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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 81 to 91]
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John Coleman from LaGrange, Illinois
(5/31/2005)
"Time for real change - write the sponsors!" (about: 2005)
4-5 previous marathons
| 2 Lakeshore Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 2 I ran this race last year, and made comments on this site very similar to to what everyone else has posted here. At the expo for the Chicago Marathon last fall, I told the race director that I ran the race in 2004. His comment oddly enough was, "I'm so sorry." He went on to post a letter on this site talking about everything he intended to do to fix the problems. I thought I would give him the benefit of the doubt and try again this year as it is a beautiful course. Sad to say, things were worse this year. Since there are only 1,000 words available it is best to make a list: web site not updated and wrong, map not provided until expo (and not accurate and you had to ask for it and go to a separate booth to find it), course actually 27.3-.4 according to several GPS measurements, few mile markers (no 1/2 marathon marker even), water and Amino Vital sitting at unmanned aid staions (mile 9 was one), unclear course, not enough volunteers, aid stations not being set up until the first 50 runners have passed (ask my wife), no voice tracking that was advertised (only chip mat was at start and 10K anyway), no link for results at web page after race, no splits - ZERO, no welcome letter in race packet saying where to go and what to do, and on and on. YES THE COURSE WAS MUCH LONGER THAN 26.2 MILES. YES LAST YEAR IT WAS SHORTER THAN 26.2 MILES. I only trained for 4 months (twice), and spent $400 a year. Imagine if you are from out of town and this happened. Don't just post your comments here. Write the sponsors a real letter, not an email, and let them know. Send them a link to this site. If this is a non-profit, tell us how to get on the board so we can fix the problems. Let the sponsors know what a shame this is. The listed sponsors are WXRT, SBC, Sport-Photo, Carb Boom, Fossil Free, Dick Pond, Amino Vital, Affinityville, Chicago Magazine, NordicTrack, Fitness Formula Clubs and The Notesbaurt Nature Museum, Marathon & Beyond. | |
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P. S. from Ohio
(5/31/2005)
"New and improved?" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Lakeshore Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 The Good - Far fewer runners than that other Chicago marathon. Nice day to be by the lake. The Bad - The last 10K is spent dodging bikers, walkers and roller bladers sharing the paths. The host hotel is not 0.5 miles from the start/finish... it is 1.5 miles. The Ugly - So there I am, moving along in miles 20 to 24, not having my best day nor my worst. As I climb the bridge I see the 25 marker painted on the walk and figure I have only 1.2 to go. I start to push it in and a mile later see the next marker... also a 25! Someone must be messing with us, I thought. NOT!!! Another 1+ mile later is the finish. That's right 27.2 miles. A guy with GPS had it at 27.28. Did the director decide to worry more about adding Navy Pier rather than measure?! This is totally unacceptable. | |
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M. A. from Indiana
(5/30/2005)
"Disappointed AGAIN!!" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 Lakeshore Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 I ran this race last year and swore I wouldn't come back. But I was assured things would be GREATLY IMPROVED this year. HA! Once again there was no race information sheet/booklet available with such information as the location of the start line and how to find your way there. A poorly done map and there was nothing available to take with me. I know a lot of this information was available from the internet, but unless you have a computer and think about printing out all the details before you go to the race, it doesn't do much good. As for the course, it was still hard to follow in some locations. There were still runners who got lost and some were misdirected. Still need more signage and a LOT MORE VOLUNTEERS. Water stops were better, but still not nearly enough. Most marathons provide water every 1 to 1.5 miles, not even close for Lakeshore. The ones they had were better manned this year. Once again there were way too many fast-riding, inconsiderate bikers on the course. I was bumped more than once by bikers weaving through traffic. There were also issues with some intersections this year. There were at least 4 intersections without anyone stopping traffic. Then there is the ultimate. Based on my GPS and talking with over 20 other runners who ran with a GPS, it appears the course was 1 to 1.25 miles TOO LONG. Last year short, this year long. If the course would have been measure correctly, I would have qualified for Boston, but thanks to the lack of attention to detail, I didn't make it, as was the case for many others I spoke with after the race! The positives were pretty much the same as last year: I liked the scenic beauty of the course and the change of direction and surfaces throughout the course. The wave start worked out well. I will absolutely NEVER run this race again and I would NEVER recommend this race to anyone I know! | |
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A. K. from Chicago, IL
(5/30/2005)
"Great course, but horrible service" (about: 2005)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Lakeshore Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 5 That's a great course, and I enjoyed it all the way from start to finish. Having said that, the race was horribly organized. The only reason I was able to enjoy it: I was in a good shape and I did not care much about my time. Water stations were at very irregular intervals, anywhere from once in 3 miles to once a mile. There were no visible mile markers between miles 10 and 15, and there was no adequate course map either. Mile 18 was marked on the pavement, twice, 1 minute of running apart. Mile 19 was also marked on the pavement twice, also quite a distance apart. Several junctions had no marking at all, and we had to guess where to run. There was no visible marker at mile 24. At the next water station the volunteers were telling us that it's mile 24 when it fact it was much closer to mile 25 marker. Once there wasn't any traffic police when the trail crossed the road. There was no finish sign visible from a distance, I was only able to see the finish when I was about 100 feet away from it, not much time to speed up. | |
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J. W. from Illinois
(5/30/2005)
"Lucky I liked course, cause it was >27 miles long" (about: 2005)
First Marathon
COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 My GPS says 27.34 miles for the course. Up until 22 miles, I was on track to finish in 4:10, and I started telling myself I only had 42 minutes to go at 10 min/mile pace, and I gave myself a similar countdown through 23 and 24, but then I hit 26 on GPS and could not see the finish line. Shortly thereafter, a spectator shouted that the 25 mile mark was just in front of me. Thereafter, whenever somebody said I was getting close, I had to wonder how sure they were. I suppose that I should be happy that I proved to myself that I could finish my first marathon and then some, but now, instead of believing me when I say I beat P Diddy's time, my friends who look at the internet will think I was 9:30 minutes slower than I think I did 26.2 in. Maybe I got lost; wouldn't surprise me, as the course was full of twists that were so hard to catch that runners coming the other way had to advise those behind them. There should have been people at every turn (like the one that suddenly left a roadway, crossed a grass median, went onto a dirt path and came out on the beach) so that runners would know they were on the right path. Or, making a map could have helped. We asked for one at the expo and were told to look online. Problem is, it was last year's course that was online, not this one. Then again, the lack of helpfulness should not have surprised me: 4 e-mails sent by a friend and me to the website questions department went unanswered. The course is beautiful, but I did not need to see as much as I did. I feel bad for anybody who thought they could qualify for Boston. | |
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J. S. from Chicago
(5/30/2005)
"Sadly, course was marked incorrectly." (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 Lakeshore Marathons
COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 1 Up to mile 23, the course was fine. Much better managed than last year. Plenty of water and Amino Vital and lots of volunteers on the course to give directions. However, it fell apart at mile 23. I run the lakefront path practically everyday - and have done so for the past 10 years. At mile 23, which was the 6 mile marker designation on the lakefront path, I did the math in my head and figured that the finish line must have been moved because that would have given us 4.2 more miles to go as it was supposed to finish just past the 10 mile marker on the path. Not so. From mile 23, we ran 4.2 more miles, making the course 27.2 miles long. There was a mile 25 marker painted on the sidewalk - and a mile later there was a 25 mile sign staked in the ground. I talked with a number of people in the last mile who were very frustrated and had started walking. Sad, too, because I was on perfect pace to qualify for Boston. | |
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B. P. from Chicago Area
(4/14/2005)
"Great course, but everything else was terrible" (about: 2004)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 Lakeshore Marathons
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 I ran this race in the first two years and volunteered for an aid station in 2004. My station was the one that was pouring hydration down people's throats from pitchers, asking people to re-use cups, and refusing hydration for half marathon runners. We had to resort to all of these tactics because we weren't given anywhere near the needed supplies and had no information on how to get any more. As the head of a local running club, we had many members run this race and the feedback was consistently terrible. The course was short, although the race maintained that it was still certified. I'm sure that there were people qualifying for Boston that didn't run 26.2 miles. Additionally, because of the poor trail markings, people ran varying distances, all less than 26.2. There were no provisions for runners in need of medical assistance. Thankfully, we had none come to our aid station, but if someone did, we had no means of communicating with medics or getting them to the finish. In addition to very little hydration, there were no port-o-potties on the course. A few people from our club finished in the top 3 of their age group, but have yet to receive their medals. There were many other negative comments from members of our club, but a race without medical assistance, hydration, port-o-potties, and medals does not deserve to be run again. Our local running club has decided to have nothing to do the the Lakeshore Marathon in 2005. | |
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D. M. from Kansas City, Missouri
(3/21/2005)
"Disorganized but worth working on" (about: 2004)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Lakeshore Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 This was my first, so I have no frame of reference, but despite the problems with water, bathrooms (which were not to be found), markers, and overall organization, I enjoyed the race. I was born and raised in Chicago and wanted my first to my there. I love Chicago; I would hope these comments would fuel the race director to make the appropriate changes to keep this race alive in this wonderful city. I am running this race again this year. I believe it takes time to get things right. One more comment: the Hyatt needs to have rooms ready upon check-in time. Keep trying, race director - if you use these comments you will soon get it right. | |
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P. D. from chicago
(2/25/2005)
"Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad event." (about: 2004)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Lakeshore Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 I'm the type of runner who finds the good side of every race I've ever done, but I have say that I couldn't find one positive thing to point out about this event. The course was nice, but not closed to any other runners or cyclists. I was nearly run down twice. It wasn't marked at some of the mile markers and the big one: I still can't believe there was NO WATER at some of the aid stations. A couple of the stops were self-serve. I still can't believe I paid to do this. It was like a poorly organized fun run. You know the worst part? The organizers didn't seem to care. My advice is to do any other marathon. It can't possibly be as bad. | |
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S. N. from Illinois
(2/6/2005)
"Do Not Do This Race" (about: 2004)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Lakeshore Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 My wife placed third in her age group and is still awaiting her award. Course wasn't well marked, they ran out of fluid at the last stop or two, some aid stations were barely manned. |
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