Glass City Marathon

This is a great race for first time marathoners! Not too big, not too small. The course is flat, and the organizers and spectators helped make it a special experience. You get a brightly colored bib so people know to cheer you on as a first timer and a nice 'My First Marathon' swag bag (a cotton t-shirt, keychain, and sticker) included with the race jacket. The long straightaways sucked a little, but overall it's a nice course with lots of greenery. You run through a few well-manicured neighborhoods and a metropark. There are several quiet stretches without a lot of spectators, but I was glad not to have an audience the entire time. And the people who were out cheering were awesome - creative signs, cheers, and refreshments (mimosas, beer, donuts, popsicles, orange slices, etc.) As a back-of-the-packer, I was a little disappointed to cross the finish line and only find chocolate chip cookies left to grab - all of the pizza and other free food had already been eaten or taken away. But that is a minor complaint in an otherwise great race. 10/10 would run again!

I had high hopes for my hometown race (I now live elsewhere in Ohio and have run other big marathons). This race was ok, but the crowd support was meh especially that last part on the bike path (granted, it was raining, but by the time I came through it had cleared up) and the last 4 miles blew my PR - so boring and a steady incline it seemed. Volunteers didn't even know where bag check was located, the morning was a panic because of lack of signage as far as where to go from the parking area. Added unnecessary stress. And putting food outside the stadium was a long walk especially because I needed to get back to finish line to see a friend. I finished in 445, not the absolute back of the pack, and they didn't even have a banana left, just a cold piece of pizza. Wouldn't have bothered walking all the way over there had I known there was almost nothing there. The glass mug is unique. Expo ok. Overall maybe I'm spoiled by another Ohio race but my expectations were not met and I wouldn't run this again.

This was my first marathon, and Glass City didn't disappoint. Organization and volunteers were great, I really enjoyed the course and the crowd support from the community was excellent. Toledo as a city isn't at the top of my list to visit but I would run this marathon again, the race experience was awesome.