Cleveland Marathon

Having run Cleveland in 2016, I signed up at the last minute for this year's race hoping to lower my BQ. The course is completely different. It is far more scenic than the last time I ran Cleveland and hits all of the landmarks of the city. There is a beautiful, long stretch along Lake Erie that is as pretty as anything that I have seen on a marathon course. The new course is also much hillier and has more turns than the old course. This is not bad, but anyone interested in a PR or BQ should know this before entering. I'm sure that the course was accurately measured, but my Garmin showed 2.5 miles at the 2 mile mark and a total of 26.64 at the finish. I strongly recommend this race for anyone who is looking for an Ohio race or is not trying for a time goal. The logistics were great, the packet pick up was smooth and on race day I was able to park 3 blocks from the finish and was on the interstate within 15 minutes. On a warm day, the organizers added water stations and the crowd support was excellent with many kind neighbors hosing the runners down (thanks to the folks carrying Super-Soakers as well). Chocolate milk at the finish, which is all I want after a race. A very nice shirt and maybe my favorite medal in 100 plus races. I plan on running the marathon again as it is close to home, but I will keep my time expectation muted. No trip to Cleveland is complete without a visit to Great Lakes Brewing. It is worth the 2 hour drive from Pittsburgh by itself.

I did not run this Marathon but flew out to Cleveland to support my son in his 1st Marathon. I have run 8 marathons in the past and 30+ half marathons. I thought the race was very well organized and festive. The runners expo was decent. The start/finish area was well set up and there is a festive meeting area & beer tent after finishing the race. I read a few articles about folks complaining about the new course with so many turns in it (course change for 23 due to construction). I asked my son afterwards and he didn't feel the large number of turns on the course were a big deal at all. He thought the course was quite interesting as it passed through the City/Stadiums/The Flats, etc. I assume that once road construction is completed that Cleveland 26.2 will return to the former course (with less turns). I thought there was good fan support during the race. Witnessed my son at mile 5 and again at mile 12 and then at the Finish. From what I witnessed and after speaking with my son in detail about his experience (he ran under 3:05) my opinion is the Cleveland Marathon is a quality event.

This year the route returned to the Shoreway, which they had switched away from in 2017 to avoid the hills. That long climb at mile 12 (and 25 on the second lap) wasn't welcome, but everything else about how the day was run was excellent. Plenty of time for early packet pickup, lots of parking and accommodations right near the start, great energy at the finish.