Marquette Marathon

The bike trails isolate you from traffic but also from spectators. Spectators are almost all at road crossings or trail access points. The crossings are manned with volunteers to stop traffic, I saw no issues. The trails are mostly paved but for two sections totaling maybe 5 miles. These unpaved sections had finely crushed gravel and good footing, even where you pass under a rail trestle with iron pellets (think rabbit pellet size) littering the path. It was warm this year, and shade is less frequent on the flatter back half of the course. Plenty of aid stations help with that. Organizers might consider moving the mile 16 aid station a bit further east; proximity to hard right hand turn and spectators made this area a little difficult. A fellow runner and I ended up behind this aid station on the road in confusion. Next water stop was only a mile later so no harm done. Start area and bus to it were well organized. Race start was a little anticlimactic (Ready set go) but appropriate for a race this size. Do go back to the start line later in the day and visit the Cliff Shaft mining museum. Interesting stuff and thank you to them for letting us start there. Pace groups are provided but might not be your thing if you like to roll downhill. Back half of the race the pacers were looking rather lonely (there are a couple of out-and-back sections). Trails aren't terribly wide so if you don't want to be caught behind a group on the downhill pass them early on one of the early on-the-road sections.

This was by far one of our favorite surprises. First, we had never been to Upper Michigan, and probably never would have if not for this race. Second, we had no idea the history of Marquette and surrounding area, and third the town and people of Marquette are very welcoming. There are multiple good restaurants and the University of Northern Michigan provides the city a nice college vibe. They also have a Blues Festival every Labor Day weekend as well as the marathon. Marquette is worth the visit even without the race! The course is terrific, it's a point to point, net downhill with multiple surfaces. The first 16 miles are along the Iron Ore Trail. If you prefer running paths in natural settings as opposed to roads, you will love this. The final 10 are in and around Marquette with multiple views of Lake Superior. The net downhill is nice and gentle, I know because if it's too steep, my quads are trashed for days. Fan support is sparse, but I'll take the natural setting over race fans any day. Water stops are regular and reliable. The expo was hopping as they also have a half, 5k, and Kids Run. There are a good number of vendors so plenty to see. The finish area is at Blackrocks Brewery, which has a great atmosphere, although it does get a quite crowded. My wife and daughter ran the 5k which is definitely the red-headed stepchild of the races. It's a point-to- point, but with essentially no parking at the start, or anywhere near it. So you have pretty much walk 5k to get to the starting line, which is a line someone draws in the dirt about 5 minutes before the race begins. So if you are looking for a change of pace on your Labor Day weekend, we would absolutely encourage you to take a trip to Marquette and spend the weekend with the Yoopers! You can get a good feel for the race and city from our video on our YouTube channel Race The Nation.

This is a beautiful course, the town is very nice and friendly. The downhill running definitely worked on my quads so be prepared for that and although the grade never did feel severe it goes on for miles. There is a hill at mile 22 that is tough going up and coming back down. The race management is fantastic and the volunteers were awesome. I would definitely run this one again. The upper peninsula is beautiful at this time of year.