A great early fall race. Enjoyed the small town atmosphere but this is a decent size race. Now, if you're afraid of hills you better think twice. Also, if you live for the expos then this one might not be a good choice. For those of us who enjoy something challenging with great scenery then this is the one! The medal was great and the pullover finishers jersey are impressive.

So I ran Grandma's Marathon in June and the Grandfather Mountain Marathon in July! This is THE best small marathon I've ever run. What's not to like. No expo means easy bib pickup and no sales junk everywhere. Park at the start line! A cool start at the football stadium then head out of town. Nice rural roads with limited traffic. Newsflash Newsflash.... When the work MOUNTAIN is in the race name then you know what youre going to get! Awesome mind numbing mountains to run up and down. Sit back and enjoy the distance. Take in the scenery and the small numbers give you time to be greeted by each volunteer.

The finish is awesome and getting to finish on the track is off the chart! Huge highlands marching band greeted me. Don't run it for the shirt or the medal...Run it for yourself!

Well this is a tough marathon to review. I really, really want to say it was awesome but I just can't. In spite of a great location and scenery the marathon left a lot to be desired. Primarily I came up WAY short on mileage and had to run through the finish and the half mile back to the hotel! The course starts through town which is awesome and immediately gets around the lake but then it heads straight out of town. That's fine but getting routed through the parking lot at the fairgrounds stunk and then there was very little interest on the backroads the course took. Traveling too and from Lake Placid we saw great scenery but we sure didn't seem to be in the same area for the marathon.I can say that the race support was generally nice and reception at the finish along with the food choices was good. I'm never a fan a combined half/full medals and/or shirts.

There is a lot of great marathon options out there...and thus a lot of completion.

This is the BEST race I've ever done! Well organized and executed. Huge small town support and a wonderful course! I hope to get to do it again one day! I have no complaints and not suggestion. A little crowded in the finish area. Oh did I mention that I PR'd by 20+ minutes on the full marathon! Great weather along the route. Tremendous local support and enjoyed getting a nice hotel to enjoy the getaway.

Overall a great smaller race along the shore! I enjoyed the scenery and boardwalk. The final miles were a little disappointing along a very busy road. Even though the road had cones the sidewalk was much safer. Great weather and location. Would have enjoyed more around the downtown. The area around mile 17 (?) was a little hard to follow but nice to get out by the field.