Martian Marathon - Race Reviews

It's a small race so if you are looking for a big crowd then this isn't for you. The course isn't anything remarkable either. However, the volunteers were incredible. The course is very well marked and the bike pacers were truly outstanding. They provides loads of communication and directions. Absolutely the best I have ever ran with! Packet pick-up was easy and efficient. The expo is even a little bigger than I would have expected based on the race size. Plenty of bathrooms and parking for the start/finish area. Considering the low cost, a nice little race for the price.

Course: this is not a super flat course like Chicago or Erie but there's nothing overwhelming. A few rolling hills (1% ers) on the out and back portion on Edward Hines Pkwy. We had a 15KM/h or 9Mph headwind on the way out which is west and southwest bound but got it at out backs on the way home. The road camber or slant isn't bad at all...just move around a bit to adjust. You'll get a mix of left and right camber so you'll be fine. Lots of aid stations and well stocked. I guess some call the course boring but I would argue that it was interesting until mile 10 and then out and back predictable from that point on so as to allow you to focus on running. The course actually takes you by Henry Ford's house... that's not boring! Nice shack BTW. Organization: top notch. Kudos to the race director who I think was the guy who personally thanked me for running their marathon as I crossed the finish. How classy is that! Lots of emails in the home stretch to make sure we were well informed and each email referenced the previous emails to allow you to catch up if you missed one. Premium parking for the early start marathoners which was sweet. No problem exiting either. Food: worth a quick mention because they had the usual bananas and bagels but they also had chips and chocolate chunk cookies. If they had a coke, I would have been in heaven! Spectators: like 40 people total over the 26 miles. No one yelled 'looking good' or the other usual lies we don't want to hear when we look and feel like sh!t. If you need crowd support (and that's totally cool if you do) you need to go to a bigger race. That said, you'll make 20 new best friends with the 10 that finish ahead and behind you. Noteworthy: the race announcer (Dave, I think) is a dead ringer for Forrest Gump and a super nice guy and full of energy. I'm getting a selfie with him next year. BTW, I send the poor Director about 5 emails with all sorts of silly questions and they all got answered promptly. Overall: a hidden gem that Runners World should profile.

Running Fit puts on a good race, but the Martian Marathon is a mindnumbingly boring course. At 10 miles you turn left on a road until a turnaround at 16+, then you race back down the same road for another 7+. In total half the marathon is on a single, boring road that is completely slanted. Even prior to 10 miles runners are just winding through suburban neighborhoods. Nothing to see. No landmarks.

This was my first race outside of Canada in 2008. I wanted to see how the region was in 2017 with the news of the new Ford plant being built and the fact that the first time I ran it GM and Chrysler were close to going bust. The marathon race course started at 7:15 and you could park right at the start. Plenty of parking right at the start and finish line for free! I stayed at the Red Roof Inn for $79 a night which is pretty cheap considering. Course was flat overall with the first 10 miles going through suburbs. The next 13 are on an out and back which features flush toilets. At least 6 GU stops along the way and good water stops. Fans are very good. Food was okay with Hummus and pretzel sticks. The marathon was small with less than 300 people registered. Well worth doing again for the price.

There were snow squalls so bad I could not see anything for nearly a mile, the weather was so cold my camelback froze and most of the water and Gatorade was frozen. The shirts were more 'Canadian' than Cormanesque so a bit of a let down. The medal was nice as was the free parking. Many of indoor flush toilet facilities were closed. I really like this race and have been doing since 2009. Many Maniacs on the course and many familiar faces from Ann Arbor last week. A tough course with the weather but I was able to run up the steep hills at 24 and 25 miles. Highly recommended. Also, check out Donutville USA. Tell them you are from Canada!

This was the first US marathon I did and it really impressed me. I signed up for it because it guaranteed the ugliest race shirt in North America. Over the years it went to the coolest to this year where it was well - Canadian. The course really showed off all of Dearborn and flush toilets were nice. I still prefer toilet stalls with doors and washing my hand in clear not Gatorade orange water. The post race food was only pretzels and cookies. I really like the idea of free parking at the start and the numerous maniacs on the course. It is worth the drive from Ottawa. Check out the Motown museum as well. The coolest was the number of people who remembered me from the previous races. A good race!

I originally did this race in 2009 because of their ugle race shirts. They are slowly getting back to the Cormanesque nature of the shirts I love. The host hotel was amazing. With free GU, protein bars, gatorade and fruit the day before and during race day. Free shuttles to the start of the race was nice too. The rates were cheap as well. The hills near the end kill you but the enthusiastic crowd at the end are nice. I will be back next year for sure!

