So the Niagara International Marathon is on the Canada Side of the Falls. If you run the Full, you run with your passport since you start in the US and cross the Peace Bridge into Canada.

Expo: at some random mall in Canada- what stinks is that you pick up your bib in one part of the mall, your shirt in a second location and your swag bag in a third location. You feel like you're going to forget something! I get trying to get people through the expo, but there has to be 1. a better spot to have an expo and 2. to streamline packet pick up.

Start: you're bussed there from one of the host hotels. They did a good job of bussing a few thousand runners to the start, that's for sure! A long line, but it moved quickly. Enough port a potties at the half start, heaters would have been nice, but what can you do.

The course: Scenic. More of a quieter race without the bands, which is nice. Water every 2-3 miles, would have at least liked every 1.5 miles for water/fluids, etc (not a gel fan). Had both miles and kilometer markers, but no clocks on course, so you weren't sure of what your time was.

Finish: behind the falls. I appreciated the jackets over the heat sheets. Glad for water and bananas, chocolate milk would have been nice. Baggage shuttles were there if you checked a bag. Not sure where the shuttle was to the crowne plaza, but it didn't matter because my hotel was closer walking wise than taking the shuttle

The River Run Half is a West Cleveland staple for runners and put on by Hermes Running. My first year doing it this year (had to work last year). It's a point to point race, so here we go:

Packet Pick Up: done at any of the 3 Fleet Feet stores in CLE the week leading up to the race and at an expo type shin dig on the Saturday prior, no race day pick up. It was nice though, because you walk in, they look up your registration and assign you a number, you get your shirt and such and go about your day- in and out in 5 minutes max. Kinda nice not having to walk through an expo and being pounded by vendors

Parking on Race day: 2 options, the start or Rocky River HS close ish to the finish. Since the course is walker friendly and they can opt to start an hour earlier. If you choose the walking option, you have to park at the start. I parked at the finish and was bussed to the start. The race starts at 8 AM and the buses leave the HS at 645 AM so be ready for that. They also have shuttles after the race to the start if you parked there and back to the HS. Only downside was the the shuttles back to the HS after the finish only sat 10 ppl and the shuttles back to the start were full out buses- the line to the HS could have used one or two of those

The Course: Starts in the metro parks, a short detour in Berea for 2 miles or so and then essentially 10 miles+ along the Rocky River. A good amount of port a potties at the start in addition to some park restrooms, but the lines didn't seem to be moving. Anyways, a very scenic course and no crowds really, which is nice for a change so you can get in tune with your self. Pockets of people at intersections, but really no traffic to worry about since the road was blocked off. Water/Gatorade every 1.5-2 miles, kinda wish it were a touch more, but what can you do. Mild hills, but nothing serious. Only seemed bad because of me getting only 4 hours of sleep!

Bling/Shirts: good shirts and bling. If you do the Cleveland 10 miler in May, you get a special medal piece at the finish

Post Race: pizza, bagels, water and a few other options. Chocolate milk woulda been nice

A must do race if you're in Cleveland!

Alrighty so here's for the Half Marathon. I flew in from Cleveland Friday night. Stayed at a hotel about 3/4 of a mile from the start, but they had a free shuttle too and from the airport

The Expo: Saturday 11-7 and Sunday throughout the day (bib pick up closed 30 min prior to each race so for the half, it stopped at 630). Not a whole lot of vendors. On Saturday, the line was ridiculous early in the day and they didn't make it clear that if you didn't check for your bib number on your smart phone, you had to pass the line to get to the bib numbers and come back to the ridiculous line. There wasn't much of a line later in the day when this girl had to go back for safety pins.

Pasta Dinner: free if you pre registered before like 9/16. Decent food and all you can eat pasta. Can't complain about a free meal!

The shirts: long sleeve tech shirts, but the same shirt for everything (Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K, 5K, 1 miler).

The course. the first 2 miles had some hills (but at least you went down them on the way back). Relatively flat with occasional hills throughout the course. Water every 1-1.5 miles. They had some flavored water shenanigans- when you say water, I'm thinking straight up water, not flavored stuff. Don't miss out on the 'drummers' around mile 1- using trash cans and lids, it was awesome! The course is out and back so you know what to expect on the way back; only downside was about 5.5 miles in, the roads narrowed and it got hard to work around those coming back.

The Finish: ends in TD stadium, you go all the freaking way around the field. I just want to enter and be done. Chocolate milk was there, bananas, bagels, oranges, water and BBQ. Really congested though at some points.

The Medal: decent size and the 1/2 and Full marathon medal blinks!

Decent race, but something really needs to be done to make packet pick up easier. Since the races are staggered (1/2 and Full start at 7, the 5K at noon and the 10K at 1), they're really missing out on a marketing opportunity. I did the 1/2 and the 5K and i know others who did the 1/2, 5K and 10K, so that's something to consider in the future

I've done the Perfect 10 Miler the past 2 years (2013 and 2014). This year they changed the course and had a new start/finish area at the Legacy Village shopping area. Here's the low down:

Packet Pick Up: no expo (which is kinda nice every once and while). Pick up daily the 2-3 days prior to the race and on race day morning. Prior to the race, pick up was moved around Fleet Feets in Cleveland. Get a bib, shirt, some free stuff (coupons, handouts, etc)

Location: Start/Finish was at Legacy Village this year which improved the parking situation. Also a plus was that there were indoor bathrooms prior to the start. Start/Finish was in front of White House Black Market

The course: started weaving through legacy village and through one of the Cleveland Clinic satellite sites. We turned onto Richmond Road, went towards Brush HS, weaved in and out of some of the neighborhoods. Some crowd support, which is good. Also plenty of water on course with powerade added towards the later stations. More hills than last year, but not bad overall.

The finish: seemed a bit short this year in terms of distance. Volunteers handing out race medals as you came through the chute. The photographers were a tad obnoxious getting photos when you really didn't want them. Water/powerade available, but didn't seem like there was food around

I have mixed feelings about this race. I had signed up needing some halves to get me through the summer.

Packet Pick Up: can be done a few days leading up to the race. Also have race day pick up which is a plus for out of town-ers. Can't comment on the 'expo' or if there was much of one. Race day pick up was slow and only a few people for a whole long line of us waiting.

The race: Hot and humid with overcast today. Combo of flatness and hills. Scenery was meh, some in downtown, most along the river. Downside was that water stops were so inconsistent. Were every 2 miles, some were after a mile or so. With how hot and humid it was, it would have been better to have something with more consistency. Started/ended by Reds Stadium/ Public Landing. limited crowd support

Swag: could choose a shirt or not. I either didn't order one or they ran out. Saw the design, wasn't a fan. medal was ok, didn't et much else though

For out of towers: Stayed at the Millennium hotel and it was further than I thought from the start (a good 3/4 mile at least of a walk to the start). Wasn't the best hotel, but it was a bed.

Not sure if I'd go back for this race or not. I think it has some things to work on for sure, especially for one over the summer