General Info
Price: $85-$150 depending on time of register (2022)
Date I ran it: 11/6/21
Participants: Approximately 4,000 for the full marathon (2021)
Weather: sunny and low 30s at the start and low 40s at the end (2021)
Overall Opinion:
All things considered, this is my favorite marathon that I’ve done. It’s flat, affordable, and convenient. It’s a good “medium sized” event, not too big and not too small. The indoor start was incredible. Being able to stretch indoors and use indoor bathrooms with no line was great. You can get a hotel room for a reasonable rate that is close to the start line and garage parking is cheap and easy. It isn’t a glamorous race and Indianapolis isn’t a glamorous city. If that’s what you are looking for you should run the Chicago Marathon.
Pros
- The race is cheap, especially if you sign up early.
- Hotels and parking in Indianapolis are affordable.
- They have an indoor start with indoor bathrooms. There is plenty of room to stretch and relax before the race starts.
- The course wasn’t crowded.
- The course is flat and fast.
- It’s usually perfect marathon running weather at the beginning of November in Indy.
Cons
- The scenery isn’t great. There are some cool neighborhoods on the route and Butler University is nice, but Indianapolis isn’t real scenic.
- A lot of people in the city are not happy about the disruption that the marathon causes to traffic. I saw a few people yelling obscenities at the runners out of their cars.
- Indianapolis has some bad parts and you run through them.
- They did run out of water at one stop.
- There isn’t much crowd support for the majority of the race.
