The Cheap Marathon

This marathon is much cheaper than others, probably because it's on a pedestrian path so they don't have to close roads. The course is fast and pancake flat, but it's also boring with very few landmarks and almost no spectators since it's just going through woods. The course support is solid and the town is a nice place to get food and recover after the race.

Aside from not getting a medal or a t-shirt, there is not much that's 'cheap' about this marathon! Registration: Website on par with most marathons. Registration quick and easy. All the info you need is at your fingertips. And top notch emails from the Race Director during the weeks (and days) leading up to the event to answer all your questions. Pre-Race: Free shuttle from parking area to race start (a 5-10 minute ride on a school bus). Bib distribution well organized. Bag check area fully staffed. Plenty of Port-A-Pots. Awesome music and complemented by key announcements on professional sound system. Race start: Best in the business. Where else is every single runner announced by name? Read the website for more info on the innovative start. Course: Paved New England 'Rail Trail.' Mostly pancake flat. A few aid stations. Not much in the way of crowd support due to the trail being in the woods... but road crossings were staffed by public safety officials. Finish: Typical post race goodies... fruit, water, Gatorade, yogurt, pretzels. Final thoughts: Put this one on your race calendar if you're looking for a high quality race at a low cost. If you can't BQ here, you probably can't BQ anywhere.

A cheap economy-sized race that parallels the marathon's theme. As far as races go, the Cheap Marathon was about the most low-maintenance event I had ever attended. And that was the point. It was cheap, easy to deal with, no shirts (unless you bought one), no awards, basically, no frills at all. There's no finisher medal, only a finishers ribbon. They did, however, provide us with water and UCAN, thank you very much. The downside of this event may be the repetitiveness of six laps; but the upside being that there were people along the way the entire time. I honestly never thought I'd do a race like this, particularly a marathon, but there is a first time for everything. Just because something may be cheap does not necessarily mean it lacks quality. From my perspective, the more serious runners comprised a large portion of the runner field, especially those preparing for or qualifying for Boston. It's a solid course with cool weather and pancake flat terrain. I recommend this marathon for those looking to BQ or for 50-staters wishing to knock out Massachusetts.