I cannot say enough good things about the Quad Cities Marathon. This race makes all the runners feel great from the time they sign up until the race director (Joe Moreno) personally congratulates every finisher. The course is flat, fast and very pretty. The volunteers are numerous with water, Gatorade, Gu, fruit, candy, sponges, etc available at 14-plus stops. Very competitive field with a warm, hometown feeling. A great race!

I cannot thank Joe Moreno and his staff enough for the quality race that they put on. I ran the 1/2 marathon but, brought 2 relay teams of young people ages 9-12. For 2 months I worried about these kids, but Joe and his staff assured me that all would go well. They had a great race and they enjoyed everything about the race. (Of course, they didn't like getting up early). Some of their parents had a team and ran with them. All I can say once again is, 'Thank You, Joe Moreno'.

This is a marathon to repeat. The race people, scenery, pasta party, etc. were excellent. Race officials went out of their way to be kind and helpful. It was great Midwestern hospitality. I was under a time restraint to catch a flight out. A race offical used his personal vehicle and took me from the finish back to my motel. Running Quad Cities - It doen't get any better!!!

Beautiful scenic course, gorgeous weather, friendly people, crowds were great for the area's population density. Unexpectedly broke my PR by 70 seconds (2:55ish), despite the breeze. I convinced my girlfriend to run the 5K and she still got the free boat trip on Saturday (highly recommended--lots of the sights explained show up on the course), the long sleeve T-shirt and a medal. Lots of cheap places to stay, but we camped the night before at a nearby park, which was very nice.

Overall the race was a great experience. The course was scenic and varied. The pre-race pasta dinner was one of the best I've been to, and the low, low price only made it better. I worried about warm temperatures, but it turned out perfect!

The rest of my comments focus on the negative, but keep in mind that I'm being overly critically in hopes that it may further be improved:

- the last 7 miles are out and back and pretty boring. Seems like you could have extended the course a bit on the Iowa side of the river to cut down on this.
- There's a lot of concrete roadways. My feet were killing me by the end of the race.
- When I crossed the finish I received no direction, no mylar blanket, nor help removing my timing chip. I felt lost! I had to find the person who was handing out the finisher medals and ask for one. I hear this was rectified after the first 100 or so runners finished.

This was my first marathon and I didn?t know what to expect. I picked the Quad Cities for several reasons; the time of year it's run, the flat course and I was looking for a smaller race where I wouldn?t get lost in the crowd. I wasn?t too concerned with the weather since I?ve been training in North Carolina and was used to heat and humidity. Wow! I couldn?t have picked a better race or had a better race experience.

We flew into Moline Saturday morning and drove our rental car to the Isle of Capri Hotel where we could pick up our running packages at the Expo. The number of volunteers for this race is around 900 and we could tell because any time we had any question at all, there was always a friendly face to help us out. We took the bus tour of the route and got a pretty good feel of what parts of the race would be interesting and what part might get tedious and how steep the few hills were (not steep at all). We went back to the Expo ready for our pasta dinner and to hear the speaker for the evening, Frank Shorter. Having only paid $5.00 for the spaghetti dinner, our expectations were low and we thought we would end up with watery overcooked spaghetti . On the contrary, it was delicious! This was a great bargain, don?t miss it! Bart Bardwell (wheelchair marathoner) also spoke and both Frank and Bart were inspiring and motivating.

Sunday morning had perfect weather ? temperature to start was around 50 and the high was in the mid-60?s, partly cloudy. There were plenty of porta-johns and bathrooms and a place to check your gear at the start. One thing I really liked about this race was the Pit Crew group that wore bright orange shirts and carried almost anything a marathoner would need, GU, Vaseline, water, powerade, etc. This group also set up drop bins where you could pin your number on a sweatshirt then discard it into the bright orange buckets set up along the course. This was great since I wore a sweatshirt at the start but didn?t need it anymore after 2 miles. I was somewhat worried I?d never see it again or that it would be difficult to get back after the race but it was quick and easy to pick up after the race was over.

The crowd support was great at the beginning and the end. There was a stretch on part of the course - Arsenal Island - where there didn?t seem to be many people around and we were told that it was because the Island ? where they manufacture ammunition -was closed to the public since 9/11 and only runners and volunteers were allowed. There was one woman, Jan, that exemplified how friendly and helpful the volunteers were. She was our bus tour guide when we rode the course and had told us to look for her around the 20 mile mark where she would be helping during the race. When we passed 20, we were aching and needed Advil or something to take the edge off, we waved to her and asked if she had any Advil and she ran beside us for a bit apologizing because she didn?t. We thanked her anyway and ran along turning at 22 miles to head back to the finish. Lo and behold here comes Jan running up to us with Advil and water in hand! I wanted to hug her! At this point the only blemish to the perfect weather was a head wind that came and went for the next 3 miles.

At the finish, the announcer called my name and my hometown out to the crowd which I thought was a very nice personal touch, one I almost certainly wouldn?t have received in a much larger marathon. My finish time at 4:12 exceeded my stated goal of 5 hours and my secret goal of 4 ½ hours. I?d recommend this marathon to anyone who is looking for a fast time and lots of personal attention!

This was my second Quad Cities marathon (first in 2001), and once again the organizers did a great job. Good course, fans were great, and the weather was perfect, except for a little wind at the end (oh, well). Would recommend this race for those interested in qualifying for Boston.

I just finished this marathon for the first time. The Radisson hotel in Moline was perfect. 50 yds. from the start/finish, but book early. Hopefully they will hold more rooms for marathoners if they host next year. The weather was perfect. The water stations were run perfectly and plenty of them. I was happy with the medal, packet pick up, the city mayors at the start and the views of the Mississippi. I would like to see Fazoli's serve a bigger variety of their foods. Spaghetti and sauce was boring. TGI Friday's is connected to host hotel. I should have eaten there. Overall it was a marathon I enjoyed. Only real hills are bridge access roads. They are work, but the views are worth it!

This race was well organized with a great post-race set up. I've run several marathons but never had this much course support. Great race!

The number of racers is small enough to feel comfortable, while the number of fans is surprisingly large enough to make you darnd glad you came. The people of the Quad Cities turn out to encourage and cheer and even to make you laugh. Wait until you see the Running Elvis!

With 50+ Bands (this is home of the Bix, you know) and loads of encouragement, this race is a delight. I'll be back next year.