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Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 3.8 
Organization 4.0 
Spectators 3.9
Number of comments: 401 [displaying comments 41 to 51]
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J. L. from Columbus, OH
(1/21/2012)
"Large races require planning people!!!!!" (about: 2012)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 Wow, I was sufficiently warned about Rock-n-Roll events so maybe I was more prepared for worse than I got. I committed to this race on National Runners day back in June and got a fairly reasonable price for a full marathon. Had I paid the expo price or anything close to it, I definitely would have found the swag/price ratio to be disappointing. The almost endless come-ons for add-ons (VIP pottys, various pre-race concerts, etc.) were annoying (but anticipated). The hotel I booked was right on the light rail (Apache Blvd) east of ASU and the half course. Early on, I had inquired about a race map and got a quick but not useful reply. So I resigned myself to a long walk to the marathon start (based on where it was the year before) from the light rail. I was pleasantly surprised to receive the new course map with the full starting right on the light rail thus affirming my no car strategy (free shuttles from the airport to the light rail helped here too). The expo was incredible; clearly put together by someone with an advanced degree in retail planning. The main event sponsors (Brooks, PF Changs and Dodge) definitely got their monies worth. I benefited from the course video and the information desk but the pace team desk was clogged by too many people complaining about Vegas. On race day, the light rail was crowded but I still got a seat. When the half-marathoners exited, it was not that crowded at all the rest of the way downtown. Maybe more locals should have utilized the park-n-ride? I found a below ground parking garage right on the start line to hang out in and made my way into my corral for the start. Was too busy chatting up a cute attorney from Chicago to hear the first delay announcement but it was warm enough to not matter that much. Cloud cover prevented a late start from mattering much at the end either. No water problems for me and I took something at every station (I did carry 20 oz of my own though too). Everything was great and plentiful at the end. The post race concert was well done but I did also feel like this race was primarily for half-marathoners. The entertainment on the (full) course was not nearly as plentiful as my own home town race. I could see myself recommending this race and/or doing a RnR event again. | |
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M. K. from Milwaukee, WI
(1/20/2012)
"Big letdown" (about: 2012)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 After hearing about the debacle in Vegas - I was a little skeptical. Unfortunately, some of my fears came to life. 1 - Shirt color was disappointing. Personally not a big fan of white. 2 - Delay at the start. This is absolutely unacceptable. Runners have geared their nutrition/fluid intake specifically for a set start time. Delaying it 30 minutes can have a large impact on that. There were only a few runners on the last light rails that came after the originally scheduled time. Why punish the masses for a few that couldn't understand the concept of getting there early? The timing of the announcement was horrible. 10 minutes before the scheduled start when people are starting to strip their throwaways. 3 - Water on the course. I firmly believe that some sort of iodine or sanitizing element was added to the water in an overreaction to the Vegas issues. It had a horrible taste to it and while I understand that Phoenix tab water has a bad taste, I was in town since Friday and it didn't taste anything like that. 7 of the 8 in my group that ran the full/half had signs of iodine poisoning (upset stomach, diarrhea, runny nose, metallic taste, nausea). I am officially done after running my first and only Rock n' Roll event. I can overlook minor inconveniences, but when they are playing with the health of people, that is where I draw the line. | |
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H. M. from Missouri
(1/19/2012)
"It is one of the best marathons I have run" (about: 2012)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Although I have read the comments from others that had issues with the marathon, I found it to be the second best I have run. My wife and I stayed at a hotel which was 2 blocks from the start so we did not have the driving or parking issues that some others had. I found the water and gatoraid stops plentiful and well staffed. The bands were numerous and compared well with Disney and Fargo. The course was flat except for the surprise hill at around 23, when I was ready to just run on autopilot. The food at the finish was great, better than many, but finding a place to sit was difficult. Overall, a great experience that I would enjoy doing again. | |
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R. B. from TUCSON
(1/19/2012)
"A lovely run sandwiched between parking issues" (about: 2012)
4-5 previous marathons
| 4-5 Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 4 I was actually glad we started late as the parking was awful. I left hotel early and found it ridiculous in trying to get there. I get the closures but with every detour, signs should have posted 'Marathon Parking This Way.' Being from out of town made it difficult to manuver with any kind of confidense. Once I found it, there was 50 minutes of wait - leaving was just as w much oof a cluster. I did love the run - every aspect of it. Just the coming and going. | |
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C. L. from Washington, DC
(1/18/2012)
"Flat course, well organized and lots of schwag" (about: 2012)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This was my first full marathon organized by RnR, but I have done several of their half marathons and always was impressed. PROS: -Gatorade, no nasty Cytomax! -The bands and cheer squads really put on quite a show for the runners. Special shouts out to the animal themed cheer squad and the disco party squad -Separate courses for the full and half. I never had any issues with the course being too crowded. -Flat and fast course. There were a few inclines, but seriously, no hills. If you thought those were hills, wow, just wow. -Nice gender specific tech shirts, nice medal, and a little sport bag to use as your gear check bag. -I was dropped off at the start and didn't have any traffic or parking issues. In fact, my husband found parking right next to my corral, like a block away. I also appreciated that when the start was delayed, they let us know what was really going on. -Expo was big with lots of free samples and good deals. -I finished over 5 hours, and there was still tons of post-race food for me. Bagels, smoothies, froyo, energy bars and water. CONS: -The post race concert started at 11 am. The race didn't start until 8 am but the course was open until 3 pm (7 hours). Clearly the main event was geared for the half marathon finishers, 'cause there were a lot of people still running the marathon when the B-52s started their show. -Would rather the shirt not be white! But that is it, it really was a top notch event. | |
