After a quite poor marathon last year, where the police messed up the start and finish loops, which kind of threw everybody's splits off, and where they had a crappy long-sleeve shirt to go along with the race, they needed to redeem themselves this year - and they sure did!

This year, to go along with race, you got a fleece blanket, a hat, and gloves, which together would probably retail for more than $60, which was the basic entry fee. It was just about perfect weather - about 45 at the start and low 60's towards the end. They made sure we would be going down Sparks Road this year by having a lead bike instead of police. The first mile, which I hit in 5:18, was 200 yards short, and it's noted on the course map but made up for in the 25th mile. Once you get to the trail you got basically 11.5 miles at a very slight incline, all the way up to the turnaround, so be careful not to burn yourself out by forcing yourself to hit splits. With an even effort, you will be 5-10 seconds slower than your goal pace on the way up and 5-10 seconds faster back down. The surface is a little softer then, which helps save your legs. But if you wear racers, beware: the pebbles on the trail start hurting your feet after 18 miles or so.

Once you get off the trail you have to go about two miles all the way up back to the school, where the finish is. It is a nasty surprise if you are not prepared, but lucky for me I live 10 minutes away from the school and I practiced running up those hills in training. Back before 2004 you didn't have to run back up those hills; you would just finish a little farther down the trail and take a bus back up to the school. That is fun and all, and shaves probably a minute or more off your time, but the new way is more convenient and makes the course certified for record-breaking purposes. The post-race food is great, with homemade soup, donuts, bagels, fruit, all kinds of cookies, water, Gatoride, juice, cocoa, and coffee.

The finishing medals are standard, and the awards are nice and unique - they are little wooden choo-choo trains. My only suggestion would be to change them up a little for the overall winners and the age group winners by maybe making the overall ones bigger or putting gold, silver and bronze coating on them.

So overall, a late season, and a very nice, small, hometown-type marathon that has a good PR and BQ course. If you are into big-city marathons with a lot a crowd support, this one is really not for you. But for people like me, this is 10x better than most city marathons, except for maybe NY, Boston, Chicago and London.

-Rory Jenkins

I ran NCRT for the second time yesterday, and had a good experience.

The best thing about NCRT is its timing. It's always two days after the largest ritual carbo-loading phenomenon in American culture - a.k.a. Thanksgiving.

It's also at the end of the fall marathon calendar in the Northeast, so anyone needing redemption after any race between Chicago and NYC can find it here. [It's probably too close to Richmond and the JFK 50, but that doesn't stop at least some folks from running those and NCRT in the same year. True insanity, in my humble opinion.]

The trail itself is hard-packed dirt and gravel, good for footing, but nowhere near as hard as asphalt or concrete.

It's downhill at the start, with a slight rise to Monkton, and then a more persistent rise toward the turnaround point near Mile 13.5 But each of those grades are railroad grades, so to many people, the course feels flat. The worst hill is the last 1.5 miles, up the same grade to the gym that you ran down at the beginning. But with hill training, that should be manageable.

And this year again, the weather cooperated. Freezing before dawn, with a high temp around 60 degrees Farenheit, and partly cloudy skies. Near perfect running weather. In any other year, rain or snow would make for a miserable experience in late November, but otherwise, temps should be within a good range.

The police did *not* lead the main pack down the wrong road this year, so all those comments about mistaken mile markers from last year should remain historical footnotes.

This is a trail marathon, so it's not the place to find teaming throngs of spectators. But those spectators that were there were helpful and enthusiastic - many of them runners, themselves. The water stations were a bit spread out (two miles or so between stations), but many spectators opened up spontaneous aid stations at several of the other road crossings. There was even one spectator/volunteer offering salt tablets(!).

There were five of us who went out in the early start, and I believe all of us finished this year. The "noncompetitive" early start is an under-advertised, but well-appreciated option for anyone estimating a 5:30 finish or later. This year, I managed to get to the finish in time to enjoy some of the homemade vegetable soup in the gym. Low-key, but good accommodations in the gym after the race.

The only caveat is that you still need to allow enough time to get to the gym before that early start (or even before the regular start), because despite advance packet pickup at Charm City Run the day before, they still don't give out the ankle-bracelet chip devices until the morning of the race. But if you can get to the gym 15 or so minutes before your start, you should be in good shape.

This year's swag included a knit winter hat, a pair of gloves, and a blanket, all with either the name of the race or its logo inscribed. That was a nice change from yet another shirt!

For a club marathon in the ex-urban suburbs of a major city, I noticed a higher percentage of travelers from across the US and Canada running this race. But that's probably because the course is pretty good, and running clubs usually get all the basics of a marathon right, where corporate types sometimes forget the basics in favor of all the big-time glitz.

