I work in downtown Cincinnati along the last mile of the HM/M course and have run the HM three times and the 10k twice, so I had an idea of what to expect. I registered for the marathon while picking up my 2017 HM and Little King's Mile race packets knowing that it was the 20th running, but not knowing about the jacket.

Packet Pickup and the expo is held in the convention center. It seems to be busiest when I went (lunchtime on Friday), and the crowds were thick. I cannot comment on parking because I walked across downtown from my office. Packet pickup is a two-step process where you get your number and clear bag (used for the bag drop) when you enter and your shirt/premium gift/poster at the end before exiting the expo. This arrangement works nicely, since you're not carrying around the big stuff through the entire crowded expo. As an added bonus, the envelope includes a checklist on the back of the items to pickup at the expo. First time marathon runners were able to get an extra shirt from Buckeye Running Co, which was not the nicest-looking shirt (it's just white with a pink Buckeye Running Logo), but I've worn it several times since then because it does it's primary function well. The other finisher's items included a black shirt (it looks nice, but I'm a morning runner and it's short sleeve, I'm not sure I'll ever wear it running :-( ), a picnic blanket (points for originality, although I've never used mine... but I wish I had it in my checked bag for use after the race), and a poster... The lone missing item for first-time marathon runners was a 26.2 magnet.

On race day, the course start and end changed from prior years, but it is no big deal. During the lineup, corrals A and B are monitored for entry, which is NICE! It seems like several of us were staying at the back of corral B to try and finish around 3:45... and we were less than 10 feet behind where the 3:40 pacer was standing. After some short remarks and singing of the National Anthem, we were off with much fanfare (the towering flamethrower over the starting line is really cool!).

The race begins no the Cincinnati side of the Ohio River and proceeds east then south into Kentucky for a loop before returning to the Cincinnati side and heading across the Cincinnati CBD. After crossing the CBD, the race heads up a very long (2+ mile) hill, and then the half and full splits. The full marathon continues east for quite some time until it loops back west to finish along the Ohio River. Aid stations are located every mile throughout the race and all are stocked with water and Gatorade Endurance. Throughout the entire portion where the half and full share the course, the crowd support is nothing short of amazing. Beyond the split in the full, crowd support dwindles down in some areas (mostly in the residential areas), until you get back into downtown, although notable exceptions exist in Hyde Park, Mariemont, Fairfax, and Columbia-Tusculum. Later in the full marathon, some of the aid stations are stocked with other items (2-3 places with Gu and 2-3 places with bananas, cold towels, and some with ice). The entire course is monitored by cyclists, police, and ham radio operators and the entire course is closed to traffic.

The finish line area is fenced off and unfortunately in the sun. Finishers are provided with a medal, water, a bag of snacks, a slice of pizza, a beer, a jacket (full marathon finisher's only) and a wine cooler (first time marathon finishers only?). The afterparty area is in the full sun and is low on seating, although there's plenty of space to spread out and shade can be found (I went and laid on grass in the shade). Baggage busses are convenient to the finish line.

It does seem like something happened with the photographers. I was photographed once, in the finish line area, where I was about to fall into the person handing me the medal... this is despite being visible for the prior 26.2 miles. However, past experience is that the pics are only okay and are very expensive, so this isn't an issue to me (although a great pic of my first full marathon would have been nice).

Overall, this race is run like a well-oiled machine. I would run it again.