miles 3 through 10 went through the pleasant Belle Isle recreation area, and the course later went through the beautiful Historic Indian Village neighborhood and the last miles went past the awesome new home of the Tigers, Comerica Stadium and other nice downtown areas. There were plenty of well manned fluid stations along the course. My biggest complaint with the organization was the finish area where we were funneled through a very narrow passage to the refreshment tent and then again through a similarly narrow passage before finally getting out and to the area where shuttle buses took us back to the hotel. Although there were under 3,000 marathoners, the bottleneck seemed worse than that at Chicago or New York! Fan support was concentrated at several 'Spirit Stations', and it was enthusiastic. Otherwise, there was little in the way of significant amounts of support through most of the course. I also found that the Entertainent Stations were generally rather lame. One nice organizational idea was to give first time marathoners a different colored bib and urge the spectators to give those runners an extra amount of encouragement. The pasta dinner was also very well organized. The food was good, you helped yourself to the amount that you wanted and there was a wonderful 5 piece jazz combo for accompaniment.

In summary, the marathon is a good one for someone looking for a PR or who is a first time runner who can't run at one of the more festive races like Chicago. While I probably wouldn't run it again unless the Canadian portion is again incorporated into it, and I can't really recommend someone to go way out of their way to race it, I am glad that I did run it.

This is the way that 'big city' marathons SHOULD be run. Well-organized and laid-out, I was only disappointed that the Canadian trek was not in the mix (unfortunately, the substituted mileage was a tour of a ghastly part of the city!). Otherwise, the route hit all of the hot spots of Detroit, including a breathtaking tour of the new AND OLD Tiger Stadiums. Further, we actually got to run through downtown, which was quite uplifting given that it was at the end of the race. I loved it, had a great room at the host hotel, and enjoyed a wonderful pre-race meal in Greektown (a short walk from the starting line area). For an out-of-towner, I was extremely impressed.

This was my third Detroit and my 9th overall, and I just completed it this morning. The course had problems this year because they had to take out the Ontario section due to increased border security after September 11. However, it produced a wonderful course that saw Belle Isle earlier than in past years and also a nice section through the Indian Village area and then a 'tour' of Greektown and Comerica Park/downtown. I loved the course, the people were great and really helped. The organization on race day was near flawless. Highly recommended!!

The course was announced late, and Belle Isle was setup as miles 17 to 24. There are NO fans on Belle Isle and it is nearly impossible for anyone to get out there. If your friends and family want to see you several places, they pretty much couldn't see you after mile 16. My family was waiting for me coming off the island, to give me an emotional boost where I needed it most and then they weren't able to get to the finish line to see me. I felt the course was announced way too late (they are doing the same this year as well). I applied early to get the discount then the course was significantly different from the year before (Belle Isle was miles 12-19) which was much better, the Tiger Stadium finish was awesome. You pretty much have to bring your own fans as well. I won't be running it in the future unless they have a better laid out course announced much earlier. Drop Belle Isle all together in my opinion or significantly shorten it.

good marathon for a first-timer, as I was, since it's very flat

Have run this marathon 4 years. Last year's course was the best ever in my opinion. Folks with a poor opinion of Detroit will be surprised. This is a top shelf event with no congestion on the course. As others have stated, it's predominantly flat.

If you are looking for a qualifier or just a worthwhile marathon to run, Detroit is the marathon for you. The organization is great, and the course is runner friendly. I highly recommend this marathon.

I've run Detroit 16 times and in terms of organization it's right up there with Boston. Really efficient water stations and split times at every mile. It's the only international marathon with an under water mile, and there are really nice views of Windsor and Detroit along the river front. I highly recommend this one.

Great race, although I have no real basis for comparison, but either way going from Canada to Detroit was rather worth while. I just wish we could have stayed in Canada for longer.