Back to Mystic Places Marathon Information & Reviews
A Runner from Connecticut, USA
(10/31/2002)
"Scenic course, well run event" (General Comments)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 If you don't mind a troblesome wind and some ill timed hills (between 22-24 miles, this is a really nice event. Course is about as scenic as you are going to find, good organization, plenty of aid stations with sports drinks, decent food tent and nice overall 'feel'. Good size for me, about 800 runners, lots of relay runners, which can get annoying at times, but I'm nitpicking. | |
Olga from NY, NY
(10/29/2002)
"wonderfull first experience" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 How blessed we were with the weather! The organization was perfect ? no relay buses as there were complains last year, beautiful scenic course, enough water and sport drinks, great people support from everybody out there from people on the streets to runners themselves, nice rolling hills in mid-path and out-and-back course lets you see the front pack and encourage slower folks. A couple of minor complains no marathon can go without ? practically no spectators between miles 19 to 25 when you need them most and lots of hills at miles 22-25 ? not horrible ones but oh, boy, they feel miserable at that point of the race. Overall ? great job, thanks to everybody! I met my goal and many nice people, loved the experience and ready to do it again! | |
A Runner from New Jersey
(10/28/2002)
"Good Course, but not flat." (about: 2002)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 Good course, good views, etc., but not flat. There are quite a few turns, and some traffic to contend with on the course, not to mention the traffic you have to contend with on I-95 to get there. | |
A Runner from Massachusetts
(10/28/2002)
"Great management/Scenic course" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This is the first time I ran this race. The course was scenic and although I was racing I couldn't help but notice the beautiful views while running in these communities. The course is relatively flat but there are a few hills to be aware of that can sap your energy. The race was well managed, volunteers, and spectators very good. I recommend this one. I will be back. | |
A Runner from Long Island
(10/28/2002)
"Lots of fun, Great race, but hilly" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was a very well organized event. Lots of fun, great volunteers and spectators. Plenty of water and sports drinks along the course. I only wish I had known about the hills. In my opionion this is not a flat course (as its billed on the races web site). If I had known I would have trained for it differently. Even with the hills I will be back to run this one again. | |
Olga from NY, NY
(10/27/2002)
"terrific first-time experience" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 How blessed we were with the weather! The organization was perfect ? no relay buses as there were complains last year, beautiful scenic course, enough water and sport drinks, great people support from everybody out there from people on the streets to runners themselves, nice rolling hills in mid-path and out-and-back course lets you see the front pack and encourage slower folks. A couple of minor complains no marathon can go without ? practically no spectators between miles 19 to 25 when you need them most and lots of hills at miles 22-25 ? not horrible ones but oh, boy, they feel miserable at that point of the race. Overall ? great job, thanks to everybody! I met my goal and many nice people, loved the experience and ready to do it again!v | |
A Runner from Quaker hill, CT
(3/14/2002)
"Nice low key marathon" (about: 2001)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 Nice race to run. Course is fairly flat. An uphill grade between miles 21 - 24 can be a bit dis-heartening but not a killer by any stretch. Only 'complaint' about the organization was at the end of the race, It took me an hour and a half to depart the park due to traffic issues. Hopefully this is resolved this year as I intend to return. I highly recommend this race for anyone who's looking for a low key yet well run and fairly fast course. | |
A Runner from Groton, CT
(2/25/2002)
"Looking forward to running in 2002" (about: 2001)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 The course is beautiful and everything was great! My only concerns were: 1. There was not enough water for runners towards the end 2. First aid was nowhere to be found. I ran with my friend for the last ten miles and we really could have used a first aid station. I look forward to running the entire race this year! | |
A Runner from methuen, ma
(2/1/2002)
"fun for the whole family" (about: 2001)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I needed to check Connecticut off my marathon list. Great, grass-roots feel. Scenic water views, enough small rolling hills to notice, wind bothered some. Pre-race and post race events were enjoyable (beaver brown band, clam chowder, moon-walks, etc...). route tour was helpful. Drinks and directional assistance were abudant. Volunteers especially CofC were outstanding. Areas for improvement were a 15 minute traffic delay at start, not many spectators, and high cost of kids race. great job, lots of fun. | |
A Runner from Brooklyn, New York
(11/14/2001)
"Beautiful smallish race with a few wrinkles" (about: 2001)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 If you want a smallish and highly scenic marathon, this is a good bet, though it did have a few wrinkles. The course was very beautiful, going through woods, lovely tree-lined residential areas, long stretches along water, and some along the main street of Niantic. The event had a pleasant small-community feel to it, with organizers and volunteers being very, very nice and trying hard to help, and with a friendly bunch of runners too. The course was less flat than advertised but quite fair and manageable; there was a tough headwind at times, including a long isolated stretch along water from around 20-23, and a couple of hills after that. The roads were narrow but I had plenty of room to run; my chip time was just 1 minute faster than gun time even though I did not start way up front, and as I recall within a mile I was running freely (maybe too much so - my third mile was one minute faster than the pace I intended!). The course had lots of turns but was very well marked and had volunteers at turns. Miles were clearly marked and they had split times when I wanted them. Fluid support was just adequate for me - I wouldn't want to have missed any stops. You don't get some amenities you'd get in a bigger, more established race - my concerns were tight roads and occasionally having to coexist with relay buses in tight spots (once I had to stop for a bit when a car and bus together blocked the way); water and sport drink stops at unpredictable spots, and not clearly marked which was which (but volunteers did clearly call out what they had); not much visible first aid on course, which wasn't a problem for me but could have been. There was a delayed start due to traffic getting in, but I didn't mind that, and I didn't really care that many stretches were hard for spectators to get to, but they are. Having an out and back course was fine by me too, because it's all gorgeous and it does let us plodders see the leaders (and also those even slower than us). There weren't tons of spectators but that was OK by me. Overall a very positive experience, mainly for course beauty, reasonable degree of difficulty, and friendly feel of event. |
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