1. For me this was the best course to set a personal record due to flatness. For that reason alone I'm glad I participated. I wouldn't want to be there during a rain however.
2. Reggie, the race director, was everywhere; involved and concerned, even inquiring about runner experience at the finish line on the football field. Kudos to Reggie.
3. Parking by the fellowship center at the start was not stressful because it was ample and that's a bonus.
4. I like the mean, black technical shirt.
5. Food variety at the end was good, and there was some water after the race still at the start line area where I was thirsty after being shuttled to my vehicle.

The folks at Crossroads Church do a great job organizing this race. The course is very well marked, with plenty of friendly volunteers. There was water at every mile, and goo at many of the later stations.

The course was a little hillier than I expected; I wouldn't call it totally flat. It seemed like we were running up a lot of long, gentle inclines.

It was also a somewhat warmish day, with a high of 83 in Odessa. But the race starts at 7 am, so it was cool until the sun came up strong.

There were only 59 marathon finishers, but it seemed like we were constantly looping in and out with the half marathon group (which was much larger), so the race wasn't nearly as lonely as you might think.

Also, there was plenty of parking at the church, just a very short distance from the start line.

Great run, super organization, I would do it again.

West Texas Crossroads Marathon
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Odessa, TX
7:00 AM

Packet pick-up on Friday was very efficient. Each runner received a short-sleeved technical shirt and a bag of goodies. Race day temperature ranged from upper 50s to low 80s, sunny, very low humidity, and a bit breezy. The start line was at the parking lot of Crossroads Fellowship, which organized the race. The course was flat, through residential neighborhoods and country roads, included many turns, marked well, and monitored professionally by police officers and volunteers. There were aid stations at every mile. There was no crowd support. The finish was in Ratliff Stadium. At mile 25, we entered the parking lot of the stadium and ran a weird last mile, which included running the width of the parking lot three times before heading into the stadium, running a lap, and crossing the finish line. Each finisher received a nice medallion. There were plenty of recovery food items and drinks. I thanked the race director for organizing a nice running event and told him that he must have had a wicked sense of humor by designing such a strange last mile; my comment made him chuckle! It was a small marathon and required mental toughness. There were 59 finishers (34 male, 25 female) in the average time of 4:34:11. The winning times were 3:05:37 (overall male), 3:49:14 (overall female), 3:11:21 (masters male), and 3:58:36 (masters female). There were also half marathon, 10k, and 5K events which had attracted few hundred runners.

This was my first marathon, and now I'm hooked! I picked up my race packet the morning of the race with no problems. Everything seemed to be organized very well (but I have nothing to compare it to...). The course was flat as could be, which I thought was great for a first-timer or anyone looking to PR. There were aid stations at every mile. All of the volunteers were very friendly and helpful. Traffic control was wonderful. Crowd support is sparse, and since it's a small marathon there aren't other runners around to chat with. I would recommend bringing an iPod or a buddy who runs your pace....

Overall, it was a wonderful experience! I'm looking forward to running more marathons, and if we're ever that far west again, I'll definitely run Crossroads.

This is a great little race. The course support is second to none. West Texas offers a flat course and open spaces. If you are used to crowds and hills, this race is not for you. The volunteers were GREAT! I would recommend this race to anyone wanting to be pleasantly surprised. I'll be back again!

I ran the half. Great organization... not a lot of (which means not really any) spectators. And it's west Texas, so the course is flat and the scenery doesn't change. But you can get a pretty good time on such a flat course, so I suppose that's a positive!