The Inaugural Canton Marathon

Being the first year for the Canton Marathon I figured it is my duty as a runner and a blogger to write a review. I really enjoyed the event, but there was definitely room for improvement.

The Good: The community seemed to embrace this event and it showed. There was a lot of coverage in the local newspapers and magazines leading up to the race which made the build up very exciting. The spectators were not as plentiful as in bigger races but I was surprised at how many came out given the size of the race. What was lacking in quantity of spectators was made up in quality. The spectators were awesome! They even offered fruit, candy, cooling stations and a "last chance" bar. My favorite spectators were the nuns at the monastery near Malone College.
I was also partial to the spectators at miles 12, 18, 20, 21 and 24 (my family and friends). I have to give a shout out to my nieces and nephews that ran with me and made me feel like a rockstar and my cousin that dressed in a banana suit. I love you all so much! Thanks for the support!
The volunteers were great too. They were ready with water and Gatorade and a smiling face. A big thanks to all that volunteered! There was water or Gatorade at every mile which was great for a June race.
Even the police officers directing traffic offered support as we ran by. The community really came together to welcome all the runners and cheer us on through a difficult course.
The finish line was on the fifty yard line of Fawcett Stadium. As we approached the finish line they announced our names and where we were from. That was a nice touch!

The Bad: The course was surprisingly hilly for an Ohio race. I thought I had trained on hills to prepare but central Ohio does not have the caliber of hills that we faced in this race. The first hill was not as bad as I thought it would be, as it was a gradual incline over five miles. In my opinion. The worst hills were at mile 13 and 25. But it felt like non-stop hill climbing throughout the whole race, when I got to the bottom of one there was another one waiting just ahead.
The course was not completely closed to traffic which can be a little stressful for runners. I had one near miss and another scare during the race. In my opinion the course should have been on less travelled roads that Stark County could easily close to traffic until the end of the race.

The Ugly: Road kill on a marathon course is unacceptable. The Canton marathon course had several along the route. I am a super slow runner and therefore I was not crowded on the course. This made it easy for me to spot and avoid the road kill, but I can imagine some faster runners were not so lucky. At mile 23 I was sure that I was going to join the several rotting carcasses on the road. Luckily, I made
it to the finish!
In the beer tent I mentioned the road kill to a couple race coordinators and they said that they couldn't help it that the city didn't do it's job. My suggestion...have someone with a pick up truck, a spot light and a shovel drive the course early in the morning on race day. I'll say it again...road kill on the course is unacceptable.

Overall: An awesome inaugural event. I was happy that I ran this race and I will be back!