This was my third marathon, and first Freep.

Positives: The course. It's a classic for an urban course. It's nice and flat - the only hills at all are the Ambassador Bridge and the Windsor Tunnel, and they're not that bad. Spectators are pretty good. No, they don't line the entire course like some runners seem to think is necessary. Lots of aid stations; water and Gatorade are plentiful. Volunteers couldn't be better.

Negatives: There were nowhere nearly enough porta-johns along the course, and they are not arranged in any logical manner (i.e. every even mile or every third mile). They just appeared haphazardly along the course - nowhere near mile markers or water stops; sometimes in a group of three, sometimes ten.

That's really my only complaint. I'm not in it for the food at the end; it's not that great, but no big deal. Overall it's a worthy event.

I ran the 2009 Detroit Marathon as my first marathon - finally taking the plunge after several other half-marathons. The course is amazing and beautiful - good, strong start by running over the Ambassador Bridge into Canada as the sun is rising. Running along the waterfront in Canada and then "underwater" through the tunnel back to the USA is great. The course runs through some beautiful old neighbors in Detroit, with stately homes and stunning fall colors. The last portion runs to Belle Island and then along the riverwalk. The crowd support is steady and amazing - in Canada and the US. Well organized - plenty of water stations with Gatorade and even GU (with variety of flavors) at one station.

As a first marathon - I was advised to run a "big" race so that the crowd support would be helpful. After running Detroit, I think that only Chicago or NYC can compare. I will be back.

Enjoyed the extra space at the start, with its new, more enjoyable course. No long, static stretches that become so fatiguing. It was unfortunate to bottleneck near the bridge, but once you got past that point it was pretty smooth sailing. It was the only reason I did not rate this five stars.

Good work at all of the water stations - good moral support throughout.

It was the most relaxed marathon I had ever run and not due to any change in my training. My program has remained the same. Just a well-run event.

Eager for next year.

The good concerning the course was about the first eight miles. It was very scenic running up and over the Ambassador Bridge, into and through Canada, across the Windsor Tunnel, and back into Michigan. The crowd support was great too during this stretch of the race! The bad about the course was once you got back into Michigan; you went through some not-so-nice areas of Detroit, and until you got to about mile 22, when you went into Belle Island and back, the course was boring, with little crowd support.

The expo the night before was small, with few vendors, and very few free samples to try. If it weren't for the requirement to show citizenship at the expo, I wouldn't go to the expo.

The food selection after the race was extremely poor. The only food was bananas. There was also cups of water and Gatorade available. In addition, Whole Foods gave you a bag with a bottle of water and a few other light snacks.

The medal had a nice design, and was of good quality. The volunteers throughout the race were nice and friendly.

The post-race party was relatively small and uninspiring. The band playing was entertaining though.

Overall, I would say this race was OK at best. I would recommend doing this race one time to say you ran into Canada and back.

This was my 9th Detroit Marathon. Weather was good. I finished, which is a good thing. The three beer stops were also good. The medals are FINALLY nice; the last two - one silver and one gold - were cheap-looking.

My thoughts and prayers are with the three families of the men that died.

I ran the half-marathon and must applaud the organizer's for putting together a well-organized event. Unlike most marathons, this one has the distinction of encompassing two countries, which makes it unique and memorable. The website and pre-race communication are amongst the most-detailed and up-to-date I've seen, so you are left with no questions when you arrive. The expo is no great shakes, but it's well-organized, given the passport requirements needed to run in Canada.

Crossing over the Ambassador Bridge into Canada was not bad at all; however, going through the tunnel on the way back into the states was difficult due to how hot it was versus the outside temperature (which was near 30 degrees at the start of the race). The route in Windsor is beautiful, especially as you look across the water and see the City of Detroit. That part was very memorable indeed. The spectator support was nice, although there were pockets that were pretty quiet and lonely. Staying in downtown Detroit made it easy to get to the start/finish area, but the city itself doesn't have much to offer by way of entertainment or transportation since it doesn't have a rapid transit system to speak of. That is rare for a city the size of Detroit, but again, the downtown location makes getting to the race very easy so I would recommend that option if you are traveling from out-of-town.

