I DNS’ed the marathon TWICE since I was tempted by $26.20 offer, but this last year I got real with myself and paid the $40 to run the half. Some people I ran with had a theory that you pay more for the half because they eat all the food before the marathoners finish. I have to admit, I was part of the problem. That local pizza was so delicious and there was no one supervising how many slices I gobbled!

The first half of the race was a bummer to me. You ran on the shoulder of a busy road, which had quite a few cars zooming by. The police were great and did a diligent job of making sure we were safe at intersection. The volunteers were mixed enthusiasm. It was in the high 70’s and raining, so a few people just stood there pointing at the turn in the path with misery. I was very back of the pack here, and I appreciated that there was always water available, even after most things were packed up.

The second half of the race was BEAUTIFUL! We ran through the forest preserve, and next the the lake were there was a cool breeze, soft gravel, and you could hear the crashing of the waves. I was in love with the trails here, and all the birds that could be sighted.
Medal was such a bummer after seeing the previous years. It was a sailboat with a cloth sail that only recognized the marathon distance.

Early October is a beautiful time of year for this race, I see myself coming back again! I appreciate that they have race day packet pickup since I’m an hour and 20 minutes from Mentor.

2nd year running for me. I picked up 2018 race at the last minute, which only let me register with a men’s 2XL shirt that I wasn’t able to switch at pickup. Had to pay for parking for the expo, and both years it’s been a major crunch for me to make it to pickup in time after work due to construction and rain. I was frustrated that I was emailed a QC code to bring to packet pickup and the volunteers didn’t have a way to scan it. They wouldn’t assist me till I had my bib number, which there was no board up with people’s names and numbers. You were expected to download an app, which I didn’t have. Another runner that had the app helped me out and I could finally get my number and finish pickup.
Race starts at 6:30 AM and they advise you to get there an hour early. I agree that an hour is the LEAST amount of time since parking fills up fast and you have a little walk to the start. I live an hour away, so this means getting out of the house at 4:30 AM, but there’s not a lot of good race times for August. At 6:30 the sun had already risen and the race track was heating up.
The expo experience aside, I love this race. There’s lots of crowd support, enthusiastic volunteers, yummy food, and lots of entertainment. I’ll always come back!
They do a solid medal design. When I put out all the medals at the end of the year, I have to admit I like theirs the best.

This is a bigger race for the distance. People come from all over to run this race in admiration of the movie, Shawshank. The packet pickup was simple enough with a nice shirt I’ve worn in my weekly rotation, and I see frequently on people at the Mansfield ParkRun.
Parking was confusing without clear directions. The general crowd could figure out their way to the start, but people with strollers had a rough time getting over the train tracks.
Given the summer race at 8AM, this race heats up quick. People don’t seem to mind since they’re taking in the scenes and events of downtown Mansfield. The bib included entry to the carousel, which was a funny sight seeing all the horses loaded up with runners. I’d love to see the Garmin stats on that!
The race starts with a big heave up the hill, through some industrial roads, downtown, then cruise to the finish. Pre race festivities included a costume contest, so the overall vibe was people are there to have fun. It was an enjoyable experience, but for how pricey it is, I don’t feel inclined to register again.

Communication and organization for this race were excellent. Well staffed and lots of crowd support. I wish they kicked things off with a 5k for the series. Shirt rwas very short waist for women. Unable to wear it. The finishing medal works great as a bottle opener. It’s the only medal I have that isn’t thrown in a shoe box with the rest of them!