Loved the course, ocean side, country highway, trail, then city streets. Tough hills in the last 4 miles though. Food is good, t-shirt a bit disappointing (plain grey tech shirt). Sparse on spectators, even the last few miles in Charlottetown, but the unseasonably cool weather could have been a factor. Also, my wife and I ran together and the cones were placed so close to the left side of the road in the last few miles, that we could not run comfortably side by side unless I moved to the right of the cones. All fairly minor though. Great destination race. We made a week of it and toured the Maritimes with its great fall colors.

My kudos to the race committee. A great job. Superb pasta meal, excellent organization. A bus driver who let us stay on the bus on a cold morning, because he would have to go to church otherwise. My race bunny (4:30) was right on and full of encouragement the entire way. Lastly, but not leastly, the friendliest people I have ever ran into on the island. Not one horn beeping with impatience, polite and courteous instructions for lost tourists, and great beer.

Scenic course offers 4 distinct sections (beach road next to Ocean, country road, trail then city streets into downtown) that help break up the run mentally. People following you have lots of opportunities to see you as it is easy, with limited street closures, to go to different parts of the course. With less than 300 participants there is a lot of time running on your own but you are rarely out of sight of other runners. Water stops are well spaced and spectators while not huge in numbers until closer to the finish were very friendly and supportive. There was even a bag-piper at several points throughout the course.

I ran this marathon in 2008 and 2009, and I plan on running it in 2010 and every year after. It's a beautiful course, the scenery is amazing, and it's so nice to run on something other than pavement! Beware of the two big hills on University Avenue 38K in!

This was my 12th marathon. It was an incredible experience. The course is great, and the volunteers are enthusiastic, well-organized and extremely friendly. The small size of this event gives it a more intimate feel. (I predict this event will get bigger as more people find out about it.)

It was a great introduction to PEI. (This was my first time there, and I'll be back.)

Incidentally, it was also my first Boston qualifier.

Congratulations to everyone involved in this event.

This is the best organized and run race I have ever participated in. PEI has all the amenities of a big-time race, with the friendly features you get with a small field and excellent local support. Course keeps the interest up with four distinct phases: scenic run along the Gulf of St. Lawrence, rolling country roads, crushed gravel along the Confederation Trail and a downtown finish. The course is not overly challenging but you need to be ready for windy conditions, and some hills in the last four miles.

Excellent for a first-time marathoner, or someone looking to combine a vacation and running experience in one trip. Highly recommended!

This marathon was a coming home of sorts for me and my first postpartum (8 months). What a treat! Not only is the race very well organized, but how often do you get to say that you ran through an island? Really very cool.

You start at the beautiful Brackley Beach Dunes, which almost completely shelter you from the wind, though this was a bit of a chilly day. Then you run along the water, past bays and herons to the Trans-Canada Trail. This is no regular trail run; it is a wide path, with fine gravel and slight grades (as it used to be train tracks). Oh, and watch out for GIANT pumpkins in the fields on the trail run.

Then you leave the trail and head into the city itself. This is where there are few decent-sized hills - of course, in the last 7K :) - and the scenery is a little less then stellar. If there is anything I would change about the route would be to find a more scenic way into town and finish off what is a beautiful race.

Also, they put your name on your bib. Many races have started doing this, but randomly I started talking to a guy named John, who's bib was slightly torn at the start. Well, John and I ran about 30K together and talked steadily for the first half. It turns out that he knew my father-in-law, and we exchanged stories.

That is a maritime race for you - meeting new friends and having them wait for you at the end to see you through.

The 9 a.m. start time is the only other thing I would change. If you are a 4-hour runner like me, you have to run through lunch. Being a nursing mom, I was starved by the end, but happy. An 8 a.m. start would be great.

A great comeback race with incredibly friendly people. I would definitely do it again.

This is the second year I went to PEI to do the half with a group of friends. They put on an excellent race - fast, interesting course, strong police presence, friendly volunteers and great post-race food. I awarded the spectators 4/5 only because of their numbers, not their enthusiasm.

This year the expo was a little trickier to locate and my requested shirt size was not available, but you can't fault perfect running weather, easy logistics and Braveheart Hill.

I'll be back, definitely!

Although this was a small-time race, it was the best experience I have ever had at a marathon. The scenery was great, the course had a good mix of flats, rolling hills, and a few tough hills at the end. The crowds were small but extremely encouraging. The organization was perfect, from the bus ride to the start, to the water stations, to the food at the finish line. You cannot find friendlier people than you will find in PEI.

The course begins flat in an incredibly beautiful national park, continues through gently rolling farmlands with great fall colors and, after about four sharp dips in the course's elevation, concludes in downtown Charlottetown, the largest city on the Island but with a small-town feel. You run along paved roads for the first half, transition to a well-maintained, hard-packed pea gravel trail for the next third, and finish on roadside into town. It sounds like a lot of road running, but the only real car traffic you see is once you approach C'town.

The signs at the packet pick-up area could be improved and the expo was quite small. There are free shuttle buses for marathon participants from C'town to the race start, but my wife and I had rented a car and we stayed five minutes from the start line in a nice hotel in Brackley Beach. No traffic, plenty of parking, no worries. A dedicated marathon start so no jostling with other distances.

The weather was perfect for the 2007 race. Cloudy to start but sunshine by the finish, no rain and little wind! Distances were well marked every km, but no split times were given. If you are trying to keep to a pace be sure you bring your own watch. Plenty of water/gatorade (two gel) stations, but could be better signed. Many photos of the participants are taken along the race. Lots of constables to keep traffic at bay as you get into town and they were the most friendly, most supportive officers I've ever encountered during a race. Spectators were few (not a big population base here) but very encouraging. Small town feel to the race. Our first names were printed on our bibs and it was nice to be cheered on by name.

Since it was such a distance for my wife and I to travel to PEI, and we had never been to this province before we made a weeks holiday and drove across the whole island after the race. Beautiful, great fall colors and little traffic. Many of the attractions/restaurants/hotels close by the end of September but we still did just fine. All in all, a great vacation.