This was simply fantastic! The course is hilly throughout, and most of it is in the lovely forest outside of Bad Pyrmont. There are an abundance of drink/food stations throughout the course, and massages available after the race. You don't get that many spectators (after all, you're in the forest for at least 90% of the race). The course is very well marked. I'd have to say that this is one of the best organized - if not the best organized - marathon I've ever run. The only odd thing is that, at the drink stations, only carbonated beverages are served. I still did fine, though. In short, I highly recommend this marathon if you're ready for a challenge and want to see the lovely countryside of Lower Saxony.

Real charmer of a small summer event. Organized from a beautiful (albeit a bit geriatric) little German spa town, with a real undulating course.

Overall climb is around 2000 feet, and with inclines throughout the course - last one is at 40k. Really scenic course around woods, forest tracks and roads. Does double back on itself occasionally, but doesn't detract from its beauty. Very well manned and organized water points with cola, isotonic, water, candy and fruit every 3-4k. Only wee gripe is that everything (including the lcoal spa water) is carbonated, which causes some of us a bit of bother with gas!!

Was a field of about 130 marathoners in 2004, with another few hundred starting on a 10k or 20k about an hour later - when everybody meets up on the course.

Only other peculiarity of this run was that was given absolutely no momento, such as a medal, tee-shirt, mug, etc...

So, if you fancy a small, very hilly, mostly off-road, challenging marathon, you should definitely give this one a go.

This is a very small race, only about 100-200 runners. It is entirely a trail run. The hills are difficult. The largest hill is just after 20K! The hills go on forever. The trail was very well marked. I think we repeated too many sections of the course too many times, but maybe this was not preventable. I was quite impressed by the organization and the 'wasser' stops considering it was such a small race. I probably won't have another opportunity to run this one, and that is probably a good thing because the only way to properly train for this race would be to train on the actual course. This is not too possible, considering I am from the USA!