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Long Beach Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Long Beach Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.0 
Organization 3.6 
Spectators 3.6
Number of comments: 242 [displaying comments 91 to 101]
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P. K. from Los Angeles, CA
(10/14/2008)
"Never Again!" (about: 2008)
11-50 previous marathons
| 6+ Long Beach Marathons
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 I've run this race about six times and after saying "never again" last year, I gave it one more try this year. The big issue with this race is that it has simply grown too big for the course and the city. Between a bike tour, full marathon, half-marathon and 5K, a huge number of people are all trying to get to Long Beach for the race. The result, like last year, is that hundreds of people are running to the start line from their cars, as traffic is miserable getting into Long Beach and even people who left plenty of time had to run a mile to the start. The course is also too narrow - miles five through nine are along a very scenic bike path, but the path is so narrow that you really can't pass people and you need to deal with the non-participants doing their Sunday morning walk. This course is fine for a social event, but not for someone hoping to run a PR unless they can line up at the very front. And the parking fees at the expo are too much... how about letting people get their bibs through the mail? I'd happily pay $25 for the service and save myself the couple hours that it takes to get to Long Beach the day before... not to mention saving the gasoline! | |
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Kyle EricSon from Riverside, CA
(10/14/2008)
"Another Great Year at the LB Marathon" (about: 2008)
11-50 previous marathons
| 6+ Long Beach Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Just ran the 2008 edition of the Long Beach Marathon and wanted to share my thoughts (both good and bad). I'll start with a couple of minor (bad) things that I think need some improvement, followed by all the good; - If there's no way to provide the race bibs and computer chips to participants other than making us show up in person on Friday/Saturday, at least don't make us spend $8 to park at the Convention Center, since most of us are only in there for 5 - 10 minutes. This really seems like a rip-off to me (I know this is probably out of the race director's hands, but perhaps they can pass this along to the City of Long Beach). - The starting corrals are a good idea, but with nearly 2,700 people running the marathon and another 7,400 running the half-marathon, the starting line is simply way too crowded (and next year will be even worse when it's the 20th anniversary). A staggered start (10 - 15 minutes) between the full and half-marathoners would certainly alleviate the congestion at the starting line and ensure that everybody gets on their pace. - The website has not been updated in years and has stated that a video tour of the course "will be coming soon" since 2003 (along with the 2003 race highlights). If you want to attract additional runners next year, perhaps you could finally get around to updating the site. Now on to all of the positives (which I believe far outweigh any negatives); - The course change through CSULB (thereby eliminating that lonely stretch down Studebaker Road) was excellent! I enjoyed all the students out on University Drive cheering us on, although it certainly made me feel old (has it really been 21 years since I graduated from there?). - As usual, the weather was excellent and I hope the race directors never feel pressured to change the date of the event to de-confict it with the Chicago Marathon. - The technical shirts that were given to the first 1,000 registrants are a great improvement over the typical white, cotton T-shirts usually given out to the participants. Although I imagine they are more expensive, perhaps in the future all participants could be given them. - The finisher's medals get better every year, and I think this years are awesome (CSULB's school colors). I especially like the space on the back to engrave your finishing time/place if you want (am I the only person who does this?). - Thanks to Scott, who was the official 3:30 pacer and who I ran with for the second year in a row. He blended just the right amount of encouragement along with some quiet "downtime" and got us to the finish line exactly when he said he would. Hope you're back next year, Scott! - And last, but certainly not least, thanks to all of the great volunteers (both official and unofficial) who handed out water, PowerAde, gels, food, etc. Without all of you dedicated people, I know this race (and all races for that matter) could never occur. | |
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A. C. from Phoenix, AZ
(10/13/2008)
"Nice, but not a "fast, flat" course." (about: 2008)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Long Beach Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 This is a scenic, well organized race; however, it's NOT a good race to do if you are trying qualify for Boston. Though it's fairly flat, it is very crowded at the start and has a lot of turns. They had 18,000 runners (both the half and full start together) and they don't really have corrals. For example, corral A is anyone who is running the marathon in under 4 hours or the half in under 2. Also since the dividing lines between the corrals are imaginary, people didn't really pay attention to them. It's not like the Elite racing corrals that are much more fine-tuned. Also the hills on the course are mostly in the second half of the race, up around the campus. This, combined with the warmer temperature, can knock you out of contention, if qualifying for Boston is a stretch for you. There are no bottles of water at the end; instead, there are just people walking around with cups of water on trays. Nice course, though; do it if you are not in a hurry. | |
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Megan Schedler from Nipomo, California (cental coast)
(10/13/2008)