This was my first marathon, and I could not have asked for a better experience. The race was expertly organized - including timely email communications leading up to race day. Friendly police and volunteers along the course. There were plenty of well-stocked aid stations along the course with water and gatorade - and some stations with Gu Energy Gels. The course was relatively flat with a few hills. The beginning miles (approx. 1-8) were through residental neighborhoods, then the course returns to the main roads and mostly follows a single main road on an out and back course. The race t-shirt was nice, and the medal was a cool alien face. The marathon field size was approx. 360 runners. After the naratgib starts,several other races were held - in case you have a family member that might want to run, but not a full marathon: 5K, 10K, half marathon, and a kids race. Overall a great event.

Although the course is a little dull, the slightly rolling terrain is much appreciated. The organizers made this as easy as possible for marathonersdedicated parking right next to the start/finish (and portajohns)and we started 1.5 hours before the half the starting line was much less congested. It was also a great boost to come across half-marathoners going roughly our same speed toward the end.

Course is great! Running through the nice parts of Dearborn and Hines Park is wonderful. The hills are extremely fair. Heck, I set a P.R. on here by 7 minutes! Only knock on the event are the spectators. The way the course is designed, there are very few fans on the course. Besides that, I would definitely recommend this growing event!

This race - like many - was a metropolitan event. It took patience to get through the Detroit-area traffic to get to Dearborn, and then to the Expo. Still, the address was posted, so with help from GPS and a keen eye, it all worked out. Getting checked in was a bit of a challenge because you had to meander through the vendors to get to the lines for check-in. Then the marathon runners had to cross the lines for the shorter races. Once being where you needed to be, with your posted number, it was a breeze. Talking to an appropriate 'race staff' person at the expo took a bit of effort. The shirts handed out there were gray polyester with the alien head outlined in green, with text too. The host hotels were close-by. Also, the start line location was clearly defined in the summary of information, and parking was ample. And parking was available right adjacent to the starting line - for those who chose it. There had been quite a bit of rain the last week and Plan A of the certified course traversed an underpass that was literally under water. To their credit of the planners, there was a Plan B available, and it had to be implemented. This course actually went into several area residential neighborhoods. This required re-marking everything overnight, and it required a lot of volunteers, spread out over the course, to point out the twists and turns through the neighborhoods. Then it was a double-loop course, and that meant we got to see everybody twice. When there was an in and out, in a specific neighborhood, we saw the same person four times. The volunteers were awesome and cheerful. And they stayed for the duration (I was close to the end!). The way the course was laid out, we would go past the same aid stations multiple times for each loop. So we got to see those folks time and again too. Two or three stations did run out of Gatorade near the end, but others did not. To offset that, there was an abundance of GU/gel being handed out, so there was generally water and something for carbohydrate replacement. Porta-potties were not ample, but they were adequate, and they were strategically located so you passed them multiple times on the course. I never saw a line. For this race they trumpeted the chocolate milk theme. I was really looking forward to it. As is sometimes the case, near the end, they run out of finish line amenities. When I finished - with many runners still behind me - they were already out of chocolate milk. What a disappointment. On the plus side, water was still available. Also, there was an enormous amount of food for the runners: bagels, pretzels, Rice Crispy bars, bananas, cookies - literally, boxes of them. So, I doubt anybody left hungry. The weather did not cooperate for this race. As mentioned, it was a rainy week. Then, race-day temperatures were forecast to be mid 30s to mid 40s. It was a race for wearing long sleeves. There was some occasional rain on the course, and about 10:00 am it even snowed. The stretch along Michigan Ave. was incredibly windy for both loops, but it did not extend to other areas. Still, there were billowing, gray clouds for much of the race, and - for me anyway - as soon as I stopped running, I was very cold at the finish line; typical, I guess. The medal was nice, of the heavier type. It was a green alien head - looked like the ones that landed at Roswell in 1947! - with the year '2013' and 'Martian Marathon' in raised letters. Well done.

Really hard to judge this marathon based on 2013 since the rain and flooding forced the race organizers to make a last-minute change in the route, but despite the adverse conditions (and a less than ideal course) the organizers did a GREAT job!! The Expo was larger and better than anticipated. The Host Hotel was GREAT ... early race day breakfast was so appreciated. The spectators were sparse, but the volunteers were awesome. The Martian Medal is my very favorite among many ... super cool and solid! Good job to all involved. Hoping next year's weather is better for you.

