This was my first marathon so I don't have a lot of other races to compare it to. The race started in Byron, MN which is about 7 miles west of Rochester. Pre race was a fun environment the line to the porta potties was crazy long. If a person got in line to late, they were either going to miss the start or not be able to go.

Each tangent (3:30, 3:45, 4:00, etc) had a pacer for both the half and full marathon so runners had their choice. The pacers were great! Spent the first half of my run with the 5 hour pacer until I fell off pace.

Biggest hill was at mile 6 but there were consistent rolling hills throughout Rochester. This made the course tolerable but still challenging. They had water stations about every other mile starting at mile 2 The half marathon broke away from the marathon at mile 12 which thinned the marathon crowd quite a bit as there were only 389 (or so) marathoners.

It ended up raining from mile 8 in but the volunteers were great and each station had a combination of water, Gatorade and some sort of food/fruit. There were also many different areas, some easier than other, for spectators as my wife was able to see me about 6-7 times. There were even a few spots that she could stay and wait for me to come back around.

There was a PA announcing the name of each person (especially later in the race) as they approached the finish line. Once the race was completed, someone was there to give you your finishers medal, another booth to get your race shirt and an area to get some nutrition (bananas, water, gatorade, etc.). There was post race music and free beer (for those of age) to enjoy post race. It was raining at the finish so the crowd was sparce but it was still an enjoyable time.

The expo wasn't as big as I was expecting but still had a solid turnout all and all. A few vendors mentioned it was a smaller group than the year prior though.

Overall: would definitely do this race again. The course along made it worth it and the race set up was very solid.

This was my 4th year of running the Stu Nevermann 4 Memorial Run. The course is a fairly easy 2 mile out and back with minimal elevation change or hills. Slight decline in the last mile that was a slight decline in the first mile. Crowd turnout is always a positive as the race falls on the Saturday Morning of the Band Fest parade so people get to their spots early.

One water stop about 1.25 miles in and comes back around at 2.75. Volunteers do a good job of cleaning up and providing liquids to the runners as they go. Shirt was quality again this year, but if you didn't register by the deadline, you had to pay an additional $10 to purchase a shirt. First year that happened but it was also the first year I didn't register on time so not the races fault. At the finish you had water, Gatorade, bananas and granola bars to choose from.

Awards went to the top finishes male and female over all as well as top 3 in each division. They also offer a parent and child division which is a pretty popular option as well.

Overall, this is a great but simple race. Not to many 4 mile races out there so you are pretty much a guaranteed a PR but have a chance to beat it each year!

Fun and easy middle of winter 5k in downtown Mason City. Course was a little tough to follow as there weren't enough volunteers to be at each turn. Since it was only a 5k, there wasn't an expo or aid stations. There weren't any shirts or freebies included in the registration and the only people that walked away with prizes were the top 2 male and female runners.

As a whole, the race was solid as in North Iowa there aren't to many winter races but a person can't go into the race expecting a lot.