"Great First Marathon" (about: 2008)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Long Beach Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The Long Beach Marathon was my first marathon, and I chose it mostly because the weather is similar to where I live and it was supposed to be a relatively flat course. I had a blast (besides the obvious good pain of running). It was well organized, with plenty of water, good crowd support, and a nice and scenic course. And I qualified for Boston! It was pretty crowded for the first few miles, but doable. My only complaint is running into the half-marathon walkers when I was finishing; that's not the best time to have to weave around people. I would recommend running in this marathon. | |
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D. Z. from San Diego, CA
(10/13/2008)
"Great Location But Average Event" (about: 2008)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Long Beach Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 This was my 1st Long Beach Marathon and 23rd marathon overall. I'm sorry that the bad far outweighs the good here. Good: + scenic location, nice course, and good tour of LB + awesome crowd support for a few miles at CSULB - thank you, CSULB! Bad: + random water tables (left, right, 1 table, 6 tables, manned, unmanned) + ran out of XL t-shirts at expo + the Passport public transportation bus driver got lost on race morning because she didn't know about the marathon. She asked the police why the roads were closed - ugh. + $10 parking at expo + too crowded, oversold (?), bottlenecks at around mile 7 on that small bike path + too much curb jumping + finish line had Dixie cups of warm water, bagels and bananas. Cheap! + spectators with political election signs This event was just "all right" for me. | |
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H. V. from Orange County, CA
(10/13/2008)
"Great choice for beginners!" (about: 2008)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Long Beach Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Expo was very efficient (no pins in the goody-bag, or I missed them). Access to the starting line was a breeze. Great first 10 miles!!! Love the run along the beach. It does get a bit lonely on the back section, but even late in the race, the students at CSULB were awesome!!!!! Everybody watching had encouraging things to say. All you need is more spectators!!! Overall, a great experience! Thanks to all of the volunteers! | |
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J. P. from Corona Del Mar, Ca
(10/13/2008)
"Very fun race, with a few concerns" (about: 2008)
First Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 I liked the course, although trying to qualify for a Boston time of 3:20 and having the course, from others and my reports, anywhere from .25 to .45 miles longer than 26.2, didn't help me. On my Garmin, I hit 26.2 at 3:19. My official finish time? 3:23:30. Another problem was that my pace group was unreachable. This being my first, and maybe only marathon, I would have loved the be a part of the more experienced group. Miles 18 - 26 were a lonely, painful time. I left the OC at 4:30 a.m.; do I have to camp out like for concert tickets to be able to get up front with my group? How bout staggering the races, folks? The aid stations were well stocked I thought, and plentiful. I enjoyed the run along the beach the most, and a close second would be running through the campus (the kids coming out and supporting were great). All in all, I can't complain, except for the pain I feel today, and what might have been in Boston.... Oh well, go Dodgers! | |
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M. G. from Anaheim, USA
(10/13/2008)
"Beautiful Scenery, Too Crowded" (about: 2008)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Long Beach Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 This was my first time running this course. The weather was in the mid 50's at start time and never got hotter than 70. The start was way too crowded. Even having the half-marathoners start 20 minutes behind the marathoners would have helped a lot. On the plus side, it was well organized, with beautiful scenery and a reasonably flat course. Going through CSULB was nice, but going up the two hills on campus at that point was not a lot of fun. My Garmin watch registered a total of 26.5 miles, and I was trying to run on all of the inside curves and made a point to run on the side of the street where the turns would be made (or at least cross the road in a long diagonal if I had to get to the other side of the street for the turn). Lots of great support from the volunteers and spectators. Overall, a very nice course, a well organized race, and a pleasure to run. | |
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C. C. from Tempe, AZ
(10/13/2008)
"Really fun race; I'll be back" (about: 2008)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Long Beach Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Course is very scenic in many long stretches, it provides a good tour of Long Beach in general, and it's mostly flat, except for a couple of sections. The Long Beach State campus section added this year was surprisingly hilly, but the energy of the student groups on campus helped carry the runners through that. Organization was fine. My race went off without a hitch - yes, it would be nice to have the beach run part be not so crowded, but the mandatory slowdown that caused for me actually helped me PR on this course, so I can't complain. The post-race food options were sparse (water, bagels, bruised bananas, and Clif Blox), but the beer garden was fun, and the free beer for finishers always hits the spot at the finish line. Spectators were great - again especially at CSULB - but also in downtown LB and in the neighborhoods. Long Beach was a very welcoming host city. This was a great event from start to finish. I'm really glad I visited Long Beach for it, and I hope to be back in '09! | |
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R. K. from Los Angeles
(10/12/2008)
"Nice course, but too crowded" (about: 2008)
11-50 previous marathons
| 4-5 Long Beach Marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 If you don't line up early, you really don't have much room to move until the half marathoners split from the group. Water stations were undermanned. Course is pretty flat and nice. |
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