I loved the crushed limestone trail, the cold dark jaunt through the train tunnel, the quaint town square when we ran through Cairo, and the flock of chickens and turkeys that squawked and flapped as they hurried off the path. But... I heard three runners had to leave in ambulance for heat-related issues, and it wasn't even that hot. I blame it on the fact that there was NO Gatorade at most of the aid stations, and no aid station at all between about mile 6 and 11. The aid station volunteers apologized, blamed it on the park not opening some of the gates, and promised better organization next year. Overall, the volunteers were very friendly and encouraging, but that didn't make up too little gatorade on a warm day. Also NO markings at all at the intersections. It was very straightforward once we got going, but at the beginning there were several intersections no one was too sure about, and I heard one woman ran a mile out of her way on the return because she missed a turn. But... (I know, another but) the race only cost $30!! I had to sign up very late because the run I was supposed to do was canceled because of Hurricane Irene. Most other races were into late-registration fees of $100, so $30 was a pleasant surprise. As I was running along, parched without my gatorade, I wondered how I could even expect aid stations for only $30. Give it a try next year, they should have the kinks worked out.

This is a very beautiful rural course. I did not see one spectator along the way. Organization needs work from packet pickup to award distribution. There was no support at the finish line - no water, no finisher's medal, no one to make sure finishers were okay though there was plenty of food and water at the pavilion not too far from the finish. Even with all the confusion, I met lots of very nice people including other runners and volunteers.

Friendly runners from quite a few states participated in this marathon. Very poor race organization from the packet-pickup to the post run activities. Seemed like the race director needed to delegate more tasks rather than do them himself. Had a great run, but disappointed that the time-line of events didn't happen according to schedule. This could be a great event with better planning and organizing.

Organizaton was poor, and did not live up to advertised promises. No vehicle direction to start, no course marshals to direct runners. All events, from packet pick-up to various races, started late. They offered an early start, but did not provide course amenities or chip timing for them. But they did start the official clock with the early start, but did not announce this to others. Some water stations closed early. Most problems were with organizaton. With better leadership, this could be a good race.