New Hampshire Marathon

I don't understand how the race director can get insurance on this race. The late saturday start (9am) was not only made a hot race but inconvenient for many of the town people trying to drive around the lake on a Saturday. An earlier start is a must and she should consider moving it to a Sunday. Most cars moved over but a few did not and made the passing down right dangerous. It was almost as bad as my Bermuda marathon, but they had small cars not huge trucks. I have no idea why such a late start, the world is getting warmer every year. This was my 70th marathon over the past 13 years, I know the weather is changing , race directors really need to pay attention and make a change. 9am is ridiculous. A very nice shirt, junky medal, no food left, but granola bar. The course was beautiful but the convenience of hot showers at the school was the best. Very convenient since my hotel would not give me a late enough check out.

Wow! What a hidden gem of a marathon! Traveled to Bristol from Omaha with my wife to run this race. (Yes, I LOVE small-town marathons!) Our experience here was outstanding: from the small-town charm to the great restaurants (BHOP) to the cool B & B's to the unique N.H. Marathon Arts & Crafts bazaar to the AMAZING (and affordable!) pasta-feed to the high school marching band playing a concert before the start... I'm SO glad I got to run this race. Perfect weather for a marathon; cool (45 degrees) with little wind. The course was hilly, but it was packed with so many gorgeous views that it didn't affect me as much as I thought it would. Not a ton of spectators, but the ones that came out were super encouraging. Stayed at an amazing B & B: Sculptured Rocks Farm. Kudos to our hosts Mike and Dawn. (The B & B actually manned an aid station, and Mike was the official starter of the half-marathon!) My only suggestion might be to design a better finish. Not sure I can explain it, but after an entire race of great views of the lake or countryside, ending as we did, kind of on an alley/backstreet, seemed just a little anti-climactic. Still, we had a blast in New Hampshire. Way to go, Bristol! Run this race!

This race was on a very scenic course going around Newfound Lake and through mostly residential neighborhoods. This was by far the hilliest and most difficult marathon I had ever run, so make sure you do plenty of hill workouts in preparation for this race!! I don't think there is a single flat section on the entire course!! A good portion of the course is on narrow streets with narrow shoulders or no shoulders at all, which makes it 'interesting' ! This is a very small race with only about 200 competitors, so don't expect much. Only water and Gatorade was given at water stops with no GUE or Gel or even fruits, so make sure you bring your own or you'll hit the wall for sure. You figure after 24 years, they have the nutrition issue all figured out, but I guess not !! The finishers medal was also very lame and resembled a dog tag! Very disappointing indeed. All in all, I would not recommend this race, unless you either have to do it as part of your 50 states or live in the area.