I ran Freedom's Run Marathon in 2016 as a training marathon and I was so glad I did. Full disclosure, I'm friends with the race director, Dr Mark Cucuzzella, who does so much for running in general as well as the wider community through his advocacy work on public health issues like diabetes and opiates. This is a typical small-town race, with no frills, but with the enthusiastic input of hundreds of members of the local community. While there was a downpour within the first couple of miles, with drizzle throughout, it's a privilege to be able to run through the national parks, particularly Antietam, the site of the highest loss of life of US forces in a single day. It's difficult not to be affected by this as your run past the battlements.

The course is relatively flat for the first half along the C&O path, then some tough hills in the back half but reasonably spaced out. While a difficult course, if you've trained on hills, then you should be able to eat them up. Certainly not a PR course, but that's not why you run this race.

I would urge anybody thinking of running a fun marathon to support this event. Everything that is raised goes back to the community. The growing success of the event is due not only to the efforts of Dr Mark and Katie, but the entire community of Harpers Ferry and Shepherdstown.

Really fun race, well organized and friendly vibe. Would absolutely run this again. The heat and humidity, combined with the elevation changes, make for a tough race. The second half is definitely challenging, particularly as you cross back into Annapolis over the bridge. Really glad I signed up for it and would recommend highly.

I would recommend it because it's right outside my apartment and it's convenient to anybody living in downtown Chicago. I ran the 10km. Course marshals were not paying attention and directing traffic appropriately for the people upfront. And there was a huge bottleneck around Belmont Harbor heading south as some other huge group of walkers/ joggers were heading north.

What an amazing experience! Definitely my favorite marathon I've run so far in terms of the overall day.

Just an all-round, highly organized and flawlessly executed production. My favorite marathon. Carey Pinkowski is an awesome race director who is very committed to the Chicago running community.