It was the 5th best of my 14 times, and a much better time than MCM last month, so a good day for me, overall. But I did better than MCM at this race last year, too.

Overall, a nice race to wrap up the fall marathon season. I hope to get back to NCRT next year, too.

JHS

This marathon is a lot of fun. More like a road than a trail, but real comfort for the feet. The weather was perfect this year. My only complaint: For someone who tends to cramp during the last couple of miles, the big hills are time killers. My suggestion would be to add an extra mile before the turnaround. That way the race could end at the bottom of the trail. Yes the logistics of bussing the runners back to the school would be a hassle but it would turn the course into one of the best. I thought I would finally BQ until that "mountain" at the end.

(I wrote this a couple weeks ago, then came back today to see if I still felt the same. Here are some thoughts.) First, I would not have run NCR this year because it is so late on the calendar. However, I got injured, missed Steamtown and was down to my last chance for a fall marathon. Overall, it was a really good race for the course, the organization and the small but enthusiastic crowds of spectators.

The course starts at a small elementary school at the top of a hill. As it was about 30 degrees at the start, being able to hang out in the gym, listen to music, have warm bathrooms, etc. made all the difference in the world.

The trail is beautiful, but I found the surface only OK. You had to pay attention to where you were putting your feet, unlike on asphalt. If you were passing people - and I passed about 35 in the second half - you had to shift from one side of the trail to the other - which was a little annoying. The course is a pretty easy, gradual climb all the way up and a nice gradual descent back down. Like everyone else, I found the last hills very tough, but you live. I started out cautiously and negative-splitted by half a minute, despite faltering on the finishing hills.

About the crowds: for a small marathon, they were awesome. The trail bisected roads every mile or two, and at nearly each there was a water stop with volunteers and others enthusiastically cheering us on. It seemed like all the people in those little hamlets came out to cheer. At one point there was this cute little group of elementary school kids who'd clearly been practicing their chants. Just wonderful. The stretches of a mile or so without anyone cheering didn't bother me nearly as much as the cold and the little bit of wind that picked up about 3 hours into the race.

The aid stations were really well run. Never once was there a competition for a cup. And the well-practiced and constantly repeated "Water first, Gatorade second" made you appreciate how good the organization was. On top of that, I heard offers of everything from oranges to gummy bears.

The mis-placed mile markers? It was clear at the third mile that the markers were off. If you were watching your splits, you knew two things pretty quickly: that the distance between the markers was correct and that if form held you were going to be running an extra 1/2 mile or so more than the markers indicated. Not only did the race director figure out the mistake before real damage was done, when I got to the (corrected) 25-mile marker, the volunteer there eagerly confirmed it was right and there were 1.2 miles to go. I didn't find the situation demoralizing, annoying or anything close to that during the race. If you want a race in '06 where they are going to be doubly sure about getting the course right, this'll be the one.

As for the quality of the t-shirt or cost of the entry fee, who cares? If you're really preparing for a marathon, you've invested more time and energy than any entry fee will cost you or any t-shirt will return.

Finally, what a nice little post-race deal. The gym was set up all day with lots of tables and chairs. I grabbed my bag which someone had neatly stowed in a corner of the gym according to my race number, put on sweats and a dry shirt, and helped myself to some food. The Oreos and the vegetable soup were great. Definitely tons of other snacks also to munch on. After a while, it was time to head out and get a bus for the 5-10 minute ride to the parking area; another well-organized feature of this little race.

All in all, I give this marathon high marks. I might run it again in '06, even though it is late on the calendar. It is the last marathon of the year in the Northeast and the weather can be tough. We were lucky that it was only cold. Three days before they had snow flurries, I think.

Many thanks to the organizers - you guys are great.

I agree with many of the comments this year but think the organizers are getting a bit of a free pass.

The positives:

Course is great, esp. if you like nature. First two miles are downhill on pavement, the next 22 on an out-and-back trail that is really nice this time of year. It is not an ultra-flat crushed gravel but you never have to really look down to worry about rocks or anything like that, so for all intents and purposes, it's very flat and nice on the legs. You run by some great scenery (creek/stream/waterfalls/lots of trees/nature), too. The course itself (without regard to markers) is great!

Weather was 33 at the start and mid to upper 30's throughout, no wind. Shorts, short-sleever, with a throw away shirt/gloves at around mile 8. Good running weather for me. Normally temps should be 50/38, which is still pretty great.

Organization was pretty smooth. Bus to start and return very easy and efficient. Volunteers were very accommodating and friendly. Nice group of people.

Nice to stay warm in a school before and after the race.

