Idaho Falls Marathon & Half

The Organizers showed minimal effort.

This was easily the most poorly organized marathon I have ever run. It was all due to the organization. The course was fine. But the people running this event took no effort whatsoever to try and make this a memorable experience for the people involved. They didn't even provide the services they promised on their home page. They didn't offer a little tote bag (the first marathon I have ever done that didn't offer one), they did not mark a single mile of the course, most of the intersections were not manned by any volunteers (which actually caused me to go off course for some time but thankfully I noticed my mistake), there were no signs on the busy highway we were running along for fourteen miles to warn drivers that there were runners on the road, the busses were late arriving at the start so we barely had time to do a lavatory stop, we had to basically run to the start line, there was no water available at the start (or at the finish line), there was never any fruit available at the water stations, there was no water station at mile 25 as promised, there was no clock at the finish (since we started late good luck timing yourself) and at the end they had no water or Gatorade or even any paramedics. All they had were some bananas cut in half (thus already spoiling) and a few of those sugar water popsicles you give to little children in the summer. Now one or two issues like this do not ruin a marathon. But all of these facts taken together are indicative of organizers who were determined to spend as little as possible to make this a memorable experience. I have no problem with organizers making a profit and being paid for their time and efforts. To all of those looking to run a great fun marathon in the summer here in the Rockies (a lot of fun) I would highly recommend another marathon in the area. Missoula, MT puts on a great marathon in July as well, Casper WY puts on a great one every June. If you need an Idaho marathon Boise is excellent too! I strongly recommend you avoid this marathon in every way.