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☰
Martian Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Martian Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 3.9 
Organization 4.4 
Spectators 2.9
Number of comments: 108 [displaying comments 71 to 81]
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Harondo Evans from Southfield,MI
(4/5/2007)
"Wow, that was fun!!" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 1 Easily the best of the small races i've done, I absolutely loved the wide street spaces of Hines Park, easily avoiding the dreaded 'Wolf Pack' clog of the popular mega-dues races. I've been in this area most of my life and had never even driven HP. Very serine & natural, a very pleasant trade for crowd support. The small up and down grades where not overly agressive at any time, however frequent. My only suggestion would be to consider leaving half the lanes open for traffic for friends, family and supporters throughout most of the course where possible. There was so much unused space 90% of the time and for some newbies that might be abit intimidating. Either way, i'll surely be back yearly as long as I can for this one! | |
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j. v. from The Great State of Texas
(4/3/2007)
"What a fun name for a race!" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Martian Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 Okay, I ran the race for the name...and I was not disappointed. Great little expo and a ton of licensed merchandise for a smaller event. The volunteer's jackets were worth taking the effort to volunteer. The race shirts were a super deal! A long line of great race shirts, and this year a specialty high tech, digitized color shirt. You can't believe how great the quality was on this. An easy course...no hills. Not flat, but no hills either. I saw the same six spectators six times...I brought no spectators with me, but somebody just behind me had a group. I told them my name and they cheered for me by name from then on. I have never seen so many porta potties at the start of a small race...no waiting. Easy race to find...expo was at the same place so you got to practice the day before. Easy parking as you were at a college. Very well done and fun event. Plenty of rest stops...they were fully adequate. Nothing special, nothing extra, but there was gu out there. Great traffic control. My only beef...it started at 8:30!!!! What is with that crap? Marathons should start in the morning and get it over before it heats up. Of course that meant that I got to drive to the race in daylight, but I had already been there the day before at packet pickup. I would have preferred an 0 Dark Early start. I mean at least start an hour earlier if not even earlier. If they had a better medal...be it enameled or a better shape I'd come back. As is, it was a decent race, but been there, done that. There was nothing special about the race but the name...and great volunteers, a great shirt, an easy route, and good support. But without a great medal it is a once and out for me. OH! I almost forgot to say...great hot pizza after the race! Very nice for a small race...or any race for that matter. I loved all the aliens all over the course...a super theme well implemented. Get me a super medal, keep the great shirt, charge me more money to cover that...maybe even a finisher's shirt! I'd be back. But certainly worth doing once if you run many marathons. | |
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A. N. from Detroit, MI
(4/1/2007)
"Not much of a crowd; good way to start the season" (about: 2007)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Martian Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 This was my first time running the Martian Half. Running Fit did a great job organizing the run - if you get a chance to volunteer, you'll meet some great people. The course was an easy out-and-back starting at U of M Dearborn, with lots of rolling hills. As usual, MI has tempermental weather in March/April, so plan ahead! At 7:30 in the morning it was pouring down rain, but by 8:00 a.m. it had stopped and it was just foggy and 50 degrees for the race at 8:30. Wish there was a bigger crowd of spectators, but it's hard for them to get down to the course when it's blocked off. Overall, a great way to start the race season. | |
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K. M. from Livonia, MI, USA
(6/21/2006)
"Interesting first time..." (about: 2006)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Martian Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 This was my first road race, and suffice to say it was an interesting experience. I do concur with previous posters that parking was an issue. Living in the area, I arrived early to secure parking close to the staging area (per the map) but was told by people in the lot that I was not allowed to park there and had to move around the 1/4 mile down the road. When I asked why the site map stated I could park there, I got blank stares. After I finished the race, my friends and I went back to the gym area to find that all the nourishment/refreshments had been picked over and were out - aside from cases of bananas that were green. The only fluid we saw were the water bottles at the finish line, so we went back down to pick some up. Being familiar with the course from work out runs, I thought the inclines were a nice twist. The wintery/cold winds were brutal, but it's April in Michigan.... I had planned out 3 different layers of clothing to wear the night before, all dependent on how the day started out. All in all, I enjoyed the race and hope they utilize Hines again. | |
