While the fall is full of marathons I'm itching to run, I found myself at the start of the Wineglass for the second year in a row. I love this race; it's well organized, has a great course for a fast time, offers great post-race food and scenery, and has had perfect weather two years running! For as much time as I spend scanning Marathon Guide for the fall marathon scene, I'll very likely find myself back in Corning next October. Thanks for everything to all who pull this event together!

This was a really nice, well organized race. The race director showed my ol' lady on a map where she could go to watch me along the course. It was tough for me mentally to do a point-to-point race because, when driving from Bath to Corning, I suddenly realized how far 26.2 miles actually is. My only complaint is that there was a small section of construction on the course, but that wouldn't prevent me from running it again. Also, at one point along the course we passed a cow farm. The smell of fermenting manure made me run faster. The post-race massage had only a short wait. The shirts and medals are really nice. Something I really appreciated was that it was an inexpensive race to run: the hotels didn't gouge like they do at bigger races.

This was my first marathon. Everything about this race was top-notch. Before the race, the race director emailed us a GPS map of the course. This really helped me mentally prepare for the race. The organization from before the race to race day was superb. I had prepared for a very hilly course and was pleasantly surprised how flat the course was. There was one small hill at mile 14-15 other than that most of the course was very flat. Awesome first marathon. Will definitely do it again.

I ran the 2009 race and thought it was well organized and on a beautiful course.

Just a few quick thoughts:
Good: fun course, good food afterward, quick packet pick up, nice shirt, good crowd support for such a small race, and it was an easy course for spectators (my fans saw me six times along course).

Opportunities: better champagne give-away (it was putrid), and a more organized start area (but for a small race, it was not really an issue).

Overall, a really nice race. Weather was perfect and I would recommend this race.

As everyone has said (for years it seems), this is a wonderful race. It's peaceful to run, with enthusiastic aid stations. They have just plain NICE people. I'm so glad that I chose this one; it met all of my expectations.

Because my time was disappointing, I wanted to find fault with this race, but I can't. The weather was perfect, the spectators, while small in number (after all, this is not a densely populated area), were very supportive, and the course was flat to downhill. Corning is a very nice town, and make sure to stay a few days to taste wine at the Finger Lakes, just 30 minutes away. A perfect fall weekend. Thanks to all of the volunteers and the race director for a wonderful event, except for my performance.

Pros: Indoor waiting at start (thanks Philips Lighting factory!!), flat to downhill course with great scenery, plenty of water and Gatorade, cool shirt, great spectators (thank you!!) and really awesome glass medal.

Cons: To find anything negative is difficult. My only "concerns" were that there was a bit of traffic on the course, there were no porta-johns along the course (there were a few by the relay hand-offs, but all had long lines!), and they had pure junk food at the end (and no music or any sort of entertainment).

Really enjoyed this race. Also, the Radisson was a great hotel - and it was very close to the finish. I was shooting for 3:30 and ran a 3:13 to qualify for Boston!!!

This was a perfect race for a rookie marathoner. It's small enough that you can find everything you need before and after, as well as have plenty of room to run throughout. Yet, it's big enough that there are always a few people to run with right up to the very end. Being a rookie, I was worried about keeping the nerves under control before the race and running my own race without getting caught up in the excitement. The town seemed to be just aware enough of the race that it was easy to get excited, but avoiding it wasn't a problem either. Everyone involved was about as friendly as could be too. I think my wife, who was cheering me on, met just about as many people during the race as I did. Also, despite much of the course being on state highways, I never felt threatened by passing vehicles, which generally slowed down - and some even honked in support.

Pros:
* There are good crowds to give you a lift every now and then, but they were small enough that I was able to stick to the plan and not get too excited.
* There were plenty of water stations with properly-mixed Gatorade.
* There course is beautiful, as the leaves approached peak foliage
* It's easy for family to follow you along the course via car.
* There's just enough to do in the town of Corning.
* There's a low-key but well equipped post-race spread - no blaring music, they make sure it's about the race and not the party.
* They give out a really cool glass medal.
* There was plenty of food afterward for a 3:30 finisher who stayed for about an hour and passed through again after getting lunch in the main commercial district less than a block from the finish.

Cons:
* There's poor pre-race communication.
* The website is iffy - and some parts had not been updated since prior to the 2008 race.

NOTE: Neither of these has anything to do with what goes on DURING the race, and probably would have been a non-issue if I had picked up the phone and called someone.

Words cannot describe how much I love this race. It is so well organized and the frequent water stops are perfect. I love running into the small towns where everyone in the town comes out to cheer. The finish line at the bridge is breathtaking.

This was my first Wineglass Marathon, and 19th marathon overall, so I have a lot of marathons to compare it to. I loved the small-town feel and especially loved the town of Corning, NY. The expo was small but fun and it was easy to pick up the packet. The glass medal and technical race shirt were awesome. I didn't have to take the bus to the start because my husband drove me (very easy to drive there on your own). It was very nice of Phillips Lighting to let us wait inside because it was chilly. The start was a bit disorganized; I had no idea if we'd run over a mat (you run under an archway; the chip is built into your number), but after that it was fine. The exchange areas (for the relay) were crowded and really should just be for runners only. Too many spectators were standing there, literally right in front of you as you ran under the chip "archway," and I almost ran into some of them. Only the other relay runners should be allowed to stand right there at the exchange to make it less congested. I also agree the uneven road surface at mile 24 for about half of a mile was not fun to run on. I was shocked that the road was left like that when a marathon was about to happen (it hurt my feet), but otherwise the course was really pretty and I would run it again. Great post-race food and TONS of super nice volunteers. The post-race massage was awesome, and it was a very pretty finish area. There were just some minor issues, but I'd still do it again and recommend it to friends. I'm so glad that I chose Wineglass this fall. :)