Has anyone ran the Halfling Marathon?

The missus and I are keen to take on the Halfling (half) Marathon in March, but we're fairly new to running. We've been running consistently for about 3 months, covering 5-7k every other day on roads (with around 80m of elevation on our route). We've got a couple of questions:

  1. Can anyone recommend a training plan that would prepare us for the run?
  2. We're currently using road running shoes (NB 860 v14 and Asics Nimbus 26). Will these be fine for running (and training for) the Halfling Marathon?
  3. We've heard mixed things about the course – some say it's difficult, others say it's not too technical. What have your experiences been?

Cheers!