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☰
Denver Marathon (2000-2004) Runner Comments
Back to Denver Marathon (2000-2004) Information & Reviews
Course 2.9 
Organization 1.9 
Spectators 1.9
Number of comments: 43 [displaying comments 31 to 41]
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A Runner from Greeley,CO
(11/28/2001)
"I need water at miles 20-23 when it is 75 degrees" (about: 2001)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 A nice course that was run on a beautiful day. I have run 18 previous marathons, and never have had to search for water at the late stage of a race. I feel that it was a very dangerous situation, one that hopefully didn't harm anyone. I am completing the 50 states, so don't plan to do this again. To the race directors; fluids, fluids, fluids, and maybe a nicer medal. Of the 19 marathons I have run, this is the smallest of the bunch! | |
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Runner from Centennial, CO
(11/19/2001)
"Needs work" (General Comments)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 I ran this race in 2000 and it was my first one. After reading the comments after the most recent edition of MHCM, it seems like nothing much changed. I skipped this year's race to concentrate on another race, but would be willing to give MHCM another chance if improvements are made. I liked the urban setting of the course, and for a native, it was easy to know where to put my energies into. Don't be too harsh on Chuck T. He's busted his a-- trying to get this thing off the ground. Keep at it, Chuck, and the people will come. | |
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A Runner from Denver, CO
(11/13/2001)
"Lots of Opportunity for Improvement" (about: 2001)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 It's really a shame that Denver does not have a first class marathon. The Mile High City Marathon was an attempt to try and bring such an event to Denver. Unfortunately, from my perspective of running the associated half marathon, I have to report that it was anything but first class. The race organizers did an excellent job of traffic control and developing a beautiful race course around some of Denver's prettiest parks. Unfortunately, there is little else good to be said about the race. Without a doubt, this was one of the poorest organized races that I have ever run. I have run several marathons from the large (Twin Cities) to the small (Mt. Rushmore) and none of them have had the problems that this marathon had. Most of the previous comments are spot on regarding the lack of mile markers, limited aid stations, and poor food at the finish line (green bananas and expired energy bars). The race organizers need to value the runners and provide the appropriate necessities for running a marathon such as mile markers, adequate aid stations, and decent food at the finish. I am so grateful that I only ran the half marathon and not the full marathon. It was extremely hard trying to pace yourself without adequate mile markers. Another example of how runners were treated poorly was the lack of finisher medals for the half marathoners even though the race organizers promised both the full and half marathon finishers race medals. This was a very poor experience for myself and a number of runners. Unfortunately for the race organizers, word of mouth is very powerful among runners. If the race organizers expect to have anyone wanting to run this race next year, they better put the runners first! Unfortunately, Denver still does not have a 'real' marathon! | |
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A Runner from Denver, CO
(11/12/2001)
"A frustrating event" (about: 2001)
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 I had never run a marathon in my home town so I decided to run The Mile High Marathon this year. The packet pick up at The Lumber Baron Inn was fine for locals who know their way around town, but for out of town runners staying in a downtown hotel it was very inconvenient. The start needed a gun, a whistle or some other loud noise. The absence of mile markers that the runners could see is inexcusable. I missed 7 mile markers. The lack of water in the last 10k was dangerous given the warm weather. I begged water from a spectator. Green bananas at the finish where not exactly the sustenance I was looking for after 26.2 miles. After waiting nearly 5 days for the results to be posted, I was so disappointed to see that the age group increments were 10 years rather than the standard 5 year increments. I had to wonder if this was because they ran out of prizes. | |
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A Runner from Denver, CO
(11/10/2001)
"No excuse for poor organizaton" (about: 2001)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 I've been very glad and supportive of the organizer's attempt to bring a good marathon event back to Denver (except for just a couple of races, there is a lack of quality organized events/race organizers in the Denver area). After my participation this year, I was extremely disappointed. As a local runner, I thought the course was good. Unfortunately, due to the events of Sept. 11th and the postponement of the event, the course was not as 'green' and appealing as it would have been on the original date (as Denver gets pretty brown in November). Fortunately, the rescheduled date was blessed with very nice weather. Traffic management was fantastic, but unfortunately, those are the only two positives I can say about the event. I realize not all events can be Chicago's, New York's, or Boston's. I've also done or attended several smaller 'home-town' marathons: Big Sur, Anchorage, Vancouver, and the Millennium Marathon in New Zealand and have loved them all. All I need or desire is a start and finish line, enough water/Gatorade along the course, mileage markers, good directions, a couple of 'souvenirs' (race poster, finishers medal, and finishers