Sioux Falls Marathon

Much of the first 15 miles are on concrete roads and sidewalks which were pretty torn up. The last 11 miles were on asphalt bike paths. Good volunteer help directing traffic where necessary. Very convenient race, only 2 miles from the airport. Several aid stations ran out of water, slower runners and walkers should carry their own water. Powerade tasted terrible. Expo was small, held in a different sports complex about three miles from the Sheraton host hotel. Temperatures are typically 80 degrees on race day in late August.

Ran the 2018. COURSE: Pretty especially going through Falls Park, Didn't anticipate so many hills and probably exhausted myself too early. START and END: Wonderful to be inside a building. Plenty of food and volunteers. Timing clock was a little confusing but corrected. VOLUNTEERS: Plenty of them. But more needed along the route as some places were confusing. CROWDS: Quiet, and few, even passing through neighborhoods. Would be great if there were more. Many college students cheering. Cheering crowds help us runners, and help the event too. THANK YOU! SIGNS: Not enough BIG signs to direct runners. Since this is a small marathon, it was a little confusing when running through the baseball fields with hundreds of baseball players and spectators, and it was not that clear where to go. The sign after the bridge was also missing (maybe blown away), and it wasn't clear whether to turn right or turn left. Would be great to either have good BIG signs or volunteers to direct runners. SHIRT: This is one of the best looking shirt I have seen. Very pleased with it. Much better than the Twin Cities Marathon 2018 shirt. PHOTOS: Excellent especially at Falls Park. Clear photos of runners and not fuzzy like some marathons. Probably because it is a smaller marathon. Also liked the ability to take a photo with your chip time clearly displayed when you are done. MOTEL: Stayed at Sleep Inn, which was affordable, walking distance, late check-out, breakfast included and they went out of their way to get it ready at 4:30 am in the morning, no need to stay for two nights. Highly recommend this motel. OVERALL: Really enjoyed this marathon. I would recommend to others for sure. Also Sioux Falls organizers may want to attend Twin Cities Marathon weekend to promote the run more. It is only a short drive from the Twin Cities.

I chose Sioux Falls as it fit into my schedule and was a manageable 7 hour drive from home. I highly recommend staying at the Sheraton (which is attached to the Denny Sanford Premier Center). I was able to leave my hotel room at 6:16, make one, final pit stop at one of the numerous bathrooms along the way and still get to the start area with plenty of time. The start/finish area inside the arena is nice. No need for a drop bag or throw-away shirt. There aren't a ton of spectators, but the ones out there were great. Numerous volunteers at numerous water stops and all of them seemed genuinely happy to be there. I enjoyed the course. Had a couple mile stretch along Skunk Creek that had a headwind, but you're running in the Plains, so what do you expect. Plentiful amounts of post-race beverages and food. Overall, a great marathon and one I would highly suggest.