This was not the smallest marathon that I have ever run, but it was definitely well run. The host hotel was close with breakfast starting at 4:30am and late check out. It was relatively flat. The finisher medal was the best of the 9 marathons that I have done. The spectators cheering us on was limited. Overall, a great race. Hats off to the volunteers and race director.

I went to packet pickup and saw the 5-6 sheets of racers signed up for the 5k and the same thing for the 10k and half marathon then looked at the marathon and saw only 2 1/2 pages. I thought 'Oh, no. Another self supported marathon' Lucky for me I was so wrong. The volunteers were awesome esp since I'm a back of the pack runner and needed the support late into the day. There were times when volunteers were the only people I saw since there were only a handful of marathoners left on the course. Might I add that all volunteers were full of pep even though it was rainy and nasty for the majority of the race. Not sure about the food at the end since I only grabbed pretzels, bannana and chocolate milk (Yum!) The host hotel was AWESOME! They so cater to runners with early breakfast, late checkout, shuttle service to and from the race and snacks and drinks after the race at the front desk for all runners. Well organized and supported. Thank you to the Dearborn Police Dept for awesome traffic control. Oh, and I loved the huge blow up Martians at each mile marker.

In a town defined by Ford and where everything is about Ford, here's a marathon about what else?...Martians. I'm still trying to figure out any connection if any, but it's enough quirkiness to bring back a lot of repeat runners. Hundreds of inflatable martians everywhere. Not as many runners dressed up as you would expect though (maybe if they had costume awards it would raise the bar a little on the whole alien theme). The starting venue had plentiful parking & portapotties with covered pavilions where we debated how much rain we were going to get. Starting ahead of the 1/2'ers was very efficient except when running into the back end of their race in those last few miles. There was some congestion with walkers on the biketrail portion near the end, but in general; plenty of room on the closed course virtually from the start. Not much to say about the out-and-back. It rolls along a green-belt from Dearborn toward Livonia and back, nothing too spectacular. Aid/water stations were well stocked. My only organizational concern is that the park restroom facilities were closed up until mile 7 and there were no portapotties on the course; quite a few 'anxious' runners by that point. Lots of race specific apparel for a marathon this size and the alien head medal is definitely unique.

Expo wasn't huge (which I like) but was festive and simple. Plenty of porta-johns at start. Really liked the full starting well before the other races. Course is a little monontous, but not too bad.One small complaint - pre race info said bathrooms every five miles. It was about mile 6.5 before the first one, and the ones that were available were about 30 yds off the course. Really appreciated the volunteers who stayed out in the rain and wind. Strongly recommend the Comfort Inn (host hotel). Staff was GREAT - use their shuttle service to get to the expo and to and from the race. They provided breakfast starting at 5 and had fruit and water available after the race. Tremendous customer service.

This was my 35th marathon! I have done this course now three times and I will come back for no. 4. This is what I liked: 1. If coolness of race shirts is a draw look no further. This year's shirt was okay in a guy who plays hacky sack on the high school property on friday nights sort of way but I bought a great Cormanesque shirt at the expo for five dollars! 2. I liked the hotel. Cheap rates ($80) and free shuttle to the race. The race food was good with cookies, chips and pretzels. I miss the pizza from prior years. 3. The volunteers and the theme was fun. Some improvements include more frequent water stations, free bags at the expo and a return to gawdy t-shirts.

I ran the marathon so comments are based on that race. This race has many pros: - Out and back (I usually don't like out and backs, but Dearborn has a lot of parks and green space, so the course was great). - The expo and race are extremely well organized. Parking for packet pickup and the race itself was very convenient and free. - 'Real' bathrooms at the start/finish and throughout the course. - A lot of very helpful and friendly volunteers. (lots of water, gatorade and gu). - Interesting 'martian' theme. - The medal and shirt (they have women's sizing) are great. - The age awards are cool (martini glass). The only con is that there is a camber in the road almost the entire time, but not much the organizers can do about that.

I am a triathlon veteran and this was my first ever marathon; and I am glad that I chose this particular race for my debut. The Course... -is an out and back but is closed which is a *huge* plus. -is relatively flat, with some gradual hills, nothing too bad and good for a PB. -has water/gatorade/GU every 2 miles. -huge mile marker signs every mile. The expo was fairly ordinary. Race organization was above average although I wish they would've let me exchange my race shirt for a different size. I would definitely run this race again.

