July 10, 2011 was the first Mad Marathon, and it was a great inaugural event! The staff and volunteers were super-friendly, as well as everyone else in town. This event really had a friendly small-town feel and I felt very welcome.
The course itself was beautiful and scenic, and there were plenty of water/Gatorade/Gu stops on the course. However, the hills were much more challenging than the website let on. In their defense, they do have an elevation chart on the website, but it's hard to really tell how difficult the hills are from the chart, and the course description really downplayed their size. These definitely are not "rolling hills", and anyone who does not live and/or train in this kind of area is in for a rude awakening. I was lucky that I drove the course the day before or else I would have planned a really ill-advised running strategy. The solution is really easy: the course description just needs to be revised before next year to more accurately prepare runners for what is to come.
More bathrooms would be a good idea, as would more free food at the finish. I'm not a big stickler about race swag, but after 26.2 miles I really need something more substantial (and gentler to my stomach) than donuts and cider. Some fruit or bagels would be nice. There were a few food vendors in the finish area, but I don't normally carry money during a race.
I love the technical T-shirt and the fact that the medals for the marathoners and half-marathoners were different. However, the two goodie bags (one at the expo and one at the finish) were a little excessive. My advice would be to keep the grocery bag (useful) and ditch the drawstring bag. Give it to us at the expo with all the swag, and use the money saved for more food at the end.
For an inaugural event, the race was well-organized with few real problems. I would recommend it to others, with a sharp warning about the size of the hills. read more
