Having ran the Half Marathon a few years ago, and being course support for my wife two year's ago, I went into this race with a positive outlook. Unfortunately, I was let down every which way. First, the most disappointing part involved the Expo. All I wanted was a 40th Marathon running hat. I arrived on Saturday due to previous family engagements, and found that those hats were sold out on Friday. The person from Playmakers' said that they brought 400 hats, and sold out in hours. However with a race of near 40,000 runners, that is only enough for 1% of those runners, if everyone wanted to buy a hat. It was bad enough that the online website closed the week before the marathon, but to get to the venue and not have anything, plus be told that there were going to be no other hats re-ordered, made me quite angry. Next, my swag bag did not have a neck gaiter in the e bag, like the other bags. I mentioned this on the facebook group, and am working on getting this now. Another Expo issue was that there was not any onsite Pre-Marathon massages , in order to help with my neck and leg issues. Other people had a pre-taping session, but that was it. For a Marathon, that pre-stretch/ massage is everything. Through-out, the expo was not huge, but not small either. The last Expo merchandise issue was with other shirts that were sold out, magnets sold out, other hats sold out, and the over-priced New Balance items that were leftover. Usually New Balance's price point is lower than Nike, but these prices were close to the Chicago Marathon in terms of lack of value. They did not play on the fact that it was the 40th Marathon enough at the Expo, and it looked like the typical Detroit Marathon expo, which was very sad. Not enough music, it should have been like a party, as forty years is a major accomplishment.

The race day conditions were humid, and the parking was very uncontrolled. The police presence was excellent though and they were very helpful when questions were asked on parking, etc. I was looking forward to parking near the Expo, like we did 2 years ago, but that area was closed, and we had to park near Nemo's off of Michigan Ave., as we did 3 years ago. That near mile walk took forever for a few Marathoners with blisters on both feet.

The actual race was better on the front half, which includes the International Marathon Half (One of the Best Half Marathons in the area). The back half was far less crowded, sparse on the crowd support and entertainment was spotty. The Aid station staff was friendly, but there should have been a few more throughout the course. We got band-aids near mile 12, and taped near Mile 16. The water stations were friendly as well, but scattered most of the time to pour water on the spot, as it seemed that they were not prepared for runners on a Humid day to consume so much water and Gatorade.

The finish line support was average, but the post-race party seemed to be closing down at 1:30 pm. After running a Marathon, it would seem like the party should still be going, but I guess not.

Lastly, the medal, to me was a slight disappointment form my wife's medal in 2015. I thought it would be clearly visible from a distance, but the writing was small, and my Corvette was barely red.

Overall it was a 2.5/5 to me. Missed opportunities, I am done with Detroit.