This was my first ever full marathon. Great introduction to my long running career ahead! I was glad to be able to race in my hometown, especially with it closely following the recent local tragedy. The way that the entire community has bonded together hit deeply for me. I was emotional at the line in the ceremony of honoring the victims.

Buffalo led me to fall in love with marathon racing. Rather than having it be a major life goal to check off, it made me realize that I do it solely because I love running and the community it offers. I set a lofty expectation for myself to BQ in my very first one. Yet, the roar of the crowd, volunteer support, and the overall race atmosphere has shown me that marathons are far beyond qualifying for a larger race!

Overall, Buffalo is set as the standard for which I will compare future races to. From what I remember, the signup experience was straightforward. It was very comparable to other races that I’ve ran in, where there weren’t any significant challenges I faced.

Attached is the included race swag from this weekend. I tend not to spend big on the gear that comes with an extra cost because I tend to spend more on local food after the race!

One of the best parts of this race is how they have the water stations set up. There’s a station every 2 miles in the first half and at every mile in the second. They allowed me to get a greater view of the mile marker as I approached each one and served as solid checkpoints! I felt almost a little too hydrated near the end, as I was trying to take water from every single station.

The scenery was amazing! As a Buffalo native who has seen the entire city area countless times, the looks of all the inner city sites and the lake are always astonishing! For any out of towners looking to run this race, enjoy the sights as you run your race, then head on over to any restaurant that serves wings (other than the anchor bar; they’re not that great there in my opinion!) to have the best you’ve ever had!

I was hoping for some more food options after the race! While I may have missed them due to being busy socializing with fellow runners, I didn’t see much of anything. I also wished that the goody boxes included more items without chocolate, since I’m not a huge fan. However, I was happy to find chiropractors at the finish and a free orthopedic clinic in the expo, which were both much needed at the time!

Buffalo is a relatively flat course. I didn’t feel any crazy elevation until right before the halfway mark. It’s just one big hill right after mile 12, but that makes the rolling hills going northbound feel so much more challenging to run through! I’ve seen the mile splits of other runners. Most people, including myself, hit a huge wall shortly after the rolling hills. While the seasoned vets found their rhythm shortly after, the rookies died out in the last 6 miles.

Parking was a little bit confusing. There wasn’t a designated spot for everyone to park, and there wasn’t a sure fire way of knowing where it was practical to park with the road closures. Definitely get downtown a little bit earlier to give yourself enough time to find parking, as close as you can to the start.

The signage for the race was very nicely laid out. However, the communication messaging seemed to have came out a little later than I hoped for. While I was starting to feel locked into the race mentally a couple months out, I felt a little lost on the details of the big weekend when nothing much was released until about a month out. I’m not to sure if this is normal for races, but I was hoping for a little more of an advanced notice on important race details.

Bottom line, whether you’re a new or seasoned marathoner, and regardless of your average race pace, I would totally recommend Buffalo!!!