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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 161 to 171]
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Kyle EricSon from Riverside, CA
(10/17/2005)
"Great Mid-Sized Marathon" (about: 2005)
6-10 previous marathons
| 3 Long Beach Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Just ran the 2005 edition of the Long Beach Marathon and once again I thought it delivered everything a marathon should. This year's medal is pretty cool (and it changes each year which is nice) and the T-shirt and the expo were OK (I don't get real excited about T-shirts and expo's though so my review should be taken with a grain of salt). For whatever reason, this year the event was not able to provide gels out on the course, but I hope people don't rip on the event just for that (in fairness, the organizers sent out an e-mail alerting people to this fact a week or two in adavance; plus what's the big deal about carrying a couple of gels for yourself in your pocket?). Although the course can be a little boring between miles 16-18 (the part along Studebaker), the rest is nice, relatively flat and the downtown finish is great. If I had to pick out one thing that needs improvement (and this goes for all marathons it seems), it would be the start. There are no start corrals available which really makes for a jumbled mess and makes it hard to get on pace, although in fairness, we really need to police ourselves people! I routinely finish mid-pack (somewhere between 3:30 and 3:45), but am amazed at the number of people who insist on forcing their way up to the front at the start, when these people have no realistic hope of finishing in less than 4:30 or 5:00 hours. All in all though, I enjoyed Long Beach again this year and plan on being back next year. P.S. Thanks to all the volunteers out the course who for the most part appeared to be high school kids - thanks for giving up your Sunday. | |
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S. M. from us
(10/17/2005)
"Poor organization" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
| 3 Long Beach Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 5 Extremely poor traffic control. At 6:30 am it took me over an hour to get from the freeway to the aquarium. It caused me to be 1/2-hour late. No porta-potties available. A nightmare to get back out of the parking lot. Will not enter again. | |
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long beach runner and son from Long Beautiful Beach, California
(6/2/2005)
"disappointment" (about: 2004)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Long Beach Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 This was my second marathon and my 14-year-old son's first. We are from Long Beach and were so excited to be running our hometown marathon. We were surprised that the expo did not have any shoe vendors! OOPS! No corrals to help the slower runners avoid being trampled. Basically, after the legacy runners it was come one and all. Never a good idea. Water was not available at each mile as expected and that awful electrolyte drink was so gross; we drank it because we needed it, but Gatorade at least tastes pleasant. Not like vitamin B dissolved in water. I, too, had the opportunity to meet Bob Seagren - what a thrill. We were very disappointed at how everything went. Why did we go on Westminster to Studebaker? How ugly and boring can it get? We chose NOT to run Long Beach this year, but to go run Chicago LaSalle Bank Marathon on the 9th. Come on Long Beach! Jacking up the cost to register and not improving anything will not improve but detract from attractability for not just out-of-towners, but for home folks like us. | |
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abe sutanto from gardena, california
(3/8/2005)
"suggestion" (about: 2004)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Long Beach Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 1 I would like to see Gatorade stations (not some other weird cardboard-like tasting drink) and more power gel station, and more foods such as bread or bagels | |
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D. H. from Los Angeles
(3/2/2005)
"misleading advertising" (about: 2004)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Long Beach Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 This was my 10th marathon, and although I did a PR on this course, I have a couple of minor issues. I was very disappointed to learn that they do not have it in their budget to send certificates. How much could they cost? Also this is a very small marathon; despite the fact that they advertise 6,000 marathon runners, only 1,500 finished. I guess it makes their sponsors happy (don't expect anything more than a t-shirt and coupons in the goody bag). | |
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C. J. from Granada Hills, CA
(1/29/2005)
"Good half marathon" (about: 2004)