The only negative comment I have would be regarding the post-race food, which was pretty skimpy considering that Whole Foods was one of the sponsors. Instead of bottled water and bottled sports drink, they were passing out cups in the finisher's area. After running that long and hard, you would think a bottle of water wouldn't be that much to ask for. Also, some of the volunteers in the finisher's area were a bit snappy, I thought, which was uncalled for. But overall, this is a very good race that offers the privilege of running in two different countries on the same day. You can't beat that anywhere.

Ok, so I have rune a lot of the bigger races and this was a good race. Judging from last year comments, this year's organization at the start and on the first few miles was much improved. No stopping and starting as was mentioned before, probably because of the corral starting this year.

Expo was good. Support on the course was good. No major problems. Weather was perfect. Don't do pre-race pasta dinners (don't know why anyone would ever go to one of those... new food, etc.). Food at the end was a little thin but not terrible. Went to the post-race party "conquered" and vegged out anyway.

All in all, a solid race in my book.

This was my second time running Detroit, and I have enjoyed it both times.

Course:
The chance to run over the bridge into Canada along with the two to three miles along the river in Windsor is definitely the highlight. I would highly recommend, if at all possible (not always possible), trying to run through the tunnel (back to the US) away from any pack of runners as it tends to get humid.

I like the changes to the course. The worst part for me was that 13-16 stretch getting to Indian Village, but that's better than doing the same stretch at 22-25. I was worried about the turns on Riverwalk at 23-24 being tight, but that turned out to be a non-issue. Instead, the lack of routine helped me keep focus during a difficult time of the marathon physically.

Fluid:
Water and Gatorade at every fluid station. Every two miles or so in the beginning, more frequently the second half. GU at 16. (I don't understand why a race of this size doesn't have more GU stations (e.g. Martian).) M&Ms at Mile 9 was a nice surprise.

Start:
I did not run it last year, but the course uses wave starts now. Congestion was never a major problem.

Giveaways:
For those who care, it's a basic, technical, long-sleeve shirt and honking medal. Post-race food was lacking in variety. Post-race concert was a nice touch.

I agree that the nourishment at the end needs to be reevaluated. I would like to see a banana on the course rather than oranges because they are acidic; and at the end, an energy drink in my bag is not something I am prepared to drink until much much late (something like SmartWater would have been good). Also, what was up with all of the peanut butter products in the bag? Peanuts are a very very common allergy, and I, for one, am allergic; thus, not one thing in my bag could I actually consume. They should probably avoid nuts altogether. I am also for there being some straight Coke at the end of the race, available for those who go that route... just a few ounces, at least. I had to catch a very kind ultra runner on a street corner with a big bottle (perfect stranger, mind you) to get some. Fresh bagels are a great idea - even better with those little disposable cream cheese packets, although I would eat it plain too.

Also, in the tunnel is there a way to dry it out ahead of time? I was hanging on the right and it was very wet and slippery; and I actually got knocked over by another runner who was out of control on the downhill. I hurt my knee pretty badly and still finished well, but not anywhere near my capabilities (and my splits before that were perfect and comfortable), so I was a bit disappointed.

After seeing how this marathon got bad reviews from a lot of runners in the past I was nervous about making this my first one. However it seems like the changes made for this year worked out great. The expo was just fine and they didn't run out of t-shirts this year!! On race day I thought the wave start (I was in group B) worked out well. There were plenty of aid stations along the course and the mile markers were in the right place. The spectators did a great job also. My only beef with the course is that I missed the 25-mile marker. Maybe it was hidden by all of the spectators?? Overall, this is a marathon I would do again for sure. Great finisher medals too.