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☰
Garmin Marathon (prev. Oz Marathon) Runner Comments
Back to Garmin Marathon (prev. Oz Marathon) Information & Reviews
Course 3.8 
Organization 4.1 
Spectators 3.1
Number of comments: 147 [displaying comments 111 to 121]
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C. R. from Indianapolis, IN
(4/1/2007)
"Well organized and friendly" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Garmin Marathon (prev. Oz Marathon)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I had a nice time in Olathe. I recommend it for those seeking a small well "run" marathon. The wind was a factor but the early start was helpful for cooler temperatures. The young man who sang the national anthem set the stage for a great day. Thank you. | |
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M. M. from Arlington, VA
(4/1/2007)
"Well worth the trip" (about: 2007)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Garmin Marathon (prev. Oz Marathon)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 First, the volunteers: Thanks! Without your support, this race would not be the same. Fans: Where there were fans, thanks. Course: Not the most scenic course, but it had its moments. Rolling hills, great aid stations, middle America neighborhoods - made it worthwhile. Post-race: Awesome job. Well worth the trip. Great race. We were kept up-to-date on race info prior to the start. Shuttle buses flowed, chip pick up very easy, etc. Perfect!! | |
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Boehm Robert from Kansas City, MO
(3/31/2007)
"Excellent, organized race; generally flat course" (about: 2007)
50+ previous marathons
| 3 Garmin Marathon (prev. Oz Marathon)s
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 This race continues to grow and I can see why. It is obvious the race committee continues to fine tune this event each year (this was 5th year). Finish line venue is one of the best and made very spectator friendly. They announce the runners' names long before you finish, so those looking for you can get there to watch. Nice finisher's medals for both marathon and half. | |
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S. P. from Florida
(3/31/2007)
"Pretty good but beware of Cramer sports drink" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Garmin Marathon (prev. Oz Marathon)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 Do NOT drink the Cramer sport drink served at this race unless you've tried it and know it works for you. Volunteers told me it was Gatorade so I thought there was a change to the sports drink listed in the race info but it turns out they were wrong. I ended up developing severe GI problems (runner's trots) and needing a porta-potty nearly every mile. Unfortunately though, the porta-potties were located at about 5 mile intervals, and there were no trees/bushes to hide behind either along much of this rural course. I did what I had to in order to finish but it was by far my slowest, most painful and embarassing marathon experience. Other than that, this race was actually pretty good for a small race. A lot of volunteers, a well marked course with good traffic control, fluids every mile towards the end of the race (every 2 miles until mile 20), and a nice race medal. This year we had mild temperatures, about 60-65 degrees, and it was quite humid due to thunderstorms early in the morning. Probably the toughest aspect of the course was the wind, which got up over 25 mph by noon. There's no telling what the wather might be next year. | |
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D. R. from La Vista, NE
(5/23/2006)
"Well Worth Your Time" (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Garmin Marathon (prev. Oz Marathon)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I thought the course was fantastic as it had enough variety with hills and scenery but not especially difficult. The support was phenomenal with plenty of stops close to the end of the course. I thought the organizers did a great job with this race. I would recommend this race to anyone, however weather is always a factor for a race this late in the spring. We were quite lucky because the day before was 90+ highs and humid. Fortunately, race day was actually cool with a constant breeze. | |
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R. P. from Des Moines, Iowa
(5/22/2006)
"Nice, small, rolling-hill, rural marathon" (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Garmin Marathon (prev. Oz Marathon)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 This was my 7th marathon and the first small marathon. I was very pleased with everything from packet pickup, transportation and the route. It was a well organized event and even the few spectators were motivating. I left Olathe with a very positive experience. Good job to everyone who put this one together. | |
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slow n' steady from The Great state of Texas
(5/22/2006)
"Small marathon with an easy, flat route" (about: 2006)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Garmin Marathon (prev. Oz Marathon)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 How about the weather! Overcast, comfortable temperature and a cooling breeze! Now that is race organization! It was 98 degrees when I arrived in town Friday! This race was so well organized that even the weather cooperated. The buses to the start were flawless. We had a color guard, a fantastic little 4th grader sang the national anthem, then there was the cannon fired to start the race, and the man was in costume! Very well done start! The course was lined with cones, volunteers were everywhere, the course was flat (thank goodness as I kept expecting it to get hot at any moment after arriving in town Friday!), and there was plenty of police and sheriff personnel (even the dog catcher was out to control traffic!). Unfortunately this left nobody in town to be a spectator, or so it seemed. There were rest stops everywhere & I guess