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Lakeshore Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Lakeshore Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 3.5 
Organization 1.8 
Spectators 2.7
Number of comments: 209 [displaying comments 71 to 81]
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j. h. from chicago
(6/1/2005)
"This was a fine course but terribly organized." (about: 2005)
2 previous marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 There were few to no mile markers-the course was actually longer than a marathon distance????Hydration was questionable along the way-they ran out of cups at about mile 23. Having been in many triathlon races up to half iron man distances I have never had amino vital as the drink of choice nor do I ever want it again...please get it together!!! | |
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B. T. from Detroit, Michigan
(5/31/2005)
"Beautiful Course; Horrible Organanization" (about: 2005)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Lakeshore Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 The course was absolutely beautiful. Running along Lake Michigan is just awesome especially on a beautiful day. However, there were NO mile markers after mile 5, there were not many aid stations, and it is unbelievable to me that the marathon was actually 27.2 miles. Yes, 1 entire mile LONGER than a marathon! This is inexcusable. This is a Boston Qualifier???? I feel SO bad for runners that think they had a bad race because it was a mile too long! I loved the course but will NOT go back to this race due to the terrible management. | |
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D. B. from Chicago, IL
(5/31/2005)
"Horrible racing experience" (about: 2005)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Lakeshore Marathon
COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 2 Ran the half marathon to qualify for a preferred start in Chicago. The course was barely marked. The water stops were sparse and poorly staffed. There was no course map until the day of the race. The course was so bad that a lot of runners got lost/confused. I passed one woman at about 3.5 miles and she ended up finishing 2 minutes ahead of me! What else can I say? I will never run this race again and would really like to see its certifications from USATF and Boston revoked. This 'race' is a real scam. | |
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s. a. from central illinois
(5/31/2005)
"Does anybody know what mile I am at?" (about: 2005)
2 previous marathons
| 2 Lakeshore Marathons
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 Did not see any halfway point mark like last year. Did not see mile markers from 10 until 13 and then from several other mile markers I couldn't see. How can you keep on pace without mile markers? | |
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steve&paula boone from houston
(5/31/2005)
"Something is wrong with the organization." (about: 2005)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Lakeshore Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 2 Every element was in place to have a superb event, unfortunately it was almost the opposite. Mile markers were hit and miss, aid stations were hit and miss, staying on the course was difficult, volunteers were friendly but inexperienced, and the extra mile or so added to the end of the marathon was the final straw for most of the runners. There's nothing quite like having the last 1.2 miles become 2 1/4 miles. This race has great potential. The race should start an hour earlier to avoid the congestion of the locals enjoying the holiday. The aid stations must be manned. The course must be accurate. We don't require a lot but we would like the basics taken care of. The expo needs to be at a different location or at least there should be a way to pickup bib numbers and chips later than 5 PM. | |
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d. B. from Texas
(5/31/2005)
"An embarrassment to Chicago and all marathons." (about: 2005)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Lakeshore Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 I will start with the positives - it is a beautiful course, the rendition of the Star Spangled Banner was nice and this year there were plenty of restrooms. That is all I have b/c the beauty of the course was marred by the disorganization. I ran this race with a first-timer friend, and want to reiterate the comments from past years. WARNING: This race should be cancelled or a new team take it over from the organizer, Mark Chilar. The race gives Chicago running a bad name. How does he get any cooperation from the City given how poorly it is organized? Problems - course was about 27.5 miles; few mile markers (a habitual problem according to past comments - thank goodness for GPS watches); easy to get lost on the course because of the poor signage; several water stops had no volunteers - just boxes of water to fend for yourself; water stops far apart; high traffic on lakefront for second half of marathon; no publicity to let locals know there is a race going on to get some cooperation from the speeding bicyclists, roller bladers and non-race runners. Post-race food consisted of cookies and some fruit - pretty pathetic given the entry fee and fact that this is a race in a big city (but that alone would not make or break the race - Honolulu had pretty bad post-race food but I still liked the race). Race hotel was