certificate), and something to eat and drink at the finish line. Unfortunately, all of these necessary organizational items except for traffic management were inadequate. While most of the course was very easy to follow, there were a couple of confusing areas because of the route intersections. The volunteers did their best, but they can not watch nor should they be responsible for every single runner. To me it is a serious failure when any runner has to backtrack because of route confusion and makes a wrong turn because it is so simple to prevent. The same goes for mileage markers. I'm sorry, but spray painting arrows and mileage's on the street surface is a poor excuse for race management and quite frankly, discourteous of the people who shelled out $60 bucks or more. It is a simple and inexpensive thing to print up mileage signs and directional arrows and place them in the appropriate spots. While crowd support was sparse, that could be due to the organizer's lack of funds to adequately promote the event to the general public. I won't hold that against them. However, it was very easy for supporters to be able to get to several spots along the course. Another water stop was needed after mile 20 and the warmer than normal weather made it that much more critical. Calls to the office with promises to respond were not honored. Overall, the appearance this event gave was that it was run 'on the cheap.' I hope organizers have learned their lesson, but they have a lot to prove to me before they will earn back both my word of mouth or financial/participatory support. Maybe next year the trees will be as green as the bananas at the finish were this year. | |
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A Runner from Massachusetts
(11/9/2001)
"Nice course but..." (General Comments)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 the organization and amenities of the race needs work. Not much for the entry cost of the race. No pre-race festivities or expo, package pick-up was at an inconvenient location, no clocks on the course, missed more mile markers than I saw, some confusing turns with no persons to provide direction, no post-race medical tent, only green bananas and a nutrition bar at the finish, very lame medal and still no results posted on the web site (five days later). Found it humorous that the Monday Denver Post had the NYC Marathon results yet none for a marathon run in their city. On a positive note, the Denver Police Department did a fantastic job with traffic control on this predominately urban course. Guess that's where my $70 went. | |
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A Runner from Golden, CO
(11/8/2001)
"Give it a few more years to get organized." (General Comments)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 2 The website was horrible. Pre race parties were canceled, but it wasn't posted on the web site. It's very annoying to show up to something that's been canceled. No mile markers. I could hear everyone saying stuff like, 'I wonder how far we've gone? Are we at mile 11 yet' etc. No organization at the end. I think I was supposed to get a medal/dog tag or something, but nobody knew anything about it, how or where to get it. I'm sure the organization will get better as the years go on. I will run this next year to support it and help it grow. Can't expect perfection the second year of a race. | |
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A Runner from Denver, CO
(11/7/2001)
"You get very little for your entry fee" (about: 2001)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 2 I entered the half marathon. Packet pick-up was not in a handy location for anyone coming in from out of state. The pre-race pasta dinner was a coupon for a bowl of noodles at a chain of noodle stores. At other marathons, the pre-race dinner gives you a good opportunity to meet and chat with other runners from around the U.S. No banner at starting line. No gun to start the race. I guess someone must have said 'go'. Mile markers were painted on the street but they did not tell us this. One water stop had very small cups like you get at the dentists office. Upon finishing, only food was green bananas and an energy bar. Medals were promised to half marathoners and they were given nothing. No chip timing. It is now 3 days after the race and we still do not have the race results. The only positive thing I can say about this race is that the traffic control was excellent. Out of state people should not waste their money to come unless drastic improvements are made!!! | |
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A Runner from Castle Rock, CO
(11/4/2001)
"Good course, little crowd support" (about: 2001)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 1 I did the 1/2 marathon. Good course through downtown Denver and some of the parks in town. No mile markers along the way which made pacing a little difficult. A few more water stops would have been nice. Not much crowd support and no clock at the finish line (good thing I wore my watch). Overall, I did enjoy the race though. This was the second year, so I'm sure it will improve each year. I'd do it again. | |
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A Runner from Denver
(6/29/2001)
"Runner From Denver" (General Comments)
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 This race, even for a first timer, was poor and not worth my time. The web site was poorly maintained (nothing was ever updated or it always said to check back). They promised way too many things and didn't deliver on any of it such as prize money, pre/post race festivities. They didn't even have age group awards. The 'finishers medals' were dog tags! Extremely cheap in my opinion. The course is ugly, running through Denver neighborhoods. My advice...save your money and do a long training run (you'll get more out of it) or do Boulder Backroads. |
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