Longest Day Marathon

Having run the past three years, 2003 finally had nice weather. Along with that came a generally well organized race. To help improve the course and chances for nicer weather, I've heard that next year's race is moving to mid-May, and off the highway onto the bike trails.

I do not plan to do this race again. Aside from the weather being poor, there were several other problems. The course was poorly marked as there are several other races going on at the same time. The medals were poor quality and the race was overall unorganized. Provided only water at aid stations and virtually no snacks at the end of the race. The course was boring and alot of the race was run on cement which was hard on my body. Overall disappointing.

I will preface my comments by stating that I've only run 13 marathons. This was a boring double-loop course with hardly any fan support. This was not a big deal as I didn't expect much based upon the location. My biggest gripe is that their 'aid' stations were 3 miles apart and had only water. No replacement fluids, candy, bananas, pretzels, or anything related to noursishment. I started cramping early and was fortunate to mooch some salt tablets and a balance bar off of another runner. I thought that taking care of the runners was up to the organizers. The post race food consisted of bananas, store bought generic vanilla cookies, and McDonald's orange drink. Most races I can get enough to be satisfied. Here I had to make a beeline to Burger king to get some salt back into my system To top it all off, the medal is a generic one that has a runner on it (the kind you'd get at a high school track meet). The back of it shows clear evidence of grinding and buffing with a tiny engraving that says 'Longest Day Marathon Finisher.' IT'S OBVIOUS THAT THE MEDAL WAS RECYCLED. What an insult. Compared with other small town races with similar entry fees I couldn't believe how many corners they cut here to lower expenses and felt that my $40 entry fee was about $30 too high.. One would think they'd have gotten the idea after 32 years. I wouldn't go back here if they gave me free transportation, free registration, free hotel, and a $100 cash.