Well, what would you expect from a marathon that you pay only $20 to run? Actually, from this one you can expect a lot! We were very pleasantly surprised by the quality of this race. A great value.

This is a club marathon put on by the Ohio River Road Runners Club from Dayton, Ohio. In chatting with other runners along the way I learned that the ORRRC is one of the largest and most active running clubs in the country. Last year they had moved the race to Dayton, but flooding on the course was a problem, so it returned to Xenia this year for the 41st running of the race. I had never before been to Xenia, but remember that it was devastated by a tornado in the 1970s. Today it seems like a very nice small town that does not have much activity early on a spring Sunday morning.

We drove up from Cincinnati on race morning and arrived about one hour before race time. We found abundant parking near the starting line. Registration and packet pick up was a snap and we were impressed that our packet included a technical short sleeved shirt and a timing chip. We recognized a few faces from Cincinnati, but most of the Cincinnati runners were running the Heart Mini 15K this morning.

The weather was overcast and in the low 40s at start time. We dressed in a cap, short sleeves, compression shorts, racing shorts and light gloves. The vast majority of runners were in long sleeves and long pants, but I felt very comfortable the whole way. The forecast called for scattered showers, but we had just a few brief periods of light rain about two hours into the race. The wind from 10 to 15 mph was bothersome just in a few places when the course turned east for a short distance.

The gun started the race only about 1-2 minutes late. The first few miles were on roads of Xenia and shared with half marathon runners. The miles were marked in spray paint on the side of the road, but I did not notice them until mile 3. Aid stations with Gatorade and water were a little undermanned in the early miles of the race when there were lots of runners, but fine after the first few.

The course turned onto an arrow straight bike trail in the 5th mile. It seems to me that when I am running on a bike trail that I am always running slightly uphill, and that seemed to be the case again today. On the way out I remember thinking to myself, "It will be great coming back in these last few miles because they will be downhill." It may have been slightly downhill on the way back in, but it certainly looked to be slightly uphill on the way back in too.

Rather than having the runners run directly out and back on the bike trail only, the race directors decided to have two 2-3 mile sections of running on the local country roads. I think that this was a very good move as it broke up the monotony of the bike path. But it did add some minor rolling hills in the middle of the race, as well as some pretty stiff wind. I did enjoy seeing a little section of the town of Cedarville. The roads were not closed to traffic, but the traffic was light.

The bathrooms in the park of Cedarville were closed until spring. (For the rest of the country, spring had started 10 days ago!) Luckily for me, there were a few port-a-johns on the course and at the starting line.

The final 1/3rd of a mile or so of the race turned back off the bike trail and onto a street in Xenia. When we came through, not all of the intersections had a monitor, which was a little frightening. Also, the finish line turns into a parking lot off of the road and cannot be seen very well until reaching the final block of the race. At the finish line we were greeted with a very nice medal and rewarded with plenty of drink, cookies and soup. Showers were available after the race at the Y immediately next to the finish line.

Overall, I think this is a very nice, small, bike path marathon that is well organized and a great value for the money. The course is certified. I would be more likely to come and run the half marathon in future years as a tune up race for a later spring marathon.

I enjoyed getting to meet several runners on the course today. I pulled my hamstring significantly six weeks ago at the Last Chance for Boston Marathon, so was happy to finish running at a comfortable pace without any further leg problems. One of my goals was to find out how the Ohio River Road Runners Club ended up in Dayton, Ohio, which is over 60 miles away from the Ohio River. Nobody that I met on the course could give me a satisfactory answer. Any ideas?

This race was great, for what it was. If you want a big city and large crowds, head to Atlanta. You want a marathoner's marathon, come to Xenia. The bike trail was taxing, and the wind and hills were challenging, but it provided an experience that makes other marathons seem like overkill. This was my second marathon in 2 days and oddly enough, the course (other than the bike trail) was nearly identical to the one in Olathe, Kansas. A suggestion: Have some music, or someone dressed in a goofy outfit, or something uplifting back there at the final "run around the cone" turnaround at the 23-mile mark. Glad to have some really nice and friendly people on the course. I will probably be back next year. This was my 32nd marathon and it was certainly worth the short drive. Can't beat the entrance fee either - 30 bucks for a medal that cool?? AWESOME!!

