Roger Teel's Staging Area

Never got our bibs in the mail even though we had the mail out option. We live 3 hours away so we had to go to expo to get bibs and shirts. No explanation provided from the race.
Course was same as last year but I did the Half this year and the full last year.
Bananas and Apples were at the finish line. Hard to find water or electrolytes at the finish line. Brought my own due to last year and it was in the car very cold. Parking was 10.00 a car at the civic center.

Cars were not stopped at crossroads and many times the police officers were NOT stopping the traffic in favor of the runners.
Lots of potholes and broken glass in the street.
Parking was fine at the zoo parking lot. Just get there early enough.
Ran because it is local race.

It was windy and no protection from the elements. 13.1 miles out against the wall of wind. However, all the wind pushed you back on the second 13.1 miles.
Packet pick up should have been race morning due the low number of participants. However, day of race packet pick up was not offered. Runners from EL PASO had to make 2 trips just to get packages/bibs.

I have seen the 2024 REG and they are still requiring runners to pick package up before the race. The runners from EL PASO would have to make two 90 minute trips to complete packet pickup. I will definintely not return to this race based on this data.

Race was cut short for some running due to heat. I was not affected and completed my race in a respectable time. It was humid and not quite as hot as reported.
OVERALL – This was my 6th time running this marathon and it is #1 for all marathons.
Will be back in 2025 to do # 7

Just a side note: If you choose the host hotel, transport after the race does not exist and you are forced to be on the metro and bus for about 1 hour to get back to the hotel.

Lowkey race that is locally produced
Few runners
Course was marked adequate
Race was free but they accept donations to provide goodies for the runners after the race.
No volunteers on the course and you may find yourself alone at times.

Canada uses Kilometers.
Running in the USA and knowing all the 26 mile markers and then going to Canada and seeing all KM markings.
BTW, this is also the holiday weekend for Canadian Thanksgiving

when I live in WA state I always made sure to register for this race when they opened it. The scenery was great and the course was easy and on a paved trail. MT Rainer was in the background
The Race Directors always did a great job on this race.
One sore point was the transport back could be spotty but I am sure it improved over the years.
I do miss this race

I was lucky and applied for this race and got in first time
Race was expensive as well as lodging
Scenery was amazing.
Don’t forget the hills if you live in FLAT country.

This race is a copy cat race of the other two marathons that are ran on this course. Need to do the course once to understand how it compared to the Tunnel and Cascade Series. Loads of faster runners use this race as a Boston Qualifier. On a positive note, it is held on a SAT and SUN to give runners the chance to complete it either day.

Package pickup was ok and no issues.
Took a shuttle bus from NJ to the staging area of the park
Got there very early on race day but we camped out in the park before our very late start.
Race is through the city and you see many sites and have a lot of crowd
support.
Very lucky to get in and glad I got to do it once but never want to do it again due to logistics

First Marathon. Trained hard and all the work paid off. MCM does not disappoint and fully supported. Very scenic but weather is unpredictable until race day.