Wow! What a great race for an out of towner. Everything was ideal - the course, the weather (and wonderful clean air), the planning. This is a point-to-point that includes several small towns, gorgeous natural forest beauty, and a mid-sized city along the shores of Lake Superior. The elevation is mostly downhill, but is not as dramatic as seen on the elevation chart. the first four miles or so are paved, and then 8-10 miles of crushed rock, and then pavement again once you reach Marquette proper. The weather was about high 40s to start and climbed into the low to mid 60s by the end, and was sunny. Good expo, great organization, all aid stations were staffed (which cannot be said for all small town marathons), very encouraging support from runners and volunteers. I would have liked to have had more contact from the race organizers as race day approached, and better "live" tracking as opposed to intermittent. The race day tee was a little hard to make out (dark shirt and even darker printing). I'd like to see coffee for the marathon racers at the start line. These are all small quibbles. This was my favorite marathon for me (out of 5 total). My family had fun things to do while I ran and recovered. Marquette is a charming town. I'd like to run this one again!!