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Whidbey Island Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Whidbey Island Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.1 
Organization 4.1 
Spectators 3.5
Number of comments: 90 [displaying comments 51 to 61]
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Craig Wood from kirkland, wa
(4/25/2006)
"Practice Running Hills!!!!" (about: 2006)
3 previous marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Terrific race, I really enjoyed it. This was my 4th half marathon and I ended up walking part of it with my girlfriend (her 1st) and I absolutely loved the course. Terrific scenery and friendly volunteers. If you plan on running the race, I would recommend driving the course first so that you know what is in store. It really helps! | |
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C. S. from Joseph, Oregon USA
(4/18/2006)
"Perfect course, tons of food and great volunteers!" (about: 2006)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Whidbey Island Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I loved this course. Great low-key start, nice rural setting and routing along the water. My only two previous marathons (San Fran. and Portland) had a lot to offer as well, but I enjoyed the smaller crowd and this course much more. The shuttle worked out perfectly and there was more food, gel and drink at these aid station than the larger races. The course was very well marked and manned with numerous volunteers to ensure safe road crossings. Good group of people all the way around. We lucked out with perfect weather. What a great way to see the island! (My only small disappointment was that the shirts seemed geared towards the half marathon and it would be nice to have those 13.1 additional miles recognized.) | |
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Eddie Hahn from Fort Lewis, Washington
(4/5/2006)
"Point to point, no shuttle to start" (about: 2006)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Whidbey Island Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 This is a point to point run and there is no shuttle service to the finish, so you have to arrange to have your family and/or friends meet you there afterward. The course is generally very scenic and the addition of the Deception Point Bridge lived up to the pre race hype it recieved this year. It is passed early on in the run, and in my view, made the whole marathon worth the entry alone. Beautiful blues of the sea far below reminded me of the pictures I have seen of the Big Sur Marathon course. Other portions of the course are further in the interior of the island, and not nearly as scenic-typical farm land and country dwellings. Nonetheless as you criss-cross the width of the island on both sides you will be treated to awesome views of the snowcapped Cascade and coastal mountain ranges which contrast brilliantly against the blue waters of the Pacific. The course is a seemingly endless series of hills start to finish, but they are correctly described by others here as being generally palatable with an exception of two with steeper grades. The organization did a very good job of policing, monitoring and securing the course, but there were several areas with an annoying amount of heavy oncomming vehicle traffic, despite the coned seperation. Hot organic eggs and sausage awaited finishers along with a fair variety of other post race refreshments. Each finishers name was called as they crossed the line and the very large fiishers medal with a depiction of the bridge, denotes the (accompanying) half and the full marathon on the front, and enscribes the specific distance on the back. There was a mix up with the shirts and the full marathoners recieved a half marathoners shirt. An honest oversight before it went to print, but I felt especially bad for first time full marathoners. | |
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H. C. from Canada (former WA resident)
(4/5/2006)
"Want to see how strong you really are?!?!?!" (about: 2006)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Whidbey Island Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 What a great run. This is my 3rd marathon in eight weeks. I am a native of Washington and feel the need to inform all the out-of-towners that YOU CAN DRIVE TO THE ISLAND!! You don't have to take the ferry. Just drive the path to Deception Pass Bridge and over. This is the only part of the race I didn't like, because I think a lot of runners were misled. It was definitely the most scenic race ever and the best post-race food!! Sausage and eggs anyone? How about make your own oatmeal?!?! Thank you Whidbey Island organizers!! DO HILL TRAINING!! | |
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A. L. from Renton, WA
(4/3/2006)
"Train for hills and have a great time!" (about: 2006)
First Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I ran the 1/2 marathon. It was a beautiful spring day on a gorgeous course. Only complaints are that at the start there were not enough bathrooms to accommodate the runners. Plus there was not a sensor pad at the start for the timing chips. A minute can put you under your PR. Great food at the end, great volunteers, and there were great people cheering you on. | |
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Kirk Walker from Sin city, Nevada
(4/3/2006)
"This was a challenge" (about: 2006)
3 previous marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my third marathon and by far the most difficult. This course is tough because the hills start early. The hardest hill is at about 6-7 miles in. I would say save your energy and run slow through these hills, but the hills never stop. Sure the hills go down after you go up them, but going up wore me out. I was hoping to do this marathon in 3.5 hours but instead I finished in 4.5 hours. Yuck. To be competitive on this course one must practice running long hills. One other thing that was tough about this course was running along the water. There was a strong wind blowing in off the water all the time. Good luck, this marathon was a bear. It definitely rattled my confidence and I feel like I am a pretty good runner. The course was quite beautiful though. The one thing I didn't like was that there was no energy drink at the finish, although there was cold organic orange juice, which was quite delicious. Kirk | |
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J. K. from Seattle, WA
(4/3/2006)
"Beautiful Day in the Country" (about: 2006)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Whidbey Island Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 Completed my first 1/2 marathon. The training I did (running up hills, then walking) prepared me for this course. Beautiful scenery, friendly people (though not many spectators). Only 2 drawbacks - after BIG advertising this year, not ready (porta-potties) for all who registered; 20-minute waits were unacceptable. Finally, I would've geared up my run better for the last mile, if a) they had better signage, and b) we didn't have to do a little mileage loop at the end (Vine Road). Thanks for this opportunity (and to my brother Gordon, who twisted my arm to run) - it was a lot of fun. -Jamie | |
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c. c. from boise, ID
(4/3/2006)
"nice" (about: 2006)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Whidbey Island Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I ran the full marathon and finished. I had never run more than 8 miles before, so after mile 9, the miles seemed to stretch. But the hills weren't so bad. The scenery was pretty. The start was beside a beautiful still lake and we crossed over Deception Bridge, which was fun. I kept wishing I had a camera; there was a variety of scenery, such as lakes, coasts, bays, farms, deer, llamas, bunnies, and mountains - and the weather was nice that day. | |
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Eliot Pister from Vancouver, BC, Canada
(4/3/2006)
"Wow, what a beautiful course!" (about: 2006)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Whidbey Island Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 I only did the half-marathon, but I think the best part of the marathon course (apart from the Deception Pass Bridge), was the portion shared with the half. It snaked along the Whidbey Island waterfront for most of the way, with breathtaking views over the ocean, Olympic Peninsula Mountains and San Juan Islands. The water stations were plentiful and well placed, and the finish line amenities were terrific. It would have been nice if you weren't sharing the road with traffic in some points, but hey, I'm nitpicking. I highly recommend this race, and aim to do it next year! | |
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R. G. from Oak Harbor, WA
(6/2/2005)
"A wonderful 1st full marathon experience" (about: 2005)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Whidbey Island Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The organizers did a great job supplying plenty of water and gel stops as well as post-race munchies, but it was the fans who made this race were awesome! Yeah, the hills tend to keep coming at you, but once you get to the top of Taylor Road (~ 8.5 miles), the rest of the run was fairly mild. |
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