I did the full marathon, so my comments pertain to that. Pros: - great expo for its size - road was entirely closed to traffic - good on-site support re: water/Gatorade - easy for spectators to see you multiple times - peaceful course - running through the woods towards the end Cons: - out-and-back is always a bummer (but understandable considering the distance) - steep grade in road in early miles - long walk (after running 26.2) to food from finish line Overall, I really enjoyed the enthusiasm surrounding this race! Very small, but if you have spectators it will be easy for them to see you multiple times!

I have run the full a few times now and the race is always very well organized. The course is a simple out-and-back on a road closed to traffic. Not a lot of spectators but great volunteers. Most of the race was positive: I liked how the marathon started 90 minutes before the half. We had plenty of parking and bathrooms to use before the rest of the runners showed up. Mile markers are easy to spot with the inflatable martians on them. Lots of room to run since we were not mixed in with all the other races taking place later in the morning. I liked the shirts with the martian on them. Negatives: The medal was small and was almost identical to the 1/2M medal. Most of the marathons I have run have medals at least twice this size. Also, I was slower than usual, finishing in about 4 1/2 hours, and most of the food was gone by then.

At first I was a little concerned when looking at the course since it's entirely out-and-back; however, I needn't have worried! The marathon started an hour and a half before any other races, so seeing the turnaround points for the half, 10K and 5K wasn't a problem since no one was actually breaking off at that point. The spectators were scarce, but those who came out were fabulous. The volunteers absolutely deserve some credit for this race - everyone was very encouraging and made sure to cheer for each runner. The mile markers were also themed - giant blow-up martians holding the mile marker (this is especially important for people like me, who are so into the race that they often miss the markers!). The weather this year was also amazing: 30+ degrees and sunny. The tees were a bit small (I would have ordered a size larger) but still fit ok. The only downside was that there were supposedly 4 GU stops - 2 stations on the out-and-back course - and I only found one since they weren't advertised on the course. I would definitely recommend this race!

This was my 26th marathon. The race was very well organized, with plenty of water and GU on the course. Spectators were sparse but most of the course is closed to traffic. If you are going for all 50 states, this is the one for MI. Good job.

This was my first 1/2 marathon. At first the race seemed pretty well organized, but they had some BIG oversights that made me mad. #1. The 1/2 marathon ended up being 13.4 miles instead of 13.1! I think this had to do with last-minute changes in the course, but that is just BAD! #2. GU and water were promised. GU was not provided and water wasn't as available as they claimed beforehand. #3. The results are still all messed up, with placements based on the start times, not the chip times. #4. There isn't anywhere to give them feedback. The "contact us" email isn't working. I had a great race and I'll go back next year. Hopefully they will have corrected these mess-ups.

I gave 5 stars to this event because it was really a great and unique kids marathon for my 4 year old daughter. Giving the same official marathon T-shirt and medal was really wonderful. She was really proud. By the way, the official hotel (Dearborn West Village) was really outstanding: breakfast at 4:30 am, free shuttle to the start line, late check-out (2 pm), and not expensive! They even gave to us free milk for our baby the night before. Dont hesitate and go there if you need a room next year. About the marathon, the out and back course was very boring (Im sorry to write this but there is not a lot to see during this half-marathon loop). This is not a marathon oriented race for sure, but I have a lot of fun and the organization was great (except the congestion at the arrival). Thanks to all volunteer and for the great kids and family oriented event!

My 10th and fastest marathon! Perfect weather this year with a great marathon course and superb volunteers - thank you! Highly recommended if you want a spring marathon goal to keep you focused during the Michigan winter!

My 27th marathon! It was great to see so many Marathon Maniacs on-course! Very friendly, well organized run. Could have used more porta-potties and the lack of doors on the bathrooms were a bit of a turnoff. Next to no spectators on the course, but the volunteers were great. Fun course; good expo. Great value. Will do again!

The Martian Marathon is a well-organized spring marathon with a quirky theme. The medals and shirts this year were really cool. The alien head medal was enough to keep me going late in the race. The course is closed to traffic and runs out and back with continual rolling hills. (The quads are definitely feeling it today!) Spectators are sparse, but when you meet back with the half-marathoners around mile 17 the support will help you finish strong. Pizza, bagels, bananas, and apples at the finish. Highly recommend if you don't mind a 35-degree (Fahrenheit) start!

The course is flat and fast and a bit boring. Ran the half this year with a GPS, and it said that the half was 4/10 of a mile too long! (I cut every tangent too.) This was confirmed by others. If it was long, that's inexcusable!

This was my 4th half Martian. This is a great spring, early-season run. The course is just fine - weather was good. Parking is a little bit of a challenge though. I had signed up for the full marathon, but had been sick - and had no problem changing to the half. The shirt was way too small, though. My a medium fit my 13-year-old niece just fine. And the shirts have always been great.

