Subject: RE: Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Bank Marathon : Official ThreadI did the full last year and am not sure if I am going to run it again this year or some other fall marathon. Overall it was a great marathon for my first. It was cold (~30 F ) but it was clear and sunny so it didn't feel to bad. The route goes over the bridge to Canada, which is not bad since it is early on. Coming back through tunnel kind of sucked because it was cold entering, the tunnel was hot and clammy making me sweat, then the nice blast of cold air exiting the tunnel by the Renaissance center made for a quick chill, but the people cheering takes your mind off it! There is good support from aid stations, people, bands, and school bands/clubs to help keep your morale high. The only stretch that did get a little boring was from mile 13 - 19 since there is not a lot out there. Then you run onto Bell Isle, which can be windy, but was not, and that was kind of a cool experience. Finally you head back to the mainland and finish at the free press building.
I use the FIRST training program and set my training runs for a <3:10 and finished with no problems and felt good the whole race. It is really a cool event and I encourage anyone to do at least the half, but 26.2 is where its at! Flat, fast, course with some good Detroit character anyone would enjoy! The only thing that was lame was the tech shirt because the light gray color I thought was ugly and the logo could have used some work but all in all it worth doing. |