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Yakima River Canyon Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Yakima River Canyon Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.8 
Organization 4.8 
Spectators 3.1
Number of comments: 74 [displaying comments 61 to 71]
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J. H. from Austin, Texas
(4/4/2005)
"Amazing Course. Dick Beardsley. Ran w/ Eagles" (about: 2005)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Yakima River Canyon Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 By god but Joe Henderson announced my finish! Dick Beardsley talked at the pasta meal (very good); probably the most inspiring speaker I've heard. Moved and motivated me. Beautiful course. Ran with a bald eagle! Fantastic volunteers and runners. Inspiring multiple marathoners. '50 Staters'. '100 Marathon' Club. You only have to run the race to understand why so many 50-staters choose Yakima as their WA marathon--keep in mind that WA has nearly as many marathons as CA--the nation's leader. One runner, who won his age group, had just completed a 100+ mile ultra the day before! Excellent organization: water/Powerade stops every 2-3 miles. Buses left on time. 400 runners, small-town feeling. Small expo. Excellent t-shirts, excellent finisher's medal. This is not a BQ course, though, and you shouldn't run it for that reason. There's a pretty decent hill at mile 21.5 that runs out of the canyon for 2 miles, leaving about 3.5 mostly downhill to the finish. One other hill at around mile 14 actually felt good, after the downhill/flat first 13. Bob Dolphin, the co-director, has run over 350 marathons in the past 20 years. His wife, Lenore, the co-director, has participated or observed over 200--so they know what's important to real marathoners and what's not. This is definitely a purist marathon. Little glitz, no spectators (road's closed), race HQ at the local civic center. This is 1980 all over again. And I loved it. This is a gem of a race and you'll love it. PS. I gave 'spectators' 5 stars because I prefer to focus on my running and passing other runners and not the spectators. | |
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s. c. from Moses Lake, WA
(4/4/2005)
"Beautiful river canyon, friends and bald eagles." (about: 2005)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Yakima River Canyon Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 Had a great time on my second marathon in the last six months after not having run a marathon for twenty years. This one was harder than St. George. Or I was in worse shape? Small number of participants (300+), but everyone was friendly and seemed happy to be there. Perhaps an outgrowth of the warm welcome and great planning of the organizers. This year they had a GREAT presentation put on by Dick Beardsley of Boston Marathon fame. His story alone was worth running a marathon and then some. If you haven't heard of him, go to ANY marathon where he is a featured speaker - you won't regret it. Running through the Yakima River canyon, the course has a lot of natural beauty. We saw three bald eagles perched in a tree on an island in the middle of the river; they took flight as we ran by. Truly a grand sight. The first hill at mile 14 wasn't too bad, but the last one at mile 23 and more than a mile long was VERY challenging... for me anyway. I don't know how she made it on to the course but one lady set up speakers out of her car and played some loud music at various locations along the way. I must have run by her four times -- Beach Boys, Creedence, Chariots of Fire theme... a fun little juxtaposition from the serene surroundings, but good for a momentary change. The weather was cool but pleasant and thankfully a reasonable starting time not requiring an oh dark thirty wake-up call. I'd do it again and would recommend it to anyone looking for a small well-organized marathon with lots of people that come back year after year. | |
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J. K. from Snoqualmie, Wa
(4/13/2004)
"Don't miss this marathon!!" (about: 2004)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Yakima River Canyon Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 The course was beautiful and serene. Plenty of time to collect your thoughts since fans are at a minimum. I am ready to hit next year's!! (Actually had PR of more than 18 minutes!) | |
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G. M. from Seattle
(4/6/2004)
"Fun and Friendly Fanatics" (about: 2004)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Yakima River Canyon Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 A lot of camaraderie with plenty of runners sporting '50 Stater' and 'Marathon Maniacs' club shirts. Their eagerness to chat helped take my mind off the fact the roadway was very slanted at times, definitely a challenge if you're used to flat surfaces. The 'long' hill at 21 miles was gradual but tough, especially if your legs are already rubber by that point. Great aid stations with lot's of help. Very peacful and scenic with the whole road to yourself (traffic blocked). Too tired for the award dinner although I heard it's 'not to be missed'. The only reason I scored fan support a 2 is because of lack of access to the closed off highway. Bob/Lenore Dolphin and friends put on a very personable and fun event. | |
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M. C. from Kelso, WA
(11/3/2003)
"Great Scenery; Sparse Crowds" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 1 A very scenic course run at an ideal time of the year for this area. The course follows the Yakima River with nice mountain views. Very friendly people organize this event and make you feel right at home. Crowd support virtually non-existent due to where the course is run (the highway is closed off). A couple of painful uphills at about mile 14 and mile 25 on a course that is mostly downhill. When you're done, take a shower a go to the wineries (of which there are many). | |
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T. J. from Moses Lake, WA
(5/7/2003)
"Beautiful run, great town" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This course is the best I've run so far-incredible scenery, lots of animals. The hills can be tough, but no one runs marathons because they're easy. Not many spectators; there must be better things to do in Yakima/Ellensburg than watch a bunch of sweaty people run by. This is a must-do marathon, you won't be sorry you came. | |
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Mark Frasco from Ohio
(4/23/2003)
