Lower Potomac River Marathon

This is a small but established, local running club event. It's a low-key, well organized, affordable runner's race. The host hotel was a decent place to stay- close to the start, awesome water views, reasonably priced, with a restaurant next door. Course: As covered in other reviews, the first half is the nicer half, with the second being an out and back up a highway. It's a PR type of course except for two drawbacks: you are probably going to have wind and the road camber is a noticeable issue (for me, it was the last 4 miles where it was significant). While the road was open, traffic was light and not a significant issue since there was a wide berm to run on. There's a little bit of hill work right where you don't want to see it, around mile 16-21, but it's a good warm up for Boston and it broke up the monotony of the trek up and back the highway. I think one way to make the course more enjoyable would be to do 2 laps around St. George island and cut back on the highway out and back. Volunteers/Spectators: For a race with 70 some runners and a miserably cold day, I was very impressed with the amount of support on the course. While limited, it was always enthusiastic. Bless those volunteers that came out to help! Post-race: There was a limited amount of food/drink available to the runners immediately after finishing, but a pasta buffet lunch was offered shortly thereafter, which was then followed by the award ceremony. All in all, it was an enjoyable experience that I would consider doing again. Thank you Liza and the CBRC!

I have to start off by saying I was extremely happy to PR by so much time during this race! The course was very flat which made it easier on the knees. As mentioned in other comments, the first half is beautiful and the second half is a little boring but still nice. I enjoyed the out-n-back aspects, it was nice getting to see and cheer for other runners a few times! I was very glad that I brought my own spectator crew, because there were hardly any spectators throughout most of the race. It was a pretty chilly day though, which I know may have deterred some supporters from cheering along the course. My cheering crew was able to see me 5-6 times which was huge - that was the nice thing about it being so desolate. The race director was good about sending communications about potential weather conflicts and keeping us posted with any changes. Aid stations were well-placed and the volunteers were very friendly - almost every time they asked me while I was approaching whether I wanted water or gatorade. 'packet' pick-up was pretty underwhelming, but I didn't really mind since the race was at a low-cost. If I would have known you only pick up your bib and a tshirt, I would have opted for same-day pickup. Immediately after the race you were offered a hot shower (towels provided) and a small buffet-style meal at the hotel/training center. A small, intimate awards ceremony followed the meal which was a nice touch.

Many things in this race were done right. For a small running club, this was a great effort. However, the 2017 race was run at 28 degrees at the start, with a wind chill factor of 20. While the cold itself was tolerable if you dressed right, the wind made this race very tough, as you ran half of it into a stout headwind. While the mid-race hills (miles 16-22) didn't seem like much on paper, running mostly uphill into the wind from mile 16 to approximately 19 was where most good marathons went to die. I was looking forward to the last 4 miles as being flat with a tailwind, but when I got there, I was pretty much done, tacking on at least 20 seconds per mile, whereas I usually run even or negative splits. Another factor not to be overlooked was the constant camber of the roadway, which was pretty severe for a lot of the race. I was surprised to see so many people limping after the race at the award ceremony, and these weren't inexperienced marathoners, as many had come to Maryland on their 50 state quest. I already have a physical therapy appointment scheduled to help straighten out the muscular imbalance from yesterday. The course was relatively scenic if you like the shore, and they made sure that you could not get lost. Any volunteer braving these conditions has to be commended. That being said, for the 13th year the race has been put on, you would think that they would have figured out not to use plastic cups, but several water stations did. Furthermore, no one ever bothers to tell the volunteers to balance the cups on the palms of their hands, so several wound up on the ground or spilled down my legs, which wasn't particularly appreciated given the conditions. The pre-race and post-race arrangements could not be surpassed. We were inside a building with several available restrooms until just minutes prior to the race, and we had showers and a free hot meal of pasta, salad, bread and cookies afterward. Showers, towels, washcloths and soap were also provided, and there was plenty of room for pre-race and post-race stretching as well. The medal was smaller than a lot of age group awards that I have gotten at local 5K races, but the ribbon was nice. Age group awards were marble paperweights with engraved metal. The race itself was a bit out of the way, about a 2 hour drive from BWI. There were however numerous hotels within about a 20 minute drive and one about a mile or so from the start/finish. Parking was no problem. I'd recommend this race more highly if they allowed you to balance out the camber of the road. The shoulders were generally 12 feet wide, so I don't know why they couldn't have you run both directions on the same side of the road. It may get a little tight around the water stops, but narrow tables could help with this, and it may save on imbalance muscle strains.