the Hyatt which was oversold and thought everyone should just accept roll-away beds. Expo was the smallest expo I have ever been to and the packets had no information on the course. Thanks to a friendly woman with Marathon and Beyond we were able to get a make-shift map of the course. There was a very poor quality 'infomercial' that played on what I think was the hotel channel. Rather than wasting time on this infomercial for Mark Chilar and Amino Vital, they should have been working on getting the course worked out. I have done the 'real' Chicago marathon and some 5Ks in Chicago and they were always well-organized. All I can think is that the organizer has no support whatsoever from anyone in the Chicago running community. It is a sad display of what could be a wonderful marathon. Some controls could be used on the lakefront without closing it. In addition, if runners and the public are notified the congestion could be more orderly and less frustrating for the runners. In order to make it work, more manpower is needed on the course, some signs are necessary to warn the public that there is a race, and they need some PR to get some spectators (I think half the spectators were my friend's family and our friends). Finally, if you are going to promote the race as a Boston qualifier, you have to make sure the race is actually 26.2 miles. One way to make that happen is to put out signs and mark the pavement every mile. The 'wave' start has potential also but is, like everything else, 'basackwards.' The waves should be by time and the race numbers by time. At a minimum, there should be signs so people know where to line up if the intent is to do it by number. Perhaps there was too much emphasis on Amino Vital and planting some trees. You need to plant the seed of a good race to make the trees possible. In the end, people can make suggestions ad nauseum. The organizers do not seem to read the posts on MarathonGuide.Com. The City should shut this race down and ban these guys from organizing any more races in the City. | |
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K. L. from Seattle
(5/31/2005)
"A 27-mile-plus marathon." (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Lakeshore Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 2 I guess I was warned by all the comments from previous years, but those comments aren't an exaggeration. This may be the worse organized marathon in the USA. No mile markers from 10 - 16. And then a course that was totally inaccurate. My goal was to break 3:40. I saw a mile marker at 23 and was on pace - the only problem, I still had 4-plus to go. It took 26 minutes to get to the 25 mile mark, and I didn't slow from my 8:20 pace. When I realized I had one more mile I was crushed. There is no excuse for such a mistake with today's technology. The race directors owe all runners an apology. | |
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P. T. from Chicago
(5/31/2005)
"Terrible water stations" (about: 2005)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Lakeshore Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 1 I only ran the half marathon this year, May 30, 2005, but the water stations were few and far between and not enough people working them. We ran from mile six to past mile ten with NO water stations. I would like to run the marathon next year but am hesitant due to the water stations. | |
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B. S. from Pittstown, NJ
(5/31/2005)
"Beautiful Course but too much concrete!" (about: 2005)
3 previous marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 1 I have run 3 marathons and many 1/2's and other races; there were not enough water stations. Thankfully I carry my own, however, my husband doesn't and did not have enough water. I was rationing mine the whole race. There were no mile markers or times which was disappointing. You had no idea how far along you were. I will be back to run again because I enjoyed the city, but certainly you need to provide more water, gatorade or whatever drink. I would have had to probably drop out if I was doing the full marathon. Also I am not used to running on concrete and it really hurt. So much that by mile 10 or so I had to slow down considerably because every step just hurt badly. (Probably more a personal issue with my body). Race director --make the necessary provisons and I think you will have a nice race. | |
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Robert Pomykala from Illinois
(5/31/2005)
"Change the director or cancel this marathon" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
| 3 Lakeshore Marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 Change the director or cancel this marathon. I have run this marathon for the past three years, even after the past problems, because I want this marathon to succeed. I even brought volunteers. My volunteers received nothing for their four hours of effort. Nothing. Not even a T-shirt. I pointed this out to Mark (the founder and incompetent race director) and he responded with a blank stare. Last year the course was short by a half mile or so, this year it was over by 1.3 miles. No mile markers after 10 miles, no half-marathon split. Bycott this race. Boycott this race director. Boycott the sponsors. Don't run this race it has not improved in four years and the race director does not care about you the runner, only the money. At least that is how it appears. |
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