Even though we only live an hour away, we stayed at the Ramada in Toledo. It's okay. Not great, especially for the price. Might stay somewhere else next time, but this was the closest to the starting line. However, considering the fact that you still have to drive to the starting line and restaurants to eat and grocery stores, it doesn't really matter.

Nice little college part of the city to do a shakeout run in. We drove to the starting line and ran the first couple of miles of the course.

Expo was great. 4/5 because I've been to some awesome expos. The race shirts they give you are awesome, and I already had an in training shirt, so I didn't need to buy more.

Swag bag was awesome. This was the 40th anniversary of the marathon, so it may have been different than usual. Marathoners got a race tech shirt AND a race cotton t shirt, race socks, and a race magnet! First time marathoners got a REALLY solid, first-timer race zipper pull! My husband ran the half marathon and got the standard bag. Nice race tech shirt for 13.1, too.

Great race deals at local restaurants. I think we got 20% off dinner the night before because we said we were with the race. This applied at a lot of local restaurants.

THE RACE

Parking was atrocious, and we got there early. Post-race communication says they're aware and apologized and they're going to fix it. At least it was pretty close to the starting line.

Not enough porta potties, but that's always the case. Still, it made for a really hectic start.

Very sweet starting line. Nice national anthem singer, and a fly-over! Not too crowded.

The course is mostly beautiful. College areas, cute neighborhoods, a big park, and some more urban areas. It gets boring at the worst part, though. The last 6 miles or so are on a bike path (?) that parallels a road. Pretty desolate at the worst time mentally. But awesome finish chute with lots of energy. Key point here: The course is NOT flat. It's mostly flat, but every person I know who ran did NOT think it was flat. When you've got a course marshall yelling, "Last hill!" when you're headed to the finish chute, you know it's not flat.

TONS of crowd support along the way. I mean TONS. They REALLY are proud of this race and they get the whole town out there to support their runners. Great aid stations. NO ONE sitting on their butts. Everyone was cheering, calling your name, handing you whatever you needed. I had at least one guy make very sure I was doing okay when I looked pretty ragged towards the end. His encouragement was definitely needed.

They do a post-race party RIGHT! Awesome food. Great variety and quantity. I heard the beer was good. The medals are SOLID. Both 26.2 and 13.1. And you get a finisher mug because Toledo is GLASS CITY (http://glasscitymarathon.org/glass-city-marathon-race-info/). They send a really awesome finisher book in July, too.

Medical tent was top notch. My legs were trashed to the point I was in tears. I just needed to lay down and get ice on them. They did a great job with vitals and supervision, but also just gave me the space I needed and let my husband and a few friends stay with me.

I definitely recommend!

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