This is a tough race. It was not as tough as the Bataan Death March Marathon in New Mexico, but in terms of hills, it came pretty close. My fitbit said I had gone up over 350 flights of stairs in the one race! This is not your race if you are seeking a BQ. The route is really pretty, and the trees are just changing colors, so the leaf-peeping opportunities are great. This is a small race, and the race organizers and volunteers were very nice. I loved going around the lakes and through the small town centers.

What took me so long to come and run this great race. It's only one hour plus drive from metro Boston where I live. Cheap and easy to register. Very scenic. Great course around a beautiful lake. Water stops every other mile. Saw so many Maniacs and 50 Staters who were doing the double with Maine the next day. Greatest race entertainment with live music, pizza, fruit, milk, beer etc.

Lots of hills but the trees were pretty. Not as many views as you would think.

Great small marathon. Nice course around the lake with good views of the lake and surrounding woods. There were a few areas with some respectable hills. Not a lot of area for spectators, but there were a few spots where the was some crowd support. Post race food and beverages were good for a smaller race (fruit, granola bars, pizza, chocolate milk) with a very friendly volunteers. Would recommend this race

Pre race: Package pick up at school, no expo. AWESOME pasta dinner at Masonic Lodge with over 10 pasta sauces. Race: same day packet pocket available. easy parking, start/finish at the school. You can stay warm inside the school until the race starts. Course: Open road with traffic and lots of hills, but beautiful scenery! Plenty of water/Gatorade. Very small race about 200 marathoners but crowd support made me feel like you’re never alone.
Post race: warm pizza, fruit, energy bars, chocolate milk, Gatorade..entertainment: man and his guitar-he was good! Showers at the school were clean and plentiful. I would recommend this for B2B with Portland Maine the following day.

Very small race with small packet pickup (you won't find nutrition here, but they did sell shirts).

Parking wasn't a problem. Only a few porta potties, plus bathrooms in school, but it was enough for small race. School building was open on race morning, so you could stay warm, although we stayed in our car right by the start.

Roads were open to traffic, which I normally hate in a race, but it wasn't really a problem here. Lots of rolling hills (Garmin had over 1,200' total climbing over the course). Very scenic course, aid stations were very close together, and well stocked with fluids, but bring your own nutrition. Loved the shirt, but the medal was about what they normally give you at a 5K - unimpressive (why I didn't give full stars to this one...). We had rain for the first 2+ hours, but perfect temps, and very mild breeze.

Finished under 5 hours, and no pizza or chocolate milk at the finish, although they did bring in more pizza shortly after I finished.

The race director is a class act - she deferred my entry from 2016 because of injury, and was very responsive to email. Packet pickup and parking at the school was uneventful. Long-sleeve T-shirt always a plus. The course is beautiful, hilly - some 30 hills, but narrow shoulders with a lot of camber in places. Very little traffic, but it got hairy at times. The course was well-marked, the water stations plentiful, the volunteers helpful and enthusiastic despite cold and rain.

This was my first double (New Hampshire Saturday, Maine Sunday). Running around the lake was beautiful, however, we battled traffic the entire course. Look to the left, beautiful lake. Look to the right, oncoming speeding traffic. YIKES. In some areas, we were running in single file in a very small shoulder on a busy, uneven road. This was unsettling. There were not cones, just "runners on the road" signs. This was also very hilly. The gain/loss was around 1,000 feet. Not a great course for a double. It rained for the first 16 miles. It was also very cold. Volunteers were great. Medal was the weakest medal I have received yet. So small and so insignificant. Wouldn't run this one again.