The Wisconsin Marathon is a mostly flat course essentially consisting of an out and back to the north of the start/finish area and then another out and back to the south. With the right weather, I think you'd have a good chance of a PR. That wasn't the case this year. The temperature was mid-50's, but we had sustained 20+ mph from the north throughout the race, which made for a fun middle stretch, but a VERY tough final 7 miles.

Pros -- Opportunities to pick up your bib in either Chicago or Milwaukee on specified days in advance of race weekend. This didn't help me, but the expo was very efficient and had plenty of parking on site. A scenic course through some nice neighborhoods and along Lake Michigan. Volunteers were very helpful and plentiful. I felt sorry for the ones trying to clean up all of the cups as the wind blew them everywhere! A nice finish area. The wind made things pretty cold if you just sat around and the Half runners had long left by the time I got there, so it wasn't very busy. They had a band playing and a covered area to get food and sit in. Just past the finish line we could get water, bananas, cheese, and bagels. A brat, beer and chocolate milk were also available. I didn't leave hungry. We arrived at the race about 50 minutes before the start and found parking within 6 blocks of the start. Plenty of porta-potties, but a few more garbage cans and a water station would have been good.

Cons -- as mentioned by others, once the Half runners head for home at mile 12, the course gets a little lonely. We did have some fans out during the back half,but not nearly as many. Since the weather was good, the number of aid stations, 13, was plenty. But on a warm day a few more would have been good. There might have been a chance to take advantage of the out and back nature of the course to have more aid stations perform double duty. The medal we received for the Full was fine, but those running the Half got the same medal. Only the ribbon was different. I think the Full deserves a bigger medal.