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Koeln (Cologne) Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Koeln (Cologne) Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.3 
Organization 4.7 
Spectators 4.8
Number of comments: 24 [displaying comments 11 to 21]
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Gordon Macculloch from Edinburgh, Scotland
(11/8/2008)
"Good, Flat Course; Nice City" (about: 2008)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Koeln (Cologne) Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Cologne is a great city to run in, with a flat course and high numbers of spectators. The expo has a large selection of stalls. The city is compact and easy to travel around, with excellent transport links and cheap weekend accommodation. An excellent marathon venue. | |
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P. S. from Loughborough, England
(1/17/2008)
"An excellent race, but with a couple of negatives" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Koeln (Cologne) Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I'll start with the negatives to get them out of the way before I go on to say how good this race is: There are insufficient water stations, and they give out small cups rather than anything that you can drink out of on the move (or that actually hold any liquid). In this respect I thought they were very poor indeed. The mile from about 23.5 to 24.5 is possibly the least well supported of any equivalent stage in any of the dozen races I've done. It also adds a demoralizing loop in the course, taking you out of the center onto some unimpressive, dirty narrow streets. It is the worst bit of the course, and comes at just the wrong time (when you want inspiring by crowds or impressive buildings), and taints your enjoyment of the final quarter of the race. With those out of the way, I will go on to say that this race is excellent. It is well organized from start to finish (although the walk from the finish to your bags is quite long). The course is almost entirely excellent (excluding mile 24ish, mentioned above) - consistently scenic and almost pancake flat. The last mile and a half rivals any race in the world for sights and sounds and crowd support (it doesn't beat London, New York or Berlin, but it can be put in the same category). Crowd support varies from good to outstanding, almost without exception. The food afterwards is plentiful (although a little odd). The pre-race expo is very good. It is an excellent course for supporters as it loops to a central location on at least three occasions, and the metro system covers the rest. In summary, if they could iron out the faults, this could be one of the biggest and best races in Europe. As it is, it is still very good indeed (just be careful you don't get dehydrated). | |
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B. B. from American in Germany
(10/11/2007)
"Awesome 1st Marathon" (about: 2007)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Koeln (Cologne) Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 This was my 1st marathon and overall it was an enjoyable one. The course was very flat and scenic for the most part. There were spectators lining almost the entire thing with huge crowds in almost all of the downtown areas and finish lines. The bad thing was lack of food or energy drinks on the course. There was plenty of water or tea but I only saw bananas and they seemed sporadic. Luckily I had brought my own energy gels so I was fine but it would have been a tough run without them. There were also no toilets along the course for the runners. Being male, I had no problem finding a bush, but I could just imagine being a female or having any other type of emergency would not have been good. Overall, I definitely recommends this race. Very good atmosphere and pretty good organization for a 14,000-runner marathon. | |
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I. B. from Cambridge, England
(10/10/2007)
"Superb support on a nice flat course." (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Koeln (Cologne) Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 The support for this race is incredible. The course is flat and scenic in some parts. The late start meant that it was hot towards the latter part of the race and there were no energy drinks on the course. It was hard to get your deposit back for the chip, and it helps to know a bit of German. | |
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Richard Cross from Brussels, Belgium
(10/8/2007)
"Buzzing City but no energy drinks" (about: 2007)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Koeln (Cologne) Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 My first marathon. A wonderful experience, good organization (but a grasp of German is helpful). Cologne is the party city of Germany and there was a really good atmosphere in the supporters - at times it felt like a mountain stage in the Tour De France. The crowds were really pressed in tight at times and I found it difficult to maintain the pace I wanted to run at. The course didn't seem to make the most of the tourist sites and my only real complaint is that I did not see a single energy drink in the whole race. Maybe I missed them, but it's supposed to obvious right? | |
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m. g. from oxford england
(10/8/2007)
"great" (about: 2007)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Koeln (Cologne) Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I ran the 7.5 kilometres in the childrens race (thats about 5 miles) I thought the marathon was a lot better than I first thought. I did the last leg of the race and I'm glad I did, because the amount of support you get from the spetators at the finish line was amazing. If you were tired and you wanted to stop the crowd would get right behind you and you want to finish the race. The only bad side to it is that I can't run next year because I would have left school. - M. Greatbatch, 15 years old from the Marlborough school | |
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J. W. from Oxford
(10/14/2006)
"It was a fantastic race; I felt proud to be there!" (about: 2006)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Koeln (Cologne) Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I ran the children's marathon and I ran 10KM - 6.2 miles. Even though I didn't run the marathon, it was amazing! There were drummers every few miles, little children with their hands out trying to give you high-fives, crazy runners with costumes on, you name it!! There were rollerbladers there too, and they were fast - zooming past everyone in a line! I was running with a clown for some of it and whenever we went past a group of people, they would scream at him!! It felt good to be near him because every time someone roared at him it would give me a bit more energy to go faster. Overall, I would rate this marathon as 10/10, even though I've only run it once! I'll be back next year with my school, Marlbrough. DEFINITELY!! | |
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Lawrence Herst from Tampa, Florida
(10/11/2006)
"Cologne Marathon: Don't miss this one!" (about: 2006)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Koeln (Cologne) Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The Ford marathon in Cologne 2006 was fantastic! This was my first marathon and it was truly one of a kind. The spectators, the views, and the feeling were excellent! Plenty of refreshing stops along the way and cheering crowds gave way to an everlasting experience. The course was scenic and featured many historic buildings throughout the journey. The path was flat and I would recommend this marathon to all first-timers. Some marathon advice: * Book your hotels and/or hostels as early as possible. Try to book one that is near the finish area. * Show up to the race at least three hours early, as it will be crowded. Try to get your race number a day before the race in the registration area as it will be crowded on race day. * The gels and liquid you carry with you on this race should be minimal. There is an abundance of stops along the way so don't bring too much weight with you. In the 2006 race, there were instances where your choices included water, tea, Coke, Red Bull, and bananas. What a buffet! - Lawrence | |
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marc fideler from oberkorn, luxemburg
(10/11/2006)
"FIRST HALF-MARATHON IN GERMANY" (about: 2005)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Koeln (Cologne) Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Fantastic organization and great ambiance! Beautiful track and good runners. | |
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Tricia Winn from Spangdahlem Germany (Portland,OR USA)
(10/11/2006)
"Great First Marathon" (about: 2006)
First Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Koln is a beautiful city, and the route was great. There were bands and people cheering almost the whole way. The water/banana stops were spaced just right. The only complaint I have was the late start, but other than that I was very impressed. The people in Koln made my first marathon experience a good one. |
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