Abigail Usherwood's Staging Area

Overall a beautiful experience, 10/10 would run again. It was hard in the way I expected a marathon to be hard, the low elevation on the course allowed it to be a manageable challenge. I think if there were hills I would have had a much different experience.

Other thoughts:
> Race was very organized
> Plenty of porta-potties
> Weather was beautiful (New England Fall)
>the scenery on the north side of the bridge was beautiful if you remember to notice it. The fall foliage along the Merrimack was serene.
> Plenty of aid stations – water every 2 miles
>seemed to have a quick emergency response & Plenty of police personnel
> Bring your own fuel – they had 2 fuel stations that you passed twice, but its helpful to have your own on hand
>First loop going over the green bridge (mile 7 or 8) was tough as we were all bottlenecked into the shoulder & I had to slow my pace down by 2 mins for the duration of the bridge (less than .25 miles). It was not a huge deal, I picked right back up and it all evened out in the end. Just a heads up to not let that crush your spirits so early on!

> Spectators seemed sparse, but evenly spaced through miles 18-25 which was actually kind of nice. There was one spectator cheering someone on in my pace group. She biked along the course in a banana costume, and would post up every 3 miles or so & that was fun to look forward to!
> it seemed like some local churches got into it, setting up their own aid stations with mini waterbottles & Gatorade for runner (very much appreciated)

Overall a great course & I’m happy I chose this for my first marathon.