Where: The race begins and ends on 6th Avenue between the Library and City Square Park, in downtown Marion, Iowa.
Distance: 5K and Half Marathon
Course Description: Flat and fast! Competitive and recreational runners alike will love this quick course through residential Marion. New this year is the inaugural Marion Arts Festival Half Marathon. There’ll be prize money and team awards, with details to be announced soon.
The Half Marathon course will go through Lowe Park, past the new football stadium, and into the town’s historic district. You’ll see the best Marion has to offer! More information about this race will be posted soon.
Website: For more information, click here
I think this is one of the best races in the area. It is chip timed with mile splits. The location and post race food is great. It is also nice to check out the art in the park.
The best pre and post race ever! I had so much fun and the route was challenging but not impossible for an average runner like me.
I had the best time ever at this race. It was totally awesome! I ran the entire race for the first time ever and it felt GREAT!
I love this race, this was my 2nd time doing this Marion Arts Festival race and it was my 29th race overall. This race far outdoes the rest. I love the following things: Chip timed, great shirts, massage therapists at the end to give you a free massage (which I desperately needed), AWESOME packet full of great goodies and other samples and coupons. Then the post race food was the BEST! You had something for everyone for post race food. Water, Heed Electrolyte drink, soda, lemonade, pretzels, granola bars, animal crackers, watermelon, oranges, bananas and then candy. My two children who ran this race with me loved the idea of candy. Thanks for thinking of everyone after the race.
Only suggestion I have for future races is get rid of that generator that made so much noise blowing up the finish line arch, just get a different type of arch or something so that everyone can hear the announcements. It was hard to hear the star spangled banner at the beginning and it was also hard to hear the door prize winner’s numbers. Thank goodness my son heard my number being called and found me to tell me.
I appreciate the door prizes, it was great to win a Running Wild Gift certificate, especially since I love that store!
If funds allow, it would be great to have disposable timing chips so that we don’t to give them back.
This was my second time running this race and my fifth 5k overall. This is by far my favorite! The race is very well organized, has chip timing and volunteers at the 1 and 2 mile mark calling out your time (which is nice to know so you can get a better idea of your pace). I like the fact that with this race you get the hills out of the way with in the first 1/2 mile, then it is a flat course the rest of the way. It was nice to have chiropractors and massage therapists on site to get some pampering after the race. There was also a lot of food, watermelon, bananas, etc. I did have to wait in line for a while to get my print out though. I wish that that line moved a little faster. I look forward to running this race every year! I was happy that the rain held off until the race was over – I was worried that it was going to be raining, but thankfully that didn’t happen. If you are new to running or looking for a great first race to participate in, this would be the one! People cheer you on whether you are in the very front of the pack, middle or back. It’s all about finishing and having a good time.
This was my 4th race of the year and my fourth race overall. So far this has been the best race I have ran in. Course was mostly flat, and well marked. The post race had plenty of food and drinks, and the rain held off until after the race was over which was awsome. The only complaint I had was right after i finished my run I was out of breath because I try to sprint the last 20 to 30 yeards and I could not find any water near the finish line. It took me several minutes to locate some water, and i really needed some but I had to stand in line to be able to get a drink. At most of the other races I have ran they had water right at the finish line, and a couple of them even had some people handing you a bottle as you cross the finish line.
A fantastic race. I will just reiterate some of the other comments from years past. It was very well organized, the chip timing had mile splits and there was a person at each mile split announcing the times. You could get your individual timing slip immediately after the race and the final results were online within 2-3 hours after the race. The route was basically one large rectangle with a slight diversion through the cemetery about 1/2 a mile in. This was the only place where there was any hill of significant grade. There were a decent number of people around the route cheering you on too.
The post race door prizes were done very efficiently, they simply called out 10-15 numbers and you had 5 minutes to claim your prize before they called a new batch of numbers. It took very little time at all. The post race food and drink included oranges, watermelon, bananas, bagels, water, power drink, soda, and iced tea. I believe there were some other snacks that I didn’t get. There were massages available afterwards, for which I did not partake.
The T-shirts were above average. For $5 more you could upgrade from a cotton T to a polyester “dry” type fabric. If you didn’t choose the polyester T in your race packet, you had the option to upgrade at the race, so that was nice to have that option.
The timing of the race was right before the start of the Marion Arts Festival, which started at 9:00 (race at 8;00) so for those who were interested in that, they could stick around.
The only minor annoyance was that the finish line was a large inflatable tube structure that required a very noisy generator constantly pumping air into it. That made it VERY hard to hear the announcements before the race unless you were near the announcements area. My suggestion – get rid of the “fancy” finish line and the generator so everyone can hear the announcements without being close to the speakers.
Overall, there is absolutely no question I will be running in this one next year. Well done all around.
This was my first race of the year and I loved it. It was very well organized and had lots of goodies in the packet. The post race food was fabulous. Thanks for the instant results and the massage therapists on site. Looking forward to running this race again next year!
I loved this course! That one hill that is about 1/2 mile in, really isn’t that bad, especially since it’s at the beginning of the course. This is a great 5k for experienced runners or runners who are new to 5k’s. It was nice to have the friendly people of Marion cheering you on as you run the course. Great snacks post-race; massage therapists and chiropractors by the library giving free massages and adjustments. All around, a wonderful 5k race that I’m looking forward to running next year. Very well organized, too.
Again this race is still a favorite! They changed door prizes this year to drawing names during the race and then posting them after so there is no long waits after the race, excellent way of arranging door prizes.
Excellent route, the only hill (not large at all) is at about half a mile in so it is a smooth sailing race after. Very easy course and excellent organization all around. End of the race events are fantastic and an added bonus of the art festival at the ending.
Good race, nice diversity of runners & very well organized. I exceptionally liked the watermelon, bananas, oranges for post race refreshments. I even set my PR at this race. Will definitely run this again.
I enjoyed this race. Well organized, good post-race food, and course felt quick and easy to complete. I will definitely do this 5K again.
This is one of my favorite 5K’s. The course had new time chips that were light and not the ones you had to strap to your ankles. This course is characterized as flat but does have some hills in the beginning. It was well organized and there was plenty of post race food like watermelon, oranges, cookies, bagels, and cheese!
One of the best organized 5Ks in the area. I like the chip timing w/ mile splits. I set my PR here two years ago and beat it by 1 second this year. I guess I’ll have to come back to try and top it again next year.