I ran the half marathon. Beautiful course - started out on roads through town, then moved into the country and ended up for most of the run on converted rail-trail. Absolutely beautiful, even with the overcast, threatening skies (but no rain!). For $20 bucks, we received a technical t-shirt, plenty of great food afterwards (chili, chicken noodle soup, fruit, cookies...), and an awesome finisher's medal. Some small glitches with organization, but nothing to ruin the race - ran out of my size t-shirts even though I had pre-registered, but this was remedied after the race. Also, the finisher's medals came at about 2:10 into the race, so the faster runners may have missed out - slow down and enjoy the race! Race volunteers were all top-notch. Fans were good too, but very few. I'd run this again in a minute. Thanks!

I also ran this event in 2007, and 2007 was a near disaster because flooding caused radical last-minute changes of course and associated confusion. This year couldn't have been better. The course was great, the medal is one I will treasure, the organization was tight, and the volunteers and few spectators were wonderful. I even got a laugh at an old lady yelling at a volunteer about having to wait for runners to cross the road.

This was a very enjoyable race. For $20 you get a nice shirt and finisher's medal, and the organization was excellent. The country roads were also quite fun.

Although there weren't many of them, the spectators were supportive. The volunteers were also top-notch.

If we only could have had the weather warm up a bit, it would have been perfect.

Give credit to the organizers. A last-minute flood and they still pulled it off. I'm not sure what the orginial course would have been like, but based on the last-minute version, it probably had potential. It was too bad the changes prevented mile markers... that was an inconvenience. And, having no spectators was a challenge. All in all, a good time and great opportunity to get in a long training run for future spring races.

I walked the half and enjoyed it for a smaller race. I appreciated all the hard work that entailed concerning the flooding issues. Walking along the bike paths, and through the parks, and by the rushing waters was awesome. Not many spectators, but I thought all the volunteers showing us the way were so friendly and helpful. It was a hot day, but there was plenty of water and/or Gatorade. I was lucky enough to finish as the 3rd female walker in the half, from seeing the results on the race website, so I hope they`ll mail my award.

The early registration price for both the half and the full was $20. I actually ran the half marathon, not the full, as a tune up for the Flying Pig in April. The course is flat and fast. Much of it is on a out-and-back bike trail (half marathoners turn around at mile 9, full at mile 16). There is not much crowd support, but the volunteers were awesome!! The race was well organized, and chip-timed with a ankle bracelet. All race participants that preregistered received a technical t-shirt, and all fininishers received a finishers medal. A gel pack was provided around mile 8 or so. (More gels may have been provided for the marathoners elswhere [and likely on the way back] - not sure....) The miles were marked but I managed to miss a couple of the markers. I drove from Cincinnati the day of the race and parked for free at the host hotel (Holiday Inn). I arrived early. It appeared that the parking lot filled up quickly. The # of port-o-potties at the start was good (maybe had to wait 5-10 minutes at most). I recommend this race and would run it again. The half is a perfect tune up for the full marathon you plan on running in late April or May.

A great small town race. The course is about a 7 mile loop around Xenia Ohio and the rest is out and back on a paved bike trail that's a former rail line. That trail goes through some really beautiful forest area along the Little Miami River. It's slightly downhill on the way out so slightly up on the way back. There's all of about 400 at the start line but only about 85 full marathoners so it's not some huge crazy mass of bodies at the start. Water or Poweraid about every 2.5 miles. Not many spectators but the few there are were very encouraging as were the volunteers at the aid stations and stopping traffic. Xenia police assisted with the traffic at a couple larger intersections. Great finisher's medal and the price was very reasonable. Mile markers quite visible, (guess they had a problem with them last year.)

I ran the half marathon as a trainer for the upcoming Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati, Ohio. The only reason I ran this race was to get a good race pace down for the future Marathon. The mile markers were no where to be found for the first 7 miles! I asked several volunteers who were directing traffic where the mile markers were and they said they had no clue??? It would have cost race officials about $3.00 dollars to cut up posterboard and place it in the appropriate place and made everyone happy. Other than that, it was a great race. Cool, perfect running weather which led to good speed times and the course was interesting. Next year, raise the entry fee by a few dollars and give out finisher medals...I ran with many people who said that they had trained a long time for this race...at least be kind enough to give them a medal for completeing the race! I know it is a minor gripe but would have made the race much more meaningful for many. Other than that, a good race with great volunteers (THANK YOU!)and a good track to set a PR.