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☰
Mercedes Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Mercedes Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.1 
Organization 4.6 
Spectators 3.9
Number of comments: 267 [displaying comments 121 to 131]
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Wendy Allen from Birmingham, Alabama
(2/24/2007)
"Go 4 Your Destiny!!!" (about: 2007)
2 previous marathons
| 2 Mercedes Marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I ran the half Mercedes Marathon in 2006. I completed my first full marathon with the 2007 Mercedes event. It was spectacular. The half last year was tough on me, as I am a mother of two young sons, so my time is limited for training. The full Mercedes Marathon makes the half look easy. The hills and declines were really tough in this race. Don't think you'll be able to complete this one at your best time without prior training. It requires proper training outdoors with steep inclines and declines. The Mercedes Marathon was a blast. I accomplished a life-long goal and plan to participate in the marathon annually moving forward. I also ran the kids' Mercedes Marathon with my 6 year-old son this year. He is pumped up about marathons now and has a goal to complete a full marathon one day like his mommy. Yes! | |
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m. b. from Torrance, CA
(2/21/2007)
"Great marathon for fun" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Mercedes Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Lots of fun and perfect weather this year. Great race organization, and the post-race party was outstanding. Expo wasn't huge, but it was nice. Stayed at the host hotel, Sheraton, and would strongly recommend doing this. Very convenient. Pasta dinner the night before was decent too. Course had a few turns, with one long, continuous incline around 22 miles, followed by a big decline. Definitely one to consider for 50-Staters. | |
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G. H. from Athens, GA
(2/17/2007)
"A Great Weekend" (about: 2007)
6-10 previous marathons
| 2 Mercedes Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 The weather was WAY better this year. Organization is first-rate - got in and out of the expo quickly. Still the largest marathon I've run, so it's the largest expo I've seen. Guess that will change next month in Atlanta. Medal is beautiful. Don't let the difficulty of the course scare you; I've PR'd both times I've run it, but I think that is mostly due to gaining experience. Thanks, B'ham, for another great weekend! | |
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G. S. from Birmingham, Alabama
(2/16/2007)
"Great challenge for an experienced runner!!!" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 Mercedes Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This (2007) was my third Mercedes Marathon (ran the half in 2005 and the full in 2006 and 2007) and my 13th marathon overall. This is a challenging course, but there are plenty of flat marathons out there, so step up the hill training and travel to Birmingham. The layout of the course provides a little bit of everthing (i.e., city, suburbs, trail, level run, hills), with a loop around Birmingham. The course is not crowded with fans, but there are plenty of people along the way providing great support from surrounding communities and in many neighborhoods. Finishing the Mercedes Marathon is a great accomplishment, but make sure you prepare yourself for a challenge! | |
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D. C. from Rosemount, MN
(2/15/2007)
"Very tough - but worth the effort in the end." (about: 2007)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Mercedes Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I'm still coming off my high of finishing the Mercedes Marathon last Sunday. What a quality event, through and through. I guess when you have the name Mercedes attached to the event you can expect quality - and you get it. The course is very tough - the hills were nonstop, it seemed, throughout the day. But the scenery was awesome. There were many areas of uneven pavement, mostly earlier on in the course, that provided a running hazard (I actually fell about a half-mile after the start - but luckily wasn't hurt so I could continue), so watch out. I was very impressed by the city of Birmingham; it was very nice and the Southern hospitality I experienced will not be forgotten. It was a great day and I really feel I earned that wonderful medal finishing that race! | |
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B. S. from Birmingham, AL
(2/15/2007)
"Southern Hospitality... Awesome Run" (about: 2007)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Mercedes Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The crowd support was GREAT! Wonderful food, drinks, energy gel, sites, medal, finisher's shirt, easy packet pick-up, nice expo with cool gear... all around a great marathon. I ran flat and fast Chicago but I set my PR in Birmingham... a course much harder with hills throughout. (Especially the last one!) Nice that everyone has a chance to win the Mercedes... all you have to do is finish. (I didn't win this year... but I plan to have a lot of chances in the future. I will make it a yearly date.) | |
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C. M. from Florida
