This was my first full marathon experience. I had run the half marathon the year before, the 10th anniversary, and wanted to do the full. One of the things that excited me and is sort of a staple for this race is that it is a different course every single year. eleven years, eleven different courses. Granted, it does primarily stick to the same part of the city so you know what you're getting into, but still, it changes each year.
It's flat. Extremely flat. Which is great for a first timer or someone looking for a Boston qualifier. This edition they did try to put some hills in by using underpasses (it's really flat in North Dakota) which was nice and really kicked my butt. Over all the course was laid out really well and a lot of fun.
There were a few downsides to it I felt though. With the course changing every year, they have to come up with a new one each time, naturally. This year there were a few part where you literally ran to a cone, ran around the cone, and headed back. It got the distance in, and I think I understand why they did it, but it really irritated me. It's a big enough city at this point that they should be able to build a course without needed to do that multiple times. The expo was fine, I guess. I don't really get into that stuff, got accosted by a guy named "Wolf" trying to sell some sort of massage device that I didn't want to buy, but that's not a huge deal.

I enjoyed this race experience immensely. I can't honestly say if I'll ever run a marathon on the road again as I've fallen in love with trails, but if I do, this is one I would absolutely do again in a heartbeat.