The 2017 Pro Football HOF Marathon installation of the event was run on April 30th, 2017. The event location and course was changed from last year's race. Temperatures were extremely hot and humid which made the running brutal.

The race offered a huge deal on the marathon entry after the race last year. You could run the entire full marathon for ONLY $26.20. I am not sure if this was to increase participation, which in fact I believe it did, as the numbers increased from 2500+ to 7000+ for the entire races (5k, Half Marathon, Full Marathon, and Marathon Relay).

The course was revamped last year to limit the turns and construction taking place on the HOF Stadium and was moved to downtown Canton. The elevation for the course seemed to be a lot more than I recall from last year. The route was basically starting and turning around at the finish line and rerunning the route you just came from. So you knew the rolling hills you just went through would be encountered again. For the most part the race was run through neighborhoods and the city of Canton. You did get to run by President McKinnley's memorial...twice.

Aid Stations: I felt that with the heat and the humidity there should have been more aid stations out on the course. They had them spaced out every 2 miles, where on most marathon courses after the half you will have them every mile. They did have gels out on the course at two stops. Flavors were Vanilla Bean and Strawberry Banana.

Expo Quality: The location of the expo was not definitively documented to which high school the expo was to be at. The parking was limited and a line extended out the front doors on Friday. The expo indoors consisted of about 20 vendors with race swag and various other running products for purchase. There were also a few race vendors there promoting upcoming races.

Parking/Access: Parking as mentioned above could have been organized much better. There were two parking options offered, VIP - which provided close to race start/finish, and the second option being at the county fairgrounds. When I arrived at 5:45 and saw a line of cars extending back to the freeway I knew there would be a delay to the start. They had only one entrance open causing the back-up and each person had to pay $5.00 to take the shuttle to the start (2 miles). After finishing the race there was a line waiting for transport back to the county fairgrounds which took me 30 mins. Not something I was looking forward to after just running 26.2 miles. I felt last year's set up was much better.

Swag: The swag was probably the best part of the race. The medals looked just like a football ticket that had the center piece that spun. Each finisher received a fleece blanket which on a hot day wasn't needed, but anytime it is cold can be pulled out. The shirt design was much better than last year, however the material was just okay. Each participant received free admission to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as well.

Finisher Party: Thumbs down on this, after finishing you received a banana, a bag of chips, a granola bar and a sports drink. Where was that cold refreshing beer or warm slice of pizza at the finish? Additionally there wasn't a localized area where the finishers could hang out.

Overall I was disappointed with the race this year. I had high hopes coming in as last year the HOF Marathon was my first race ever. I know several things affected the overall intentions of the race organizers, with the construction around the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but at this time would not recommend this race.