Not too huge where you're shoulder to shoulder with other runners the entire 13.1 but you never seem alone during the race. Fairly flat, goes thru fun neighborhoods and trails. Ton's of water / gatorade stations and well marked miles. Fun finish onto the football turf! Def. Recommend.

This is a pretty fun race - Every once in a while is fun to do a big race. I really like my tech long sleeve shirt (perfect for the winter weather we had!) though it has the race course outline on the back... (I still think it looks like a machine gun!) Expo had lots of vendors to pick up any last minute items (GU for me) or grab a sale training item. The race itself was fine, but very crowded almost the whole way. Even though we were corralled, the marathoners started at the same time and we didn't split off until right at the end of the half. It was hard to find space to maneuver or speed up. Also it was difficult finding meeting up with friends / rides after the run. Finish was off to the side and after being a little disoriented it took a few minutes and fellow runners to get pointed in the right direction. Scenery was they best you can do with Detroit. I think a big draw is running over the bridge to Canada (Beautiful at sunrise), Running along the river in Windsor and back thru the tunnel. Lots of crowd support there! sporadic bands/radios blaring always a plus. Totally recommend if you haven't done this one before. I personally would rather hit other big cities halves now that this one is completed.

This was a great first Marathon (and i'm sure 2nd/3rd, etc) Course was beautiful running along the water as the sun was coming up. Course was relatively flat, some slight rolling hills. The biggest hill was at the turn around point. The race is on a Saturday which makes traveling to TC on a Friday fairly traffic-y but well worth it. Bonus for running first marathon on a holiday weekend Saturday: 2 extra days to recover before going back to work and being functional! Friend was able to pick up packet so did not go to expo. Overall, Highly recommend this race!