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☰
Baltimore Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Baltimore Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 3.9 
Organization 4.0 
Spectators 4.1
Number of comments: 443 [displaying comments 251 to 261]
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Kyle Percival from Tifton, GA
(10/15/2005)
"Tough Course - Excellent Venue, Fans, Organization" (about: 2005)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Baltimore Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Baltimore is a beautiful town and the organizers did a tremendous job! The city police need a big commendation for an outstanding job with traffic, road closings, etc. The citizens of Baltimore were the greatest!!! | |
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T. B. from Catonsville, MD
(9/14/2005)
"Very challenging course esp last 10 miles" (about: 2004)
11-50 previous marathons
| 4-5 Baltimore Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 The initial uphill climb is barely noticable and the middle is flat and fast with lots of crowd support. Everything changes once you leave Patterson Park less crowd support, more hills. The finish area needs more room for the runners to be able to move about more freely. | |
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J. S. from Frederick, Maryland
(4/22/2005)
"Enjoyable and getting better!" (about: 2004)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Baltimore Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 Good race. Start and finish by Orioles Park. Volunteers and police were excellent. No significant spectator numbers. Finish area a little disorganized. More food and space promised for '05 finishers. More bathrooms would have kept runners more comfortable. Gel tables depleted by the time I got there. Looking forward to running in Baltimore Marathon in '05. | |
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J. A. from Silver Spring, MD
(11/17/2004)
"Not a bad race, great way to see the city." (about: 2004)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Baltimore Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 1 This was my 3rd marathon. And though I thought it was well organized (easy and convenient start; well stocked and cheerful water and Gatorade stations; reasonably priced; and an UnderArmour shirt at registration), I now know why most marathons are not on Saturdays. I felt I was fighting hostile traffic most of the time. And there were very few spectators and not very enthusiastic at all. Though running past Camden Yards the last 1/2 mile was nice, there were no spectators cheering you on and that is exactly where you need them the most. | |
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m. r. from west palm beach, florida
(11/9/2004)
"A challenging course - more difficult than expecte" (about: 2004)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Baltimore Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 1 The Baltimore Marathon is a race for those runners who want a challenge. The course is difficult but fair. It sets you up against the course. The presence of the pace groups was great. Without these groups, it would have been a longer day; there is a lack of spectator support on the course. The volunteers at the water stops and the police did a great job. The expo was a little unorganized. The packet pick-up should be all in one area. What a great idea - a Saturday marathon. Made the weekend better. This marathon would be even better if there was better crowd support and some music on the course. | |
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J. S. from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
(11/5/2004)
"1/2 Marathon is Excellent Training for Full" (about: 2004)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Baltimore Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I ran the 1/2 in Baltimore to train for Philly in November. I wasn't prepared for how hilly the course is -- this was good as a training run. The course itself is mostly attractive, but also takes you through some neighborhoods you might recognize from HBO's 'The Wire.' Road hazards included too many orange cones and dead rats (yes, rats, plural). The fans are very enthusiastic and friendly, but watch out for the ones who will tell you in the last 4 miles that you've cleared the last hill. There are inclines all the way up to the last mile. If you do bag check, be prepared for a bit of walking to get to the start of the 1/2 marathon (about 1/2 - 3/4 mile?). Under Armour has a tent sale at the expo and on marathon day with cheap Under Armour gear ($14 per shirt, etc). Worth doing the race just for this! | |
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S. W. from Dallas, TX
(10/31/2004)
"This was the best 1/2 marathon I have run." (about: 2004)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Baltimore Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The best city, volunteer and police support. The enthusiasm was incredible. Very organized and upbeat. The weather was perfect and I had a great time. | |
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D. T. from Bellevue, WA
(10/27/2004)
"Enjoyable run" (about: 2004)
4-5 previous marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I enjoyed this marathon. The hills were a little challenging, but I set a PR. The route was good for spectators; my parents were able to see me at four locations without having to do a lot of walking. Nice technical shirt that will see more use than a cotton T. So-so finisher medal. I didn't have a problem with the half marathon merge. Even though it became crowded, I was able to keep my pace. My one complaint is the finish. After chip removal, the place was packed and the crowd barely moved. I really needed water and food, and to move around and stretch, so the mob scene was very frustrating. The food and water should have been more spread out and in multiple stations, rather than in a single location that was a major bottleneck. | |
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K. P. from Connecticut
(10/26/2004)
"not a bad race, but improvement needed" (about: 2004)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Baltimore Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Prior to this race, during, and after - I had numerous thoughts about the race - some positive and some negative: 1) Sportsfans (and stadium fanatics) will love this marathon, as the final marathon passes though Camden Yards Baseball Field, and the registration is in the Football Stadium (You can step into the stadium to see the field). 2) Registration was set up in an odd manner. I had to walk back and forth to find out where I needed to go, which seemed obviously intended for the runner to see all the booths. 3) Pace groups were set up at registration (if so desired). The groups held to pace throughout the race and were easily identifiable. 4) I've never seen a race with so many well attended water/gatorade stations. This was extemely impressive; as was the attitude of the Baltimore Police. 5) Pre-race bathrooms. Not a problem. Just use the ones in Camden Yards. NO LINES. 6) Race starts on time. Hotels are convientient. 7) Plenty of potholes. Way too many orange cones. No matter how careful you are, you will come close to tripping on an orange cone. In between the potholes there are some dead rats. 8) The neighborhoods are tough, but the city is very nice. Some strange but amusing comments from the crowd. 9) Chip removal volunteer was extremely helpful. 10) I think I missed at least 4 of the mile markers. 11) Food for the finish line was within yards of the finish. NOT GOOD. The lines were so long that I did not get a single item of food or drink. 12) Immediately after finishing the marathon, you have to step off of a curb. 13) The hills are killers (not steep, but steady)between miles 16 and 22. Don't let anyone tell you that this is an easy race (although about 4-10 is really easy). 14) I vowed during the race never again to run a marathon that was associated with a 1/2 marathon. You run right square into thousands of 1/2'ers, many of whom are walking. | |
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Bethany Scherbarth from Hampstead, MD
(10/26/2004)
"Baltimore Rocks!" (about: 2004)
3 previous marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I wasn't going to paste any comments because I ran the 1/2 and not the full marathon, but on reading some of the previous comments I have to add my two cents. First of all, my complaints. The finish line was crowded. You should not have to bend over and take off your chip after a race. I didn't get the size shirt I ordered. And I got tired of shooting from one end of the expo to the other to pick up my bib, shirt, etc. But that's not unheard of for a big race. No bones about it, Baltimore is hilly. Everyone should know that going into this race. When they compare the course with the Boston Marathon in the info. packet, what do you expect? This is not going to be a PR race unless you have trained and raced on hills. You could probably complain about feeling unsafe in any city marathon. But come on, have you ever heard of a runner being assaulted in the middle of a race? (I sure haven't.) Leave the low-income neighborhoods out of the marathon and you're glossing over a big part of Baltimore. There weren't very many spectators, but I didn't mind. I guess it depends on the context you come from - if you like NYCM or other mega-marathons, this would be a little bit of a letdown. But I find huge crowds of spectators distracting and prefer races a little quieter. The Bachman Valley 1/2 (Carroll County at the end of September - plug for my local race!) with 138ish finishers and almost no spectators, was my kind of a race. Baltimore is a close second. It's funny you should say that you felt the marathon played second-fiddle to the half - I felt like it was the other way around! It's all in one's perception, I guess. I've lived in the Baltimore area my whole life, and I got a huge kick out of running my local race. The hills just kept me honest. :-) |
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