Sioux Falls Marathon

tkillion810

Wondering if anyone else has run the Sioux Falls, SD marathon? If so, what was the course like? I'm running it this September. Looks like it's a smaller event, so I am thinking not big for crowd support? Anyway, just looking for more info on what to expect.

davemunger

Never run it but it sounds like a pretty neat race. I would imagine there's not a huge amount of fan support but since the half marathon starts at the halfway point of the full, you will probably benefit from a lot of the half-marathon spectators. There are many more half-marathoners than full marathoners so that's a big plus. I've found that many marathons/halfs share the same start which means once the half marathoners finish you don't have much crowd support at all.

Given the fast times and long history of the race I would guess that it is a very well-managed event, so you should be good there as well. Good luck!

Also, some good reviews of the event here:

http://www.marathonguide.com/races/racedetails.cfm?MIDD=3693140907

SonicDeathMonkey80

I ran it last year as my first.

The course itself wasn't very remarkable in the way of crowd support or landmarks, etc, but it was flat and had ample aid stations. Last year's started at 75 deg and got into the 80s pretty quickly and I wanna say roughly 10% didn't complete the race. They were pretty on the spot with driving golf carts up and down the street with water bottles, and they set up impromptu aid stations at the end as well. The half marathon starts 30min after the full for some reason.

I believe last year's post-race transport logistics had some real issues and lots of folks complained about this, so I'm sure they will make every effort to fix it.

The terrain profile is excellent, weather is hit or miss, post-race support/food and logistics could use improvement.

I did a couple blogs about it you might find helpful

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/SonicDeathMonkey80?month=201309

tkillion810

I ran it last year as my first.

The course itself wasn't very remarkable in the way of crowd support or landmarks, etc, but it was flat and had ample aid stations. Last year's started at 75 deg and got into the 80s pretty quickly and I wanna say roughly 10% didn't complete the race. They were pretty on the spot with driving golf carts up and down the street with water bottles, and they set up impromptu aid stations at the end as well. The half marathon starts 30min after the full for some reason.

I believe last year's post-race transport logistics had some real issues and lots of folks complained about this, so I'm sure they will make every effort to fix it.


The terrain profile is excellent, weather is hit or miss, post-race support/food and logistics could use improvement.

I did a couple blogs about it you might find helpful

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/SonicDeathMonkey80?month=201309

Great write up!

Thanks Dave for the link also! I'll be checking it out. I tend to enjoy larger races with lots of distractions ie - crowds, pretty things to look at etc. But this race fit the bill for everything else I needed. Elevation maps always throw me so I can never trust my skills reading them. I had thought the Tulsa marathon would be flat based on the elevation map, but I was wrong. Lots of ups and downs!

Thanks for the input!!

SonicDeathMonkey80

If you want a great marathon, consider Crazyhorse or Leading Ladies in the Black Hills of South Dakota. No crowd support, but the former is through the Deadwood Mickelson Trail and the latter is through Spearfish Canyon. Both are easy net downhills and point to point. I ran one and volunteered at the other.

You won't need crowd support at either because they are both insanely gorgeous to run through.