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N. L. from Ravenna, Ohio
(6/6/2006)
"disappointing course" (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Martian Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 Thought this double out-and-back was brutal... not sure the map on the website reflected this very well. | |
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B. V. from Clawson, Michigan
(5/2/2006)
"Boston Q" (about: 2006)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Martian Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I am very happy that I chose the Martian for my attempt to qualify for the 2007 Boston Marathon. Great rolling course that was very fast. I love the course, except that you had to turn around at the 16 mile-mark. That was very tough mentally, as was the fact that it went back uphill into the wind again. There were friendly people and I was pleased with the organization; Running Fit has a great support staff, and the volunteers were wonderful. My only regret is that I will not run this race next year, due to the fact that I made made my time for Boston. | |
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J. K. from Grand Rapids, MI
(5/1/2006)
"Good training run" (about: 2006)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Martian Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 1 I have run 21 marathons, from the "biggest and best" to the much smaller. I was just looking for a good warm-up for Boston and got a little bit more than I bargained for because of the wind, cool temps and slight inclines. Of course, organizers can't do much about the weather, but prospective entrants should maybe consider the unpredictability of MI weather that time of year. The wind was just brutal, right smack in your face for half the race, beating you down. I found race morning logistics to be kind of a problem for many reasons that are hard to state concisely - suffice it to say, for somebody like me, who drove in on race morning from some distance, it was kind of hard to get myself situated and ready to run, due mainly to the lack of nearby parking. I think the organizers should add some signage along the way to alert runners to upcoming turn-arounds - maybe I am just paranoid but I would say the signage in 2006 was barely adequate at best. Personally I did not care much for the course but I didn't mind it because I was just looking at it as a glorifed training run. If that is what you are looking for, I would recommend it, but if you are looking for screaming crowds and an interesting course and all that, I think you will be disappointed. Good post-race set-up and food - loved the pizza. I might run it again but only if the weather reports are better. | |
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Run Slow from Ontario
(4/22/2006)
"Well Organized" (about: 2006)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Martian Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 First time ever at this race. The course was rolling and followed a creek on an out-and-back. The wind was quite severe on the out portions. Made for a nice change when you turned around. Did not like the fact that you have to turn back out again from 16 to 20 miles. The road itself is quite sloped and it starts to wear on you after awhile. That said, the organization was amazing for a small race. They had a lot more people than they expected but handled it quite well. The pasta dinner was great. The aid stations were located where they needed to be and they had plenty of GU and refreshments available. The after-race food was great. As always, things get scarce towards the end of the finish as is expected. Had a good time running this race and would recommend it to those looking for a scenic, quiet race in the early season. | |
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J. R. from SW Michigan, USA
(4/15/2006)
"Not flat, the wind howled, and no food at the end." (about: 2006)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Martian Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 The course, while much more rolling than flat, was solid. Great to have a closed course. The wind warning is accurate; mile 16-20 were a beating. I saw food sponsors on the website.... Where were the goods at the finish line? | |
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K. Z. from USA
(4/5/2006)
"Average Marathon/No Mizuno Mizuno Artic Touch Tech" (about: 2006)
11-50 previous marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 I ran the Meteor 10K. This is an average race on an out-and-back course. Overall, I would rank it slightly above average, but the fact that they tried to pass off a cotton t-shirt instead of the Mizuno Artic Touch Tech running shirt ($25 value) that was supposed to be included in the entry fee drops them below the average rating. I was pre-registered and they said they were all out of the Mizuno shirts. Fortunately for me, my girlfriend was able to switch it for a Mizuno shirt while I ran the race. After the race we noticed they were selling the shirts for $10.00 (which they had plenty of). Unless I'm missing something, it appears they lied in order to sell the shirts for $10.00. It also said that age group winners would receive Martian/Mizuno pint glasses, but that never happened either. I was considering running the half or full marathon in the upcoming years, but it has left me with a bad taste. |
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