In preparation for the Akron Marathon Saturday, a pinning ceremony was held at the John S. Knight Center downtown to honor those who ran in the full marathon for the past 5-10 years.

Donna from Akron said it was quite an honor to receive her pin for running in the event since it started a decade ago.

"I feel honored," she said.

"I'm from Akron and I think it was a great thing when they started this ten years ago, it's just a great community builder."

The 2012 edition of the Akron Marathon  will begin near the National Inventors Hall of Fame and finish at Canal Park, home of the AA Eastern League Champion Akron Aeros .

Mark Chaloupka  a five-year participant, says the annual event is one of the more enjoyable marathons he's run.

"It's just a great event, of all the marathons I've run including Boston, this is the most fun."

Akron resident Jim Ballard, another five-year runner says the event is first-class and appreciates all of the ways the city tries to make each marathon better than last year's.

"I just think that Akron does everything really really well , every facet of the marathon, something not every city does," Ballard said.

"Once they find what works, they don't sit there and keep gliding on that, they look for ways to even improve on what's better than most."

Robert Shaddock  says he enjoys the course because of the variety of sights he sees during the race.

"That is one of the unique things about this race, " Shaddock said.

"I've run some other races and 26 miles is a long way to go and it's hard to make the whole race pleasant and as far as I'm concerned, there's no part of the race that isn't pleasant."

More than 15,000 runners will be participating in the 26.2 mile jaunt through the Rubber City on Saturday.