A beautiful, scenic run through a diverse course, including park pathways along the water, university landmarks, and the heart of the city of Ann Arbor..I was impressed with the organization, especially for a first marathon. There were plenty of well spaced water/gatorade stations and 3 GU stops spaced nicely before the water. It was a warmer day with some challenging hills and hydration was well addressed and taken seriously. The time and effort that the organizers put into the run was obvious. I am sure small things will be tweaked and improved, but again this was amazing for a first time event. Pacers were available, and course marshals were plentiful to direct runners. You could really get a feel of Ann Arbor throughout the run. Ann Arbor is an amazing city to visit with plenty of great restaurants and other activities, from canoeing on the Huron River to many cultural events and museums. I will run this one again!

The 2012 inaugural Ann Arbor Marathon was one of the most organized races I have ever done. I found it a little hilly (but not too bad), hot, and humid all causing to run it nearly an hour slower than my PR. But, overall, I enjoyed the experience tremendously. I will certainly do it again if I can. Here are some more specific observations.

Aspects that made this inaugural event so perfect:

The Ann Arbor Marathon's Organization was excellent and everything was well planned and well executed.

Aid stations were excellent with many nice and dedicated volunteers.

A2 course was beautiful; particularly, Geddes, Arboretum, and Fuller Park areas as well as the University of Michigan Campuses; indeed a nostalgic expedition for me.

There was plenty of food, sport drinks, and water afterward; I mean plenty.

Despite being the first marathon in A2, a good number of people showed up all along the course to cheer; what a nice crowd.

The course includes many hills but none of them was a major uphill; with some additional training, they are manageable.

Organizers returned my two email inquiries immediately.
It is for charity.

Aspects which need improvement for next year:

The number of out and back segments can be reduced by allowing the runners go further on Huron parkway, Eisenhower, or somewhere else. There were five of them in this year's course.

Holding the event a week or more earlier for the sake of the weather; it was a little hot and humid this year (organizers should not really be concerned that the A2 marathon is close to the AA-Dex 10k or any other race. Marathoners always choose 26.2 over other distances.

Some runners care about the expos, and I trust Ann Arbor's next year expo will be larger and held in a larger space.

Kamran Talattof

You would never have guessed this was an inaugural marathon. It was well done from start to finish!

The course was gorgeous - through campus, some residential & some parks. Very pretty & the changing scenery helped it go 'faster'. The only down side was the mile through the mall parking lot - might not have been as bad if it wasn't at mile 22 :)

Water stops were frequent & volunteers were energetic! Spectators were great also & many had sprinklers out. The course was hillier than I expected, but all of the hills were certainly 'runnable'.

Packet pick-up & pre-race organization & communication were top-notch. Overall, a very, very well done event! I would certainly return to run this again!

First of all the people of Ann Arbor were great. The volunteers and police did a great job. The nicest people I have come across in the 15 states in which I have run a marathon. Some room for improvement: Not enough porta potty's at start area, course was horrlbe. Too many out and back sections and too many concrete roadways. A final thought: would it too much to have the University of Michigan open up Michigan Stadium for bathroom use and a finish at the 50 yard line instead of a finish on some club sports field?! Ann Arbor is all about football. Open up the 'Big House'!

Great city, terrific small race, outstanding aid stations and fantastic spectators on the road.
Really tough course with long pulls. The hot weather and high humidity did not help either.

Inaugural race for this event, so I'm trying to be less critical. I have high hopes and believe it will get better.

The good:

Friendly staff, volunteers, etc
Great post race food
Nice tech shirt
Easy and cheap parking at AA Pioneer and access to their restrooms
Well placed aid stations

The bad:

Seemed a little disorganized
No start/finish- finish in different location
Very little crowd support
Open to traffic is normal, but people in Ann Arbor apparently get up early- there is car dodging.
A hike to car after race.
Faster marathoners will have to dodge half-marathoners.
Course was weird- a lot of doubling back, momentary confusion on which way to go a few times, mile markers hard to see.
Lap around Briarwood? I get it, not all scenery can be a home run, but with the twists, turns, parks, and even buildings to see in AA, I would think they could better than this.
Seemed to be a severe lack of porta johns at the start and a half mile away from the starting line? Glad I didn't have to go, but this was the only thing I found really unacceptable in the race.
Neutral:

Hilly- conquerable for first-timers, but not ideal. Runners at or over 200lbs, watch out. :)
The time of year- fathers day, and heat (humidity the real problem this year)

The takeaway: Good, not great. A decent local race, not worth traveling more than an hour for as of yet. there are so many races on the calendar this time of year, this one will need to make a bigger splash if it wants to compete. I'd consider doing it again, but not ready to make it part of the regular rotation yet. I would focus on trying to improve the course itself more than anything.

As usual, thanks for volunteers, police, medical, and city of AA for putting up with us.

Make sure you have done plenty of hill training before you embark on this journey! Luckily I did tons of hillwork!! However, I saw a ton of people struggling!!
I just want to take a few moments to thank the organizers and their brigade of volunteers for a great and well organized race!!!