The Erie Marathon is well known as one of the last Boston Qualifiers in the region. This being my second marathon ever, I was not used to the seriousness of many of the runners at this event. The day starts very early at a parking lot at the top of the park at Presque Isle, and you are bussed down to the start with many other runners. As a someone who still considered themselves pretty new to running the marathon, this added a level of anxiety as I knew I would not be able to return to my car as promptly as I wished at the end of the race. At the start of the race, there is the typical line of porta potties and runners waiting to use them. By complete surprise, I ran into two other runners from my hometown run group here, and had a nice chance to talk down some of my pre-race jitters. The pace groups were a bit hard to find in the dark, and since the start of the race is around the corner and blocked by some trees, it was hard to hear any pre-race announcements. I actually didn't even notice that the race had begun until someone gestured to me to line up at the start!

The course, thankfully, is fast and very flay with only one little bitty hill about halfway around the first and second loops. I am NOT a fan of double loop races, so while the view of the lake at every turn is beautiful, by the second loop I was just looking to be done.

If you're a novice runner who likes to have a little friendly banter with people in your pace group, don't count on it. Most people in this race are looking to qualify. Save for a few people who were willing to chat when we jockeyed back and forth for a few miles, it was very quiet. I will say that the local school groups that came out to hand out water at the very well placed aid stations were a complete hoot and I enjoyed their enthusiasm very much.

Overall, I would definitely run this race again if the opportunity presented itself!