(2/14/2007)
"Downhill in many ways" (about: 2007)
50+ previous marathons
| 6+ Mercedes Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 I have run the Mercades Marathon every year since its beginning. Unfortunately every year the quality seems to slide back a few notches. For example, the first year had a great expo, awards were at the Sheraton and a pre-race pasta dinner and IMAX movie were offered. The course was somewhat the same, but reversed. Piggley Wiggley was a sponsor with the pig in costume on the course and the Pink Mile was a highlight. Residents of Mountain Brook were out to cheer and a construction company had a "wall" at mile 20. Team in Training was evident so there was a fun atmosphere and no pressure to finish in a certain time. And you actually WON the car. Year 2 was similar, but then the course was changed; some things good, some bad. Since then, it has lost its "magic." I run it because I don't live far away and it is now, after 6 years, a custom. I am always worried about the cutoff time, because over the years I have slowed down and because of the hills, but every year it ends up being one of my "faster" marathons of the year (26 in 2006). The hills are tough, but your legs get a better workout than miles on a flat course. I hate hills, but most of these are long and gradual and I find myself jogging slowly up them. My biggest complaint this year is there was NO food when I finished and had not been for quite a while. And NO place to sit down. Lots of tables (don't like the looks of the bleachers), but most are taken up by half marathoners and their 2.4 kids - who I am sure had a sandwich even though the food was for runners. In fact, because there are so many half marathoners, I feel the marathoners are treated as second-class. My suggestion is to have the awards ceremony for the half-marathon early (as it is now) and draw 5 names for the car. These people would have to be back for the final drawing. That will clear most of the people and all of their family and friends out and make room for the marathoners now coming in to have a comfortable place to sit, plus it would be possible to access the food situation. On a positive note, when leaving Birmingham I remembered where the sponsoring BBQ place had a location. I went in to have a meal and joked with the hostess and waitress, asking if "my unused meal coupon [would] get me sympathy or a discount." I was offered a FREE meal by the manager! Now that was worth the whole trip! | |
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D. S. from Michigan
(2/14/2007)
"More for the frills than the course" (about: 2007)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Mercedes Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Going into this race, you will know that it is going to be a difficult course. Toughest last half of a marathon I've run to date, very humbling. But let's talk about the course itself.... I found it frankly rather nondescript. No particular points of interest - warehouses, along a highway, a couple miles on bikepaths and through a bunch of neighborhoods. That aside, despite downtown Birmingham being a ghost town with only few restaurants, the marathon did attract a lot of local interest throughout the neighborhoods. I've never seen so many kids passing out fruit or helping out. Not as many sponsored entertainments (i.e. bands) as was implied (I saw/heard a marching band that's about it)... but the volunteer support was enthusiastic and plentiful! I stayed at the Redmont. They had shuttle service from the airport, a reasonable rate ($74), friendly service and were only 4 blocks from the expo/start/finish. So overall it's a challenging course that really overshadows any shortfalls of the race with enthusiastic support, race "goodies," and a great post-race party. | |
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A. B. from Atlanta
(2/14/2007)
"Great Race!" (about: 2007)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Mercedes Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Tough but very fair course, fantastic support, great organization. I had a great time running this race, and would recommend it to anyone. | |
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K. O. from Central Florida
(2/13/2007)
"Tough but good marathon" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Mercedes Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I'd heard a lot about the hills on this course, and they were right. I almost marked the course down one star due to the number of hills, and especially the killer hill at mile 22. The course was never boring, and the time went by fast. There were plenty of water stops and gels available. The volunteers were wonderful. Packet pickup was smooth and fast. For the finisher's shirt, we were promised the size shirt we'd requested on our entry, but they were all out of L and they tried to give us XXL shirts! Luckily they ran large so an M fit fine. There was none of the advertised BBQ remaining when we finished (close to 6 hours), and the hall where the finish party was held was so packed, that we could barely get through the crowd. With the race growing the way it is, they need to find a larger venue. Overall, I would recommend this race, but do your hill training! |
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