the weather had been hot last year and they learned their lesson. A great route, but there are no trees in Kansas from what I saw, and it was a small town so you could not run 26 miles in town&forcing you to run a rural route without shade. Hey, you have to work with what you got, and Kansas is flat and treeless. Thank goodness they did not try to cross those railroad tracks, 30 trains must have passed during the race alone! We were given a great shirt, and earned a great finisher's medallion. The finish line was well done&and it was even a chip timed event! Very impressive for a small town, small race. A very unexpected surprise actually. The race director and his committee did an outstanding job! The only change could possibly be to consider some of the local's suggestions of an earlier start-be it time or date (a few marathons run at 5AM to avoid heat-tough on volunteers though). I might also have a slight complaint that some mile markers were on the opposite side of the road from where we ran, especially when the course was on the left side of the road the markers tended to remain on the right side of the road. But truly a well marked course full of great volunteers. It just doesn't get much better than this! If you don't like the crowds and confusion, and you don't need lots of spectators and fellow runners, this is a great small venue event with flawless execution. | |
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B. S. from Olathe, KS
(5/22/2006)
"Marathon First-timer" (about: 2006)
First Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 This was my first marathon. I live in this city and was really looking forward to this marathon. The weather was awesome this year, there were plenty of water stops for me but there could have been more porta-potties. It took me over 5 hours to finish but there were poeople sill at the finish line cherring us on as we came across. Overall, this is a small-town marathon, has great volunteers, could use a LOT more spectators and entrants. I had fun overall. Nicely done. (EXCEPT for the finish. I thought I was crossing the finish line only to discover I had to run another half-block to the 'REAL' finish line. Small nitpick but not that big a deal) | |
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J. B. from Olathe Kansas
(5/22/2006)
"Good race, I recommend it." (about: 2006)
11-50 previous marathons
| 4-5 Garmin Marathon (prev. Oz Marathon)s
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 This is the 4th time I have run this race. It gets better each year. They have fixed the issues from past years. I like this course. It is flat. There is a small hill at the finish, you see as you approach the finish, but there are plenty of spectators cheering you on so I don't recall running up it. They also had bleachers right on the finish line so that you could cheer on your family, friends and other runners. This may be the best set up finish line for spectators and family from all the races that I have run. The weather was better this year. There was cloud cover and a nice breeze. So it was not as hot as years past. The water stops were plenty! They were everywhere. They had both sports drink and water. There was also a GU stop about mile 15. It was properly located just before the water stop. There was lots of course support from the Police and volunteers. There was no way that you could take a wrong turn. I liked the medal, it continues to improve and the T shirt does as well. I really like the design. This was a great race, my fastest time in this race and my 2nd fastest time overall. I highly recommend this run. If anyone has questions, feel free to contact me at my email. | |
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j. v. from Dallas, Texas
(5/22/2006)
"Solid, well done event! No flaws here!" (about: 2006)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Garmin Marathon (prev. Oz Marathon)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 1 This is a well done smaller race. The pluses include race day packet pickup! Tons, and I mean tons, of friendly volunteers. This is also a small town race so you ran country roads with little traffic (heck they closed a ton of roads for this event). Very friendly racers. I have never seen so many volunteers! And police intersection control was fantastic! They had more volunteers than marathoners! Literally! There were more rest stops than most big races, if that is possible! They even gave out Gu, and in an entire host of flavors! So of the negatives would be zero spectators. I mean when you have a relay associated with a marathon you generally have a good number of spectators...five members on each team generally bring lots of local teams...each runner complete with a set of family and friends watching. Not here, it was an almost spectator free event. Each rest stop had a different fluid replacement drink. Some were clear, some orange, some red, some yellow, no idea who made the drink. Okay three rest stops seemed to be serving Clorox instead of water, but they were all together so it was just one bad stretch that you needed to do all fluid replacement drink...I have blonde hair as I used the bleach to cool myself off...not sure if that is a plus or a minus for the event! A small town run so you ran quiet country roads...but that also means that you did not get to run through tree lined streets with the owners sitting outside drinking coffee (or bloody mary's depending on the part of the country) cheering you on. There was no music on the route...no high school bands, no church groups, nothing. No hot food at the finish...some small races have good food as it is logistically easier to serve small fields. Overall, a good race. Would I go back and run it again? No. But it was well worth the run once. A good shirt, decent medal, good finish line chatter and FREE messages! A very well organized event with no flaws. You can't ask for more than that on a small venue race! Kudos to the race organization team! |
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