"Just Do It! Nature Run." (about: 2003)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 1 What a great choice for my first marathon! Beautiful scenary, wonderful volunteers, small field, challenging track. Run Yakima if you are interested in a remote marathon location and plenty of elbow room. With only about 350 runners, you're never in a crowd. The first few miles are not at all indicative of the beauty and challenge of this nature run. The first half is relatively flat and fast, but beware... the second half is all you can handle and more. Two significant hills, the last of which is at miles 22-23, yes, that's nearly two miles. When you hit mile marker 24, you can kick to the finish on a slight downhill to the finish. Fans are not allowed on the course. This was a surprise to me and a bit of a disappointment, but for some I'm sure this makes Yakima desirable. The volunteers were wonderful, well organized, aid stations about every two miles. Overall, a wonderful experience. Very challenging, beautiful views of river and hills. If you're looking for a challenging run with a small number of runners, great scenery, and no fan complications, this is your race. | |
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Edward Hahn from Fort Lewis Washington
(4/7/2003)
"Everybody Wins" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 1 From the Pre-Race Dinner to the Post Race awards ceremony, every runner and even some family members come out winners. Unique awards are given to people that come geographically distant locals, family member (groups) that complete the marathon, and many many random raffle prizes are given (locally bottled wine, sporting attire, etc.) In fact, there are so many random prizes awarded, it seemed obvious to me (having had previous race volunteer experience) that they must have started recruiting sponsors right after last year's marathon. The race is point to point, scenic, free of traffic through a semi arid beautifully situated canyon near Ellensburg, bordering the central Washington High Desert. There are two fairly steep hills at miles 14 and 23, and though it may not be a PR course for everyone, I did overhear several runners that bettered their previous best marathon time. As you consider the race you may also want to factor in the head and or cross winds that occasionally whip through the canyon as they did in this years race. The Pre-race dinner left much to be desired. The spagehtti was over-cooked to the extreme and the 'pre-dressed' salad which was served via rubber-gloved hand after a thorough 'raking,' (rather than using a salad tong in either instance); was as scary as is was terrible. Conversley, the post race awards meal was excellent. Baked potatoes with more options for toppings than I can count or remember...and fortunatly, the salad wasn't pre-dressed or served by hand. | |
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A Runner from the Midwest
(6/11/2002)
"Marathon that caters to all runners needs" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 This race is fantastic!!! When you take a veteran runner of 287 marathons and make him and his wife the race directors- you have a superb marathon! They have seen their share of races and they know runners and what they need and the little extras that make a marathon experience complete. Plus these people were so well organized that the race director was able to run the race himself. Here are the highlights: Beautiful scenic course primarily closed to traffic that has slowly increasing grade hills, but downhill to match with an overall drop in elevation. A group of about 350-400 runners. No large mass of humanity and no groups of walkers walking 4 across that you have to run around. Great pasta feed and party the night before for a mere $6. Ample water stations that are also stocked with food like bananas, pretzels, power bars, Doritos (those tasted so good!) A heavy duty long sleeve colored T shirt with no advertising on it and a nice finisher's medal (finally one without a red/white/blue ribbon) Nice post race and awards ceremony. It was a baked potato bar with lots of fixins and salads and desert. What was an extra treat were volunteers coming around and getting more drinks for you. It was so nice to just sit and visit for awhile and not have to get up to get more drinks. What I also really liked about the post race was that it was held one hour after the finish of the race. This allowed everyone to clean up and relax after the race and then come back to eat and receive awards. For those that need food immediately after a race, they had that too and massages. Showers were available at a local high school that provided soaps and towels. They had multiple and really nice raffle prizes which is always nice for those of us that will never win an age division award (which went 5 deep). One of the things I really enjoyed is that this is a marathon only race- no 1/2 marathon and no relays. It has been my experience that when a race has multiple events- those back of the packers like me have limited aid and no food at the finish which really sucks since we paid just as much as everyone else. So in summary: if you live in WA, support this race. You'd be a fool if you didn't. If you are a 50 stater, choose this as your WA race over any other. You'll be glad you did. For all other runners, if you want to run a race that will cater to your every need and you want to see some beautiful scenery, run the race and make a vacation out of it. Wine country is about an hour away from the race location and Seattle is 2 1/2 hours away. | |
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A Runner from florida
(4/12/2002)
"Very scenic" (General Comments)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 1 This was my 30th marathon and 19th state. 3 weeks earlier I had run a personal worst at Virginia Beach where the temps got up to a record 80 degrees after the 9am start. The weather at Yakima was mild at the 8am start. Probably in the 40's-50's and it didn't warm up that much. Probably got no warmer than the 60's later in the day. The first three miles ar run on some country roads then the rest of the race runs through the canyon. There are lots of scenic cliffs/hills. There are a lot of curves on this course which causes the road to slant. I tried to run to the outside of the curves because the course is so scenic I was so eager to see what lies around each curve. Midway though the race a train passed through the valley. There are not many spectators on this course but a lot of nice scenery. Water/gatorade stops are 2-3 miles apart with a portajohn. It was good planning by the race director to have the johns at each stop because there is really not much vegitation/trees along this course if you have to go. Most of the course is downhill. There are a few uphills but they are not bad. The % grade is not that great. If you do this one I recommend flying into Seattle, then is is a 2.5 your drive to Yakima. During the drive down you will go through Snoqualmie Pass where there are many feet of snow on the ground in April. Roads are clear this time of year. I recommend a trip up to Mt. Ranier which is not that far after the race. |
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