Negatives:

Mile markers - For those who didn't mind this, then you must not be into running hard and had no interest in your time. Marathon running is about pacing and since the mile markers were off, you had to constantly do math out there to figure what was what. And, it stunk to hit mile 22 but really be at least 5 miles from the finish. In fact, some idiot volunteer said, "Only five miles to go," even before mile 19. On the surface, no big deal; in reality, your body and mind cannot handle the cruel fate when you learn it's not 5, but 7.

Even coming up the last 1/4 mile, we had no idea if the course was really going to end at the start.... It was tough on the mind.

The shirt - I would really like the directors to send me a fleece since my shirt is worthless. The large is really about XXXXXL. Even a small might be too big for me, even though I requested a large. Also, it was a piece of junk. Very disappointed. One of the reasons I ran this was previous comments about the fleece. Seriously, directors, please make amends to the runners, it will pay off down the road.

Packet pickup: Why did I have to pick up my packet on Friday if the chips weren't ready until Saturday? Wasted a lot of time for us.

Not enough water or Gatorade stops. This is the first time I wore my fuel belt during the marathon and good thing I did. A few more would have been good.


Overall, I give it 2 scores.

10 out of 10 for potential, assuming they can add a few aid stops, give better shirts and not screw up the markers (which I'm sure won't ever happen again). The course is great and people very nice, so it could have been very good.

For this year, I give it a 6 out of 10. Mile markers deduct 2.5 points, the shirt 1 and aid stops .5.

This was my second marathon and my first NCR Marathon, run 13 years after my Marine Corps Marathon. I ran it because it is my home course - I live near the trail and run on it five days a week. Even though the start was mixed up, with the police leading us down Glencoe Road instead of Sparks Road, the race was well organized. The fluid stops were just plentiful enough, and the fans at the stops were fabulous. One family even added an extra stop by offering water, gummies, and cookies at Bluemount Road ("thanks!" to the Flowers). This is a race for serious runners; because there are so few cross roads, the opportunities to be pushed along by fans are few and far between. But the course cannot be beat - the trail is comfortable and safe; the Gunpowder Falls river meanders along beside the trail for much of the race; and the remnants of the railroad remind us that we are running a course that took Lincoln to Gettysburg and carried milk and other farm goods from the County into Baltimore City. More importantly, the slight upgrade is not noticeable going out, but the downgrade coming back can improve your second half time considerably. It is a good course for running an even pace, perhaps a negative split. Thanks to all the volunteers and the always friendly BRRC folks. What a great race!

The mile marker mistake in this year's NCR Trail Marathon took away from what would otherwise have been a lovely local trail marathon.

Though the markers confused me, I think the BRRC should be congratulated for organizing a solid race.

It was a cold day and tough for spectators, but I guess this is not a marathon where one expects great crowd support.

Others are far more forgiving here than some, according to the comments. I've run about 30 marathons (including Bostons) and ultras and consider myself a 'serious' runner. Being a 'serious' runner, I like getting a decent shirt that I can wear while training. I also would expect the course to be well marked. If I train weeks and weeks just to get to a marathon where the mile markers were so off as this they were at this one and then receive a worthless shirt, I'd be more than annoyed. In fact, I am more than annoyed. Others are right: This race has potential, but not at my expense.

I ran this marathon last year, 2004. My training was horrible and I turned in my worst time. This year my training was better and my time confirmed it. When I was told it was an out-and-back course, I thought about the hills going out and prepared myself for them coming back. The course did not offer any challenging problems that my training did not address. It was the mile markers that could have been troubling. I ran two 10-milers where there were no mile markers. This helped me because, when I noticed the mile markers were off, it did not distract me from running my pace to the end. I figured that the 26.2 miles would be correct and I need only complete it. I was concerned at the 3-mile mark because my time was much faster than expected. I attributed it to incorrect mile markers, but did not let that distract me and continued running within myself. The 22nd mile marker could have been more troubling, but I knew it would be corrected and continued running within myself. I agree with all the others, that you don't run marathons for shirts. I thought the water stops were excellent, the volunteers at those stops were superb, and the people routing for us, although few, were equally superb. I qualified for Boston and returned because I liked the course, management and the supporting crowds. The final hill is a problem, but adequate training removes it as an obstacle. It was fun. I hope to be back sometime.

I would like to thank the BRRC for their professionalism in this year's race. They ran out of small size shirts but offered to order more for the runners. And yes, we ran the course backwards and the mile markers were off, which was a little disconcerting, but a serious runner wouldn't let that get in the way of a successful race. I hope no one seriously considers not doing this race because of that mistake, or because of the hills at the end.

Besides, the hot homemade soup at the finish line more than made up for that. Delicious!

I've volunteered at this race for the past 2 years and it was a treat to experience it as a runner. Definitely my favorite marathon to date, and not just because I got a 15-minute PR!