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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 391 to 401]
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A Runner from Bethlehem, PA
(10/23/2001)
"Hills - more (and more difficult) than advertised" (about: 2001)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Great organization, great spectators and volunteers - the city really came out in force, great police department! Unfortunately, I saw runners sprawled on the grass trying to gather themselves to continue, runners going up to relay busses begging to be taken back, and runners walking up hill after hill. The confirmation packet (which arrived only a week before - no time to change any training, anyway) told us: 'rolling...but the majority of the hills are not steep' and 'the last ten miles are a net downhill with two slight climbs...' Mile 20-21 was entirely uphill! I trained for hills, I thought, but ran on guts for the last hour - I wish I had known to do even more hill prep. Also - I would love to be able to purchase race merchandise online. There doesn't seem to be any place to do that. | |
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A Runner from Riverside, California
(10/23/2001)
"Way to go Baltimore!" (about: 2001)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 An excellent inaugural race that should get even better with time. Adding a scenic loop around Fort McHenry, while eliminating a few hills, might be an improvement. Some vaseline and food on the course would be a help, but the water stations were plentiful and the volunteers friendly. The 'net downhill' description of the last 9 miles was an interesting way to describe the continuing hills. Baltimore Police did an excellent job of protecting the course; and, they even cheered for us! | |
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A Runner from Alexandria, VA
(10/23/2001)
"DARNED GOOD JOB FOR AN INAUGURAL EVENT!" (about: 2001)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Good Course - Quite Hilly but nothing Severe - (of course after Nashville, Hatfield & McCoy, Salt Lake City & Schroon Lake any set of gently rolling hills would seem mild). Great Job of organization for a first time event. Saw little to improve upon except that numerous water stops are located on downhill sections of the course. With so many rolling hills it seems it would be better to adjust the water stops to allow runners to take advantage of their momentum on the downhills rather than have to slow down to refuel. Other than that - - no complaints. Good Support and Enthusiastic fans. (Confession: Due to a miscue I was not officially registered - after driving over an hour to get there I ran as a bandit - something I've never done before and don't condone.) | |
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A Runner from Woodsboro, Maryland
(10/22/2001)
"A Marathon of Hills!" (about: 2001)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 We had a great day for running--sunny, mild breeze, cool temps. The course had plenty of water/gatorade stops and was well managed and organized. The crowd was great! It was a very hilly course, though, a little too hilly for me! Miles 1-4 were flat, and miles 23-26 were mostly downhill, but everything in-between was hills. I thought that it was a very challenging run; a little too challenging for a 2nd time marathoner. | |
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A Runner from Norwood, NY
(10/22/2001)
"Tough race, organization needs work" (about: 2001)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 5 This was a very difficult course. Of 5218 finishers, only 27% finished in under four hours. Day was very hot for October, which contributed to difficulty of the course. Organization needs work. Registration was confusing, and poorly laid out. Runners were wandering around trying to find the next step in the registration/packet pick-up. Water stops the first ten miles needed to be set up on both sides of the street. There was terrible confusion, and congestion at the first few water stops. Mile markers early in the race need to be elevated. They were at ground level and hidden by spectators, vehicles, and other runners. Put 1-5 up about 8 ft high so they can be seen. Once the pack thins out, putting them on the ground is OK. Post race meal nothing to write home about. Some fruit, a bottle of water, and some chips. For $60, I expected more. I think they spent too much on post race entertainment (The Romantics) and not enough on runner amenities at the end. Any local band would be fine. A lot of runners don't stick around for the party anyway. It might help to move the race to November to avoid the potential for heat. Also, an earlier start would help with heat, and to avoid traffic tie-ups. I wouldn't have wanted to be in the mayor's office the Monday morning after this race. Traffic was not routed away from the race course very well. I felt sorry for the cops trying to deal with the traffic situation. My overall opinion is that the race had a rough start in part due to the weather. The organizers need to get a lot of bugs worked out. Given a year or two of experience I think this race will take off. Some adjustment of the course might be in order, or at least a fair warning that the course is difficult ('challenging'). | |
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A Runner from Purcellville, VA (Northern Va.)
(10/22/2001)
"Excellent volunteer support-bad course description" (about: 2001)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Thanks so much to those who volunteered their time and efforts to making this a great first marathon for me. All the water stops were well run and every volunteer had a smile and words of encouragement. Since I ran the race alone these people were my only cheerleaders. Another big thank you to the law enforcement officers of Baltimore who not only kept a lot of traffic under control but also shouted choruses of support as we ran by. It did not go unnoticed. And finally thanks to all the people along the course. There were few, if any, places on the course without people. Their cheers and support got me through the run, a very difficult first marathon course! | |
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A Runner from Frederick Maryland
(10/22/2001)
"Great course..." (General Comments)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This course was my first marathon. It was a very interesting run. The scenery was exciting. Great spectators. The course was extremely hilly...with a large hill at the end. Very challenging. | |
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A Runner from Charlotte, North Carolina
(10/22/2001)
"Difficult course, but worth the effort" (about: 2001)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 After driving the course the day before, I knew to expect an extremely hilly run and wasn't disappointed. The fans were as good as any race I?ve run. The course was very scenic, with the downtown skyline looming large as runners made the turn for home onto Howard Street. The warm sunny weather was beautiful for spectators, but difficult for running. Ample water stations provided enough support for me to post a good time, and seemed to come more often than once every two miles as shown on the pre-race course map. I suspect that race officials scrambled to adjust to the warmer-than-usual weather with some additional stations in the last ten miles. Along with other runners, I noticed that several of the mileage markers, particularly in the first ten miles, seemed to be misplaced, possibly by as much as 1/10 mile. This may have been due to water stations being positioned on the actual mileage mark, with the signs moved before or after the stations to make them visible. This was frustrating, but nothing that couldn?t be corrected next year. Overall, a great effort by a great city! | |
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A Runner from from Wilmington, De & Lansdale, Pa
(10/22/2001)
"Great 1st Annual Presentation and Planning" (General Comments)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I am a 4 time veteran of the Philadelphia Marathon and a 3 time veteran of the Boston Marathon. This course puts Boston to shame in terms of Hills! Brutal Hills. Great training run though. Almost impossible to set a PR! My boyfriend Bob, my sister Amanda and Brother-in-law Elliot had a wonderful time waiting in the runners area! Great job on the coordination. We stayed till almost the last runner crossed the finish line. My boyfriend ran the 5K and said it was great! We talked all night long on how much fun we had and we definitely plan on returning next year! The other runners were great - GREAT JOB TO ALL OF YOU! The help was awesome and the weather was beautiful! | |
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Ken from Frederick, Maryland
(10/22/2001)
"Challenging, but fun." (about: 2001)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The city really turned out to support the race. Baltimore is a city of neighborhoods and every few blocks a different crowd gathered or just cheered from their porches as runners passed. What was most impressive is that the course avoided the commercial and industrial areas and focussed on the residential areas and parks. Baltimore is quite an attractive town once you get off the main streets. Now for the hard part: there were about 21 miles of hills. I know people want to be supportive, but it does not help if spectators tell tired runners at mile 15 that 'It's all downhill from here!' when there are six more miles of hills. Also the concrete roads were tough on the feet. Bottom line is you can probably add 10 minutes to your goal time because this is a difficult course. There is already talk of changing it for next year. I'm glad I did it; it was a fun race--really challenging, but fun. |
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