I was in Philly for a conference and it happened to be marathon weekend, so I stayed an extra day and ran the half. It was really a great race. The Expo was pretty average as expos go, but the race was amazing. I could not believe how many people ran! Philly holds it's half marathon the day before the full, which they really have to do because the race is so big. There were more than 10,000 finishers in just the just half marathon. For all of those bodies and what you would expect of narrow streets in an old city like Philly there was NEVER congestion. I was amazed at how well managed the corrals/waves must have been for there to be so little congestion. Not even the water stations got back up. It's truly incredible to get 10,000 people on a course like this and not have congestions. Also, the course was so cool. you run by like every major landmark in Philly. This race was so awesome. And the medal was a miniature Liberty Bell. How cool is that?

I ran the Cleveland Marathon back in 2010. It was my second marathon. The course was flat and fast, the aid stations were fine; the expo was actually really good. The course was pretty boring though. There were a lot of bands, which is sort of their gimmick. There was at least one long stretch on a highway that was super lonely. There was a little kid standing on the median giving high fives though and he was the only person for miles. That kid made my day. Also, the course went by a water treatment or sewage plant or something, it smelled terrible. I just don't remember this race being remarkable in any way. If you live in NE Ohio and you only run one race a year, I would go for the Akron Marathon over this one. But they are far enough apart to do both, so if you need a Spring race, it will do, especially if you're looking to PR.

Back in 2009 it was the "RoadRunner Akron Marathon" and it was my first ever marathon. They had a reputation for great swag and did not disappoint. In previous years I heard they gave out Brooks shoes, but in 2009 it was a really nice Brooks track jacket. There was also a finisher's hat and medal. The organization of this race was top notch. The expo was great, the course was cool and well-supported. The finish line was in Canal Park where the Akron Aeros (now the Akron RubberDucks) play their home games. Being on the big screen at the stadium was AWESOME. It also makes it super easy for friends and family to find you. The post-race support was also great. Beer, chocolate milk, fruit, lots of other snacks. It was a great race. It's hard for me to assess the course difficulty because so much of the course coincided with my regular training run routes. There were two decent sized hills on the portion of the towpath trail that runs through Sand Run (this no longer on the course) and a monster hill that's only about a block long that was about mile 19 then on Garman approaching Portage Path (if my memory serves me well). I think this is at mile 22 now. Based on my experience back then, I can't recommend this race more. I hope it's as awesome now as it was then.