This race was well put together. The course was nice and the spectators were great. With the weather being so hot it was so nice to see spectators and residences some out with ice cubes and bags of ice. People turning on their sprinklers for the runners was wonderful! Post race was great too. Lots of helpful volunteers and great food. Only downside was packet pick up...the expo and vendors was very small. We will run this one again.

I'm a 50 Stater who panicked when the Madison Marathon was cancelled a few days before the race due to the heat. I heard about Med City and frantically called the race director to see if I could still sign up. He spoke to me on his cell phone the week of the race! The race ended up not capping the number of runners so Madison runners could have a place to run if they chose. This race ended up being absolutely AMAZING! In addition to the beautiful course and superb organization, they ramped up the water stops because of the predicted temps in the 90s. There were bags and cups of ice for runners at every stop! The race director himself handed me a bottle of water at an unofficial stop at Mile 22. Volunteers and spectators checked on the runners throughout the race to make sure we were all coping well with the heat. I loved my finisher's shirt, but by the time I got done, there were only big sizes left and I am very small. The race director read my blog entry about how grateful I was to have a shirt since it took me so long, and he found a leftover shirt and mailed it to me personally 2 weeks after the race! You just don't get stuff like that from the bigger races.

Minnesota has a lot of great marathons, and this is one of them. Wally and Peg are AMAZING and you should not miss this race!!

I was one of the many that traveled up to run Med City after the Madison Marathon was canceled. I cannot say enough about this race and the organization. They stepped up and added water stops, complete with lots of ice to keep core temps down, plenty of volunteers, as well as homeowners with sprinklers and additional water. There were ample medical teams supporting the runners. Spectators were great, braving a very hot and humid day. The course was very nice with a mix of hilly country roads and then a nice run through down town Rochester. Thanks for a great race!

Hats off to everyone who helped keep this course open in the extremely hot conditions. You could see their was a shortage of volunteers but they were well placed at every spot. I have never seen so many bags of ice in all mylife on one course. My favorite part was mile 21 or 24 cause you could cheer everyone on that was running past you as you were passing them. I'm glad I chose this race as my Minnesota race for my 50 states.

This was one of the hottest marathons I've run, and I was going about 45 minutes slower than usual due to the heat and due to having had a medical procedure, FUS, done three days before. For a flatter than a pancake runner from Indiana, the start of the course was a little hilly, but not bad. My brother, my dad and I were registered for the Madison marathon that got cancelled, and we were really grateful to be allowed to register at the last minute for this race instead.

The volunteers and spectators along the course were amazing! Especially towards the end, when almost everyone was walking and barely hanging in there due to the heat, the volunteers were so cheerful, asking people if we were okay, and ringing those cowbells to cheer us on. The race director himself was handing out bottles of gatorade and water right towards the end. In short, the spectators and volunteers were amazing. Since it took me six hours, it got hot towards the end but we were well taken care of. In the last ten miles I would guess there were around 20 water stops and offers of ice in bags, etc. In the twelve different marathons I've run, these were the best volunteers I've ever encountered. AWESOME RACE!!!

The race course is pretty well laid out. Race day, tempertures were suppose to hit the 90s and it did with a vengents. The people of Rochester realized the race course could use spectator assistance by providing ice, water and other items. At mile 13 was ready to throw in the towel when someone came up to me and offered some ice, this provided hope. The further a long I trudged, the more people were out to assist runners. This was my 50th marathon and if it weren't for the city of Rochester would not have finished.

2012 marathon was sunny and very hot, but I am very appreciative of the organizers and volunteers. The organizers black flagged the race but allowed those participants who were coping well to finish.... thank you thank you thank you. secondly...many thanks to the official and unofficial aid stations that offered up ice. Ice cold gatorade in the tummy and a bit of ice under the hat made this tough day tolerable. thanks so much.

Back in January, we chose this race based on the near-certainty that it would be reasonably cool in Minnesota in May, so we were most unpleasantly surprised to find ourselves in the middle of a race that was nearly canceled due to the heat! The heat was brutal, yes, and the course could have used some more shade; however, all the volunteers both official and unofficial really made a huge difference.

The race organizers really prepared for the heat by putting in extra aid stations, medics everywhere, etc., but the best parts were the people who were just out in neighborhoods and parks along the course handing out ice, water, etc., to all of us. It was fabulous to see so many kids in particular; shortly after mile 22, a young boy was giving out Ziploc bags of ice, which came at the perfect time to run (OK, walk) with it on my face for a bit, and then shortly after mile 24, some girls were giving out freezer pops, which never tasted so good!

Great job, Rochester, for really rising to the occasion and helping people have a great experience despite less-than-ideal conditions. My only complaint was that even though I ordered a small race shirt, I wound up with a unisex medium finisher's shirt at the end, which is pretty much a dress on me. But the course and race itself were great.

Wally and Peg Arnold did everything right to keep this course open today.

They had 14 water stations on the course - all having water, Gatorade and ice. There were two GU stations on the course. Numerous homes had sprinklers and misting machines along the course. Numeruous families had put out bottles of water and/or Gatorade. I can't even count the amount of people that brought baggies of ice out on the course. All volunteers throughout the course that we are crossings, between water stops, all had coolers of ice. They had golf carts brining extra bottles of water and cups out on the course. They had numerous medics on bikes. Remember these are lots of volunteers from the Mayo Clinic and St Marys hospital, so if you are getting sick or ill on a marathon course, this is a pretty good place to be. I still can't believe that I ran 26.7 miles (by my MotoActiv watch), and did not see on single ambulance treating a runner. Wow, what a fantastic job by the Race Directors, the volunteers, the aid stations, the police, the Medics, etc.,. This town embraces this marathon and that is why I have kept coming back to it each year.
Thanks for letting me complete my 17th Med City Marathon. I can't wait for number 18!

I absolutely adored this race. I think this part of the country is precious. Coming from sandy beaches and palm trees, I thought it nice to run in a rural part of Minnesota in the beginning with soybean fields and silos as far as the eye can see. If you think this race had hills, you have not run in Atlanta. I thought they were of average difficulty, especially for a flatlander.

Organization was fine for a small race. I showed up to the expo 15 minutes before it closed on Saturday night and all of the exhibitors were gone. Not a big deal since I hadn't forgotten anything. My shuttle was timely and pleasant with no snafus. No major crowds throughout, but it was a small raceonly 200-something marathon finishers.

The race finished in downtown Rochester, which was fun and cute. I was on the jumbotron coming into the finishit was a nice touch.

I would run this race again.