The organization was good, with excellent water stops, easy packet pick-up and nice medal and shirt. The course was a lot of the same - a long park road with little scenery, few spectators, and almost no elevation change. The course was either boring or mentally challenging, depending on your perspective, but at least there was no traffic with which to deal. Finish line food was good; just add soda next year. All in all, a pleasant but not very memorable race.

I ran this marathon for Michigan as one of my 50 states. I read the reviews, and it was at a good time of year, so I looked forward to a fun themed race. I really didn't expect much at the expo, but what surprised me were two things. First, there was almost nothing you could buy with the martian logo on it. What a HUGE missed opportunity for the race to make some money. There were no cups, stickers, or shirts to be found. Second, what happened to the shirt?? The past few years were fantastic, with multiple colors, flying saucers, and martians. This year we got a plain white shirt with almost no flair. There was no warning about the large amount of construction coming into Novi, so if we had not tried to find the start the day before, we would have been late getting there - and apparently many were. The course was nice and the volunteers were helpful. It was cold at the start, but it warmed up to be perfect running weather. My biggest problem was the finish. I'm not a fast runner, as I finished in 4:08, but who on earth thought it was a good idea to run the kids' run at the same time and through the same finish line as the rest of the racers?? I see the finish line almost there and get that final shot of adrenaline to sprint through only to be overrun by 500 kids and their parents as they flooded onto the race course. I had to walk across the line so I didn't run anyone over. I think it was a great idea to get the kids involved in running, but it really took away from the accomplishment of the race. They even gave the kids the same finisher's medal that I got. I had to ask two different volunteers to make sure I got the right medal because I couldn't believe that they would give the same medal for both groups. There was no Mylar wrap, food, or direction after finishing the race. It was obvious that the focus was on the half runners and the kids, so if you're looking for a Michigan marathon, I would look elsewhere!!

The course is quite nice, mostly following a slightly hilly road through a very long park (Hines Dr.). There was also a little paved bike path through the woods. Very little of the race is through populated areas, which I think is why there are not a lot of spectators cheering. Parking was worse this year than previously. I think it's because they've scheduled all of the races on the same day instead of the 5K and 10K on Saturday with the marathons on Sunday. Unfortunately, the parking situation (and my abnormally fast time) made my family arrive too late to see me finish.

The course was flat with a couple of rollers (one small hill near the end). The Hines Drive out-and-back gave you a chance to see the leaders regardless of how far back you were. Water/Gatorade/GU were everywhere you need them. Starting with the halfers was not a bad as I expected. They set a good pace for me. The course was sparsely populated after the halfers turn around (until near the finish, where the merge with the 5/10K walkers created some congestion). The path through the woods and up to mile 25 had non-racers coming head-on. Perhaps a "race in progress" sign would be helpful. I got there an hour before the start and parked about 20 yards from the start/finish line. Sweet. This is a "self bag drop" because I dropped my jacket and hat in my car minutes before the race.

This was a decent small race; the start area was nice with plenty of bathrooms and space to wait. The claims of plenty of parking were deceiving because we arrived early and the main lot was closed. We barely found a spot on the street - not as easy as advertised. The race shirts were disappointing since they were not as wild as in years past; additionally, that they're gender-specific should be advertised. For out-of-towners, it was a bit difficult to find directions from the expo to the race start as no maps were available at the expo. Fans were few but were great and provided a nice boost on a LONG out-and-back course. Fans in the finish chute were excellent! One issue was a lack of Gatorade at the finish line - a warm bottle of water is not sufficient after running a marathon, and their Gatorade was not to be found.

I thought the race was very well organized. I was initially concerned about going out with the halfers, but truth be told, I was severely jammed up in traffic at the beginning, so I late started anyway. The course was at the perfect elevation, and food and beverages were handled well. The people were very nice, and I didn't have to worry about traffic where I have had to in some other smaller races. Going green with all the handouts was also very cool. Nice job, guys!!

I thought this year's Martian Marathon went really well. A cold start turned into a beautiful day to run. Most of the course is on Hines Drive, which is completely closed to traffic, and there are enough rolling hills to keep things interesting. The start went smoothly. Plenty of water, Gatorade, and GU stations. Better shirts this year- not as crazy as previous years. And the medals were also an improvement over last year. Only complaint I heard was from some who had trouble parking, but I got there an hour before race time and had no problem getting a spot. Overall, I had a very positive experience at this year's race.