Any problems that apparently existed last year were completely fixed in this year's race. The water stops were plentiful and well stocked with enthusiastic volunteers, and the course was well marked. The race had a very nice start/finish area at the baseball stadium with good food, easy parking, plenty of room to hang out, and real bathrooms! The course was nice and uncrowded. Would definitely recommend and run again.

Had no problems whatsoever! Easy race, key drop was cool. Food was good, sunny... Was awesome and it should be a bigger race with more people. The region needs to know about this one. Awesome! Thanks for your labor of love Steve.

I have been out at this race 4 yrs in a row and it just keeps getting better. Got a little hot this year and really effected my time. Had plenty of water on the course even with the heat. Ran with six friends and all had a great experience and would do it again!

From the inside, as a runner, there is nothing to be improved.

This was a last minute race I signed up for. Overall the course was easy to run with no confusion unless you felt guilty running a little off the path and on the gravel. I was a little upset there was not more timing devices along the way and my only time was calculated when I crossed the start and finish line. I drove down from SD and I have been running in the 40's so the 80's really made my run difficult. I agree there still needs to be more water stops because some random lady handed me a bottle of water. The gatorade was also way to watered down and no gu or shot blocks given out anywhere. There were no race/spectator maps handed out making my husbands spectating limited when trying to find me with the road construction and not familiar with the area. On the Plus- This is very spectator friendly course esp if they don't mind biking. Friends could bike beside on the gravel path and watch as their runner passed them then bike down a couple more miles... I also like the small races and loved the fact that any random finisher could receive the prize money. My medal and bomb lanyard made up for the heat and my ok finishing time. Overall mark it off my 50 states list. If you live in the area I recommend it.

Not only did I have as much fun as one can possibly have running that length but 7 members of my gym did the half and loved it

I don't know what the problems were in the past but they are resolved now. I just finished the marathon and it was a well organized low key event with great finish amenities. Food, massage, beer, live band & friendly folks.
The course is run on bike paths and a short section of street (not much traffic), no killer hills or turns. Real nice course.

I highly recommend this race.

I have ran this race 3 different times. I am currently registered to run it AGAIN in Nov. 13th, 2011. It's a flat and fast course and better yet, it's a Boston Qualifier. It's family oriented and lots of friendly faces. The weather was beautiful last year and I'm hoping it will be this year too. Better yet, they give out money to some lucky runners, not the winners.... Come join us and run the race with us.

Serious flaws: No water for first 11 miles. Course poorly marked; many runners missed turns/got off course.

Felt like the race directors' half-hearted excuses of essentially blaming Murphy's Law is COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE.

Will not be back or run other races directed by this organization.

Overall, this course was flat and fast... although, according to my Garmin, there were over 1,000 feet of total ascent and descent.

I have seen the comments about the lack of water available between miles 2 and 11 and I have some thoughts on the matter. It is true: there was nobody handing out water during those miles. However, I counted at least 3 fountains along the trail between miles 3 and 10-ish... and there were no lines at any of them. I stopped to hydrate at two of them. I skipped the first one because I was hopeful there would be a manned water stop. After that one, I figured, why leave anything to chance. I stopped at 2 fountains after that. I realize that nobody in the zone wants to come to a full stop but it really comes down to a simple choice. Would you rather break stride and get a drink at one of the fountains or would you rather risk not being properly hydrated and having that lack of proper hydration affect you in the later miles of the race? I read that there were problems with water stops on this course during past events. I imagine that other reviewers saw these past comments as well. Based on what I saw about 2009's race, it made sense to stop at the fountains.

This was my 4th marathon on my quest for 50 states. I'm NOT an advanced runner. Until this marathon, my previous PR was 4:33:42 (Marine Corps Marathon - 2007). My finishing time for this marathon was 3:43:47. That time was good enough for 5th in my age group. It helps that I lost 30+ pounds during this time but the course offered a pleasant assist.

It's hard to knock a scenic course that offers nice, long stretches of solitude that allow you to get lost in your own head a little bit. There were no overwhelming crowds to speak of but the people who were there were highly motivated. It was a welcome change from the 3 larger marathons I had run previously where in some cases I couldn't hear myself think.

I almost forgot: nobody has mentioned the weather. For a week leading up to the race, the forecast was supposed to be very cold and wet. Mother Nature cooperated and provided race temps ranging between 41 (at the start) to around 50 at the finish. There was a steady wind the whole time but that's to be expected when running alongside a river valley.

Overall, I had a pleasant experience and found the race director (Steve) to be a most cordial and helpful guy. I'm glad I made the trip from Cincinnati, OH.