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J. S. from Phoenix, AZ
(1/17/2012)
"No shuttles for 1/2 relay" (about: 2012)
2 previous marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 5 I was the second runner on the 1/2 marathon relay. I knew 20k plus runners will start the same time so I got to lot 59 by 5:30 with no parking problems. The race program said there will be shuttles at rio salado & Packard drive by 6:30 to take the 250 or so runners to skysong (mile 6.5) where the relay point was. No one knew what a relay was. No info was given to any volunteer, security person or anyone with a radio. When asked 'where are the shuttles?' the response was, 'there are no shuttles this year, just take the light rail.' There are no light rail tracks into Scottsdale! By 7am I was so pissed I drove up to Scottsdale road & McDowell myself. I took another relay runner from out of town with me. There were only about 12 of us at the relay point when the first runner carrying a drumstick arrived. It was so sad to see them standing there with no one to hand off to. The rest of the relay runners showed up by 8:30. I ran my race after getting my baton, but had to pay $35 in cab fair to return to my car. Not a long distance, but delays in exiting Tempe racked up the fair. Don't promise shuttles for the runners if you don't plan on having them. I will not run the relay ever again. | |
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C. W. from Glendale, AZ
(1/17/2012)
"Horrible Pre-Race Management/Organization" (about: 2012)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 4 I was very disappointed with the parking organization for this race. I've run similar sized events before, so I knew what to expect and planned accordingly, but I literally waited over an hour to go 1 mile upon exiting the freeway (and this is in following the directions/timing provided by the RnR instructions). Many were in my predicament; ended up starting the race an hour after the official start. NOT a fun way to start the day. | |
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J. H. from kansas city, ks
(1/17/2012)
"Accuracy of miles??" (about: 2012)
6-10 previous marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 Did anybody doing the marathon find the miles far off? Everything was fine until mile 4. I think it was measured from the 5k mark...so technically it was 4.1 miles. I was like 30 seconds slower through that mile and definitely didn't slow down. All the other miles were fine, but makes me wonder if it ws 26.3 miles that everybody ran. Just curious to hear other comments on this. | |
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L. E. from Phoenix, Arizona
(1/17/2012)
"WORST RNRAZ COURSE EVER!" (about: 2012)
50+ previous marathons
| 6+ Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathons
COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 I have run all 9 of the RNRAZ marathons & this was by far the worst! It started with the logistics to get runners to the start by light rail. They did not plan for 8,000 runners with 300 per light rail train to get to the start by 7:30 a.m. Due to this 'smart' move, the marathon started half an hour late while waiting for runners to arrive at the start. Had this been a normal January day in Phoenix, it could have been ugly. As it turned out we had a cloud cover all day & the heat stayed at bay. The course is by far the ugliest course I have run (have completed 69 marathons). With so many beautiful areas in the Phoenix/Scottsdale/Tempe area, surely they could have come up with a more scenic course. Not to mention, the streets from mile 21 to 23 were severely alligatored and in serious need of re-paving. You had to focus on the pavement so you didn't trip on the elevated sections of the pavement. I live in the Phoenix area and was actually scared to run parts of this course as there are portions I won't even drive in my car unless the doors are locked and there is no other option. The course did highlight several dated strip malls and older industrial areas. Running through the Arcadia area was nice but the course from that point on was a major disappointment. The course change was definitely not for the better. I would have preferred running up the hill on McDowell Road and down through the Phoenix Zoo and Botanical Garden area than past the postal sorting facility on Van Buren. The water was pumped from the fire hydrants and tasted worse than the normal Phoenix tap water. It made me gag and it was hard to get the nasty taste out of your mouth. After trying to drink it at a couple of aid stations, I gave up, stopped at a convenience store and bought a bottle of water. Rock N Roll? Where? Only five bands on the course for the full marathon, in past years we had a band at least every two miles. What a shame, with all the musical talent in the metro Phoenix area to not showcase them in an event like this. The volunteers were great and several apologized for the nasty water. There was very little crowd support. Not that I need it but sad to see after the great community support of past years. I parked at the start to avoid the mess getting to the start. However, it took over an hour for the return trip on the light rail to the start to get my car. Glad I didn't have to try and catch a flight. Competitor is clearly focusing on the half marathon and short changing the full marathon. The full is definitely treated as an after thought. This event is so geared toward the half marathon one wonders why even bother with the full - unless of course, it is just a way for them to make more money. With so many other great marathons within the metro Phoenix area, you can avoid this over-priced and over-hyped one. I highly recommend doing so. | |
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C. W. from Phoenix, AZ
(1/16/2012)
"Would be nice had they recorded my time" (about: 2012)
6-10 previous marathons
| 3 Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 Well I qualified for Boston but they didn't record my time so now I am left stressed out waiting to see if they can resolve it. Also, I don't think they could have found an uglier part of Phoenix to run through especially around miles 21-24. Surprised the local CVB's support the race, would have hated to travel to run this race. The wave start is awesome as you start running rather than being stuck in a crazy crowd which is nice. |
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