6-10 previous marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I did the half marathon. (This was my 6th 1/2; have also run 6 fulls.) Most of the course is along the beach but you are often on narrow bike paths surrounded by sand. So you can either run on concrete or trudge through the sand. Other than that, you can't beat the coastline weather and there is good water throughout the race and fan support when you are on the city street that parallels the coast the last 3 miles. I didn't set a PR but I probably could have had I trained for more than 6 weeks! There need to be better parking directions. The 710 freeway was jammed with people trying to park. I got out my Thomas Guide and was able to take an earlier exit to avoid the mess. And it would be nice if you could have race-day bib pickup, but that's probably asking too much as the race gets bigger. In general, Long Beach is a great place to run. I've done several small races there and have had a good time every time. | |
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robert eilek from temecula, ca
(11/26/2004)
"Outstanding Event!" (about: 2004)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Long Beach Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I began training on May 1 for the Long Beach Marathon eventually putting in 105-115 miles per week in preparation. I started well and at mile 16, I was in 18th place and feeling strong! I saw my wife at mile 17 and it lifted my spirits but just like that, I felt a sharp pain in my groin area and I thought to myself that this cannot be happening? My stride was cut in half and every step was very painful the rest of the way. My expected time of 2:30-2:35 was out of the question now and I was demoralized. I finished in 3:03:59 and although disappointed it does not detract from the wonderful experience I had at Long Beach. The event's organization was superb, the course beautiful, the volunteers plentiful and helpful. There were plenty of water and other replacement products along the journey and the hometown atmosphere was memorable. At the finish, I was in pain but I had the chance to meet that great Olympian Bob Seagren who worked tirelessly along with other workers to make this a quality event and it was 'mission accomplished.' Thank you Long Beach for the memories!! - Robert Eilek, Temecula, CA | |
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Rick Sager from Pecatonica, Illinois
(10/21/2004)
"Another great West Coast run" (about: 2004)
11-50 previous marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 I appreciate this website and the comments help determine where my family vacations and runs. I completed the half marathon this year. I registered early and we got a great first floor room near the pool. The area near the host hotel is great for families. The hotel, although busy as can be, was impressive. A couple signs directing participants to the very good expo would have been nice. I appreciated the mayor's appearance at the start. The great things about the race: The impressive half marathon's colorful medal, the beautiful weather, the family can see you a few times for the half and the beach area of the run is beautiful and runner safe and friendly. The water complaint should be addressed. I threw my water cup partially empty by accident into a garbage barrel they were drawing water from. Looking at the results, I see not many out-of-state runners like our family are attracted. I hope to draw more families they would consider a kids' run, with kid-sized shirts and ribbons or medals. I'd pay the extra. My 8-year old ran her first 5k. She did great! However, there is nothing to inspire young kids starting a running program at this event. No shirts that fit and I never figured out what age group she was in. Although I'll suggest this run to anyone, I'll be looking for a more family-oriented run for our next California vacation. Maybe the new OC one. | |
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D. H. from San Clemente, CA
(10/18/2004)
"Excellent Experience" (about: 2004)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Long Beach Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I was a little skeptical about the race based on some of the comments from 2003, but I had an excellent experience all around this year. Parking was easy and less than 1/4 mile from the starting line. I had no problems getting access to the porta-potties all the way up until the start. The variety of scenery throughout the course (at least during the time I was still lucid) was fantastic. I think the race organizers worked very hard to address each complaint raised on this website last year. They even moved the race time back in case of another hot day. | |
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C. L. from Southern California
(10/17/2004)
"Beautiful Course, Needs Improvement" (about: 2004)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Long Beach Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 The course is beautiful. Definitely needs more entertainment (the website does a good 'sell' job but the reality doesn't live up to the promise), spectators, better organized website (2004 is over but the site still says the merchandise is coming), better organized pick-up of chips and race numbers at the expo, definitely need better water stations (although the volunteers for the most part were cheerful and earnest in getting EVERYONE who wanted it water or Ultima). REALLY NEED STARTING CORRALS - it was HORRIBLE dodging all the walkers and slower runners at the beginning, and that went on for approximately 2 miles. The spectator turnout was disappointing in numbers but everyone was encouraging. I liked the 'small town' feel. And I LOVED the 'Olympics' water station somewhere around mile 10 - what a great group!! |
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