This was my 2nd marathon, and much sweeter than my first at Erie, PA. It's nice to be close to home and friends and family, so they can cheer you on. The route was interesting, lots of little towns, farm land, creeks and hills, plus the unique bike path which finishes through a tunnel under I-86.... Cool! Gatorade was plentiful and full strength (not diluted). Race day was warm at finish, around 80 degrees, and very sunny; I got a mild sunburn on my face (we were running east). The food was great, cool finisher's medal (glass). I liked the finish area, over the walk bridge (changed due to construction). I hope they stay with this one! The microfiber shirt is the best one yet with the fall scene through the wine glass, nice. I want to make this my annual race, since it starts at Philips Lighting where I work, and they sponsored me this year! My co-workers are always interested in someone from work running the race too - kind of a double bonus!

The Wineglass has such a special feel to it. The small towns, the rural scenery and the winding course make the entire race weekend such a unique event. Small touches like the bottle of champagne, the wind shirt and the glass medal add to the experience. The City of Corning is a great place to have the expo and the finish line over the bridge was perfect.... Hope they keep it that way. I do hope the organizers upgrade the string attached to the glass medal. That is my only real complaint. The course is well marked and the organization itself is superb. Wish it had been a bit cooler with a few more clouds this year.... But can't blame anyone for the weather. Don't miss this marathon; it is wonderful in all respects.

I've never hit the wall before. I hit something I'd call a wall in this race. I guess I under-trained, didn't take in enough fluids (lost 4 lbs!) and just simply saw my legs give up. I've run through muscle pain before. But, this was different. There wasn't so much pain as there was lack of strength. I didn't go out fast (10-11 minute pace) through 20. But, things went to hell just like I was told could happen to marathoners at mile 20. But, I thought it happened if you went too fast. I did the rest of the race in a 14-minute pace. Total out 5:09!

Funny thing is, now all the fears (the pain, biomechanical problems which didn't manifest, failure, etc.) are GONE!!! I can't wait for my next race. That's why I came to this website. It's really cool!!! The race course was ok. The packet pick-up area was very cool inside the old Philips Lighting plant!! The end sucked for us 5+-hour types. Food was just about gone and they wouldn't budge on the massages (had to have pre-registered), which was a real bummer cause I needed one BADLY!! Great microfiber T-shirt, though!

This is the smallest marathon I have done and I really enjoyed it. It had a lot of charm and a friendly feel. The course was beautiful. Too bad it's been such a warm summer and early fall because the leaves were hardly changing yet.

The support was great. I enjoyed that the course was easily accessible to my spectators who were able to find me many times on my route to a 9.5 minute PR at 3:28.

The glass medal is nice though the string is a little cheap, and I heard a couple of falling (smashing) medals at the finish.

This was a very enjoyable race. The only con in my eyes:
I emailed the race director weeks before the event with a question. Nobody ever got back to me. That was disappointing. As a director of a small race myself, I always try to respond to all inquiries within a day or two.

Otherwise, it was great!

The two reasons that I considered this race were PR & glass medal. Both were true & I cut 5 minutes to 3:45.

Unexpected:
1) the long-sleeve micro-fiber is the best T-shirt I had ever got.
2) plenty of food - chicken rice soup, pizza, bagels, cookies, & Coke.
3) the lady at the pasta dinner went to each table offer those big cookies.

If not a mistake, I saw two or three different ladies showed up two or three times on the route to cheer for the runners. Probably more like these.

I like the country smell, and those cows & horses. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find vaseline.

A great race! Beautiful scenic course through small towns and country roads, great organization, friendly people (volunteers and fellow runners), relaxed environment, great t-shirts, medals, and post-race food, the list goes on and on.....

Perhaps the best thing about this course is that it is net downhill. I assumed being in upstate it would be mostly uphill....I was pleasantly suprised. The course felt relatively easy!

A couple of negatives, though please don't let them deter you, as there were positives to each of them:
1) Water stops were frequent; however they were not always where advertised. This didn't matter too much as you never went more than 2 miles without it.
2) Lack of porta-potties, though they were advertised. Fortunately, there is a lot of wooded area on the side of the road to hide in and pop a squat like I did :)
3) Course map hard to follow, leading us to get lost as we drove the course. Fortunately, it was very well marked on race day.
4) Lack of spectators; however those who were there were fantastic and it is relatively easy for family to follow along.

Everyone who runs this race raves about it....I loved it as well....please consider it, as it is a true gem.

The hype is true; it indeed is a pretty course, and if the fall colors had been out it would have been gorgeous. For a smallish marathon (this year 537 finishers) the organization was great. Every water station (and there were a lot of them) was perfectly staffed. Way to go volunteers! Because the route goes between small towns and villages the # of spectators is sparse (except for the relay points) but the cool thing is if you have non-runner supporters with you, they can drive 75% of the route and show up unexpectedly with others to cheer the runners on. Definitely worth doing this marathon.

This was my 20th marathon and definitely was my favorite. I was worried about the record heat they were expecting, but, a small headwind throughout the race helped cool down the runners. I was only hoping to break 4 hours (for the first time in 5 years) but did much better - 3:41, a 15+ minute PR.

Pros:
-Great little expo. Small, but had everything I needed, plus the volunteers were super friendly - glad you were visiting their town.
-Best marathon shirt and medal I've seen.
-Best post-race food I've had.
-Running over the footbridge to finish the race was my favorite marathon finish.
-Very runner-friendly, slightly downhill course - definitely a PR/BQ course.
-A lot to do - we went apple-picking, visited the corning museum and took the kids to a game park.
-Ample hotels - we stayed in the Days Inn in Bath (1 mile from the start).
-No waiting line for the port-a-potties at the start.
-Very easy course for family/spectators to navigate around.

Negatives:
-Course open to traffic - but not much of a problem.
-Spectators were sparse - mainly in the towns we went through, the relay exchanges and the finish. The ones that were there were enthusiastic.
-Not much shade - I wore a hat, thank God.
-Beautiful medal's ribbon is a string.

Overall, Wineglass exceeded my expectations greatly; and I had high expectations going in. Next year's race is the 25th anniversary race, with special speakers, etc. - so I'll be back.


I could not recommend a marathon more than this one.

I have run over 50 marathons, and this one 6 times. The last time was 2001, and I qualified for Boston. Put simply, this is a great course. It is hard to have a bad day here. Corning is a nice place to visit, and if you like Italian food, don't miss Sorge's downtown. The real deal. The entire setting for this race is picturesque. I will be there this year and will be bringing about 25 running friends who can't wait to experience it.

I ran this race in 2000. The course was mainly rural and had very few hills. The glass medal is still one of the most distinctive in my collection. A nice choice for a small October marathon.