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
Results: 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009
Overall, I really like the half marathon course. It was a nice variety of Marion and really showed the different sides of the city. This is my hometown so it was cool to run through Thomas Park, Lowe Park, Linn Mar’s campus, Hunters Ridge Golf Course, swimming Pool and historic 8th ave. I suppose an out and back would have been easier to plan, but so boring in my opinion.
The cost was good. Lots of food and drink afterwards. Spagetti was a nice touch, albeit meat sauce limits vegetarians
Loved, the Arnold Palmer (Ice Tea and Lemonade) drink, bring that back for sure!
Organization was again great. It was the 20th anniversary, and it shows with the packet pick-up and volunteers.
Things to improve: I agreed the HEED isn’t very good tasting, but it’s low in sugar compared to Gatorade. Sugary drinks are way worse, but maybe try a berry (red) flavor or ice the HEED drink for next year.
The footbridge in the first mile was a bottleneck towards the end. I liked the challenge of the getting to the bridge fast (true spirit of racing), but could see how slower runners could get frustrated. Maybe a wave start next year, since it is chip timed. Otherwise, remember to start fast!
Great job on another great year!
It was a great time!!! I would like to say thank you to all of the volunteers!!! Especially all the people who left their lawn sprinklers on and the man at 35th Street. THANK YOU!!!
I thought the half marathon was very well done. Plenty of volunteers and police support, they did an awesome job! I agree the Heed wasn’t the best tasting stuff but I’ve had worse. Stopping to cross the bridge at the start of the race was kind of a bummer otherwise the route was definately varied. Plenty of food at the end, all the fruit and snacks were great. The spaghetti was a nice treat too! The technical shirts were nice looking. I hope the Marion Arts festival continues doing the half marathon. I really liked the medal, completing a half marathon is a big deal to alot of people and that is much better than a certificate. Thanks to all the people cheering us on and especially to all the volunteers! Great job!
This was the first year for the half marathon and several of my friends decided to do it. This was the 3rd time I’ve participated in your race, and my 7th Half marathon overall.
The things I felt should be changed for next year:
NO HEED, that stuff was nasty. Either no one knew how to mix it or it is just nasty anyway. Please get gatorade and get berry or another flavor.
Water stops should be every 1.5 miles, If it wasn’t so hot then 2 miles apart was okay, but at least in the last 7 miles have them closer together.
More porta potties in the first 3 miles.
No bridge at the beginning of the course. After 3 miles or so when we are all spread out it would have been better. OR just switch the course backwards and we would have the bridge at the end and the shade of the park at the end.
Medical Tent is needed. There were MANY comments from the massage therapists that their area was now being turned into a medical tent and they had less tables to work on runners. You need a separate area for those that need medical.
ice chip bags or wet sponges would be great if it’s a hot day next year.
Water to run through if it’s a hot day around mile 10 or 11.
The good and great:
Shirt is nice, love the technical shirt option. I actually wish I would have picked the technical shirt because I liked my daughter’s shirt better than mine, but mine is nice as well.
Tons of food at the end! You had plenty of food and I was super impressed by that. I was a little worried since I’m a slower half marathon person that by the time I’d finish that the food would be either minimal or gone and you had massive amounts of food. Thank you so much for that.
Massage tables: I loved this. This helped me tremendously and I will travel to Cedar Rapids to get the same lady to give me a massage, she was awesome! Please always have this.
Chip timing in the bib! So great. I think this is a wonderful idea so we don’t have to return our chips.
Plenty of volunteers at every turn, arrows on the ground telling you where you had to go, plenty of police stopping traffic.
Loved having a finishing medal instead of a certificate, please do that for next year!
I loved how many people had sprinklers on, I hope they didn’t mind me running in their yard to run through their sprinklers. And I agree with Kevin’s comment below, the man with the garden hose on 35th street was from heaven. Whoever he is I want to thank him personally.
First year for the 1/2 marathon. Things to improve: the bridge. If they keep the course the same they should send people out in waves so we don’t have to stop and wait to cross the bridge. The HEED was AWFUL. Most people I spoke with said they spit it out. Have a medical tent. The massage tent ended up a make shift medical tent. The course had a few too many turn for me. It seemed to meander just to make it long enough.
Now for the good: the volunteers. There were plenty out on the course. The police support was great too. I was glad to see the organizer changed his mind and handed out medals rather than having people print certificates. well organized and it was nice to have a 1/2 in the area earlier in the year.
The very first half marathon for the Marion Arts Festival was maned by great volunteers and local PD. A few kinks need worked out but overalll it was a great run. Water and Heed every 2 miles but very few porta-potties. Nice route with rolling hills and wonderfull people cheering you on along the route. The man with the garden hose was a great welcome for heat relief on 35th st. Thanks to all the volunteers and race committee.
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.