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Lower Potomac River Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Lower Potomac River Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.1 
Organization 4.7 
Spectators 3.0
Number of comments: 67 [displaying comments 51 to 61]
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D. L. from Durham, NC
(3/12/2007)
"Perfect 10 Marathon" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 Lower Potomac River Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Thank you, Liz Recto, for organizing this marathon! This marathon just has everything a small marathon should have: A beautiful course (especially the first 10 miles around St. George's Island and around the Piney Point Lighthouse), amazing organization (it just doesn't get any better organized, really!), and the friendliest collection of volunteers and runners. If you are looking to make 200+ new friends while running 26.2 miles, this race is for you. And, the post-race buffet lunch is, by far, the best you'll ever see. Other nice things: Getting to sit inside on a couch before the start, being able to have your friends or family cheer for you around the course, and just feeling special for being there. I've run it twice (2007 and 2006); by far, this one gets a perfect 10. Consider yourself lucky to run this one. | |
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r. r. from VA
(3/12/2007)
"Small-town charm" (about: 2007)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Lower Potomac River Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 The first 11 miles of this race are beautiful and flat. The last 15 miles are out and back on a two-lane road with 6 - 8-foot shoulders. There are some rolling hills in the middle to keep it interesting. The weather was perfect (40s - 50s) and sunny, but a stiff headwind from mile 11 to 19 made it tougher than it could have been. Kudos - there was a good attitude from other runners, supportive, albeit sparse, fans, a great post-race dinner and hot shower, lots of age group awards in addition to main awards, highly visible mile markers, and well stocked water stops with candy, pretzels, gels, and fruit. Complaints: the water stops were too far apart for my liking with only 2 stops that I recall after 20 miles, there was no obvious medical aid on the course (but there were plenty of people checking on you), and there were very few porta-potties. Running on the slanted shoulder of the road was a burden for me over a marathon distance, and traffic could have been controlled better at intersections. It seemed to me that the last 1.2 miles may have been measured wrong - it seemed longer based on my split times - but I could be wrong. Overall, it was a nice, well organized race. I'd recommend it. | |
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Stan Grochowski, Jr. from Richmond Area, Virginia
(3/12/2007)
"Best race I have entered of 6" (about: 2007)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Lower Potomac River Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 The race was everything the race director promised. The course was scenic and the weather beautiful. Water stops were well staffed and had water to the last runner. I will re-enter the race again. | |
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E. F. from Lutherville, Maryland
(3/26/2006)
"Small race, first-class event" (about: 2006)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Lower Potomac River Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 Have done many marathons and would rank this one near the top. The race for the first 12-plus miles was as scenic as one would like to run at. The last half was on a busy state route but the shoulder had plenty of room. Water stops were fully supplied and manned by cheerful volunteers. The post-race buffet was as good as I have ever attended. It's always great when the start, finish and post-race festivities are at the same location. The hospitality provided by the staff and students of the Harry Lundberg School were second to none and I thank them. The Lower Potomac River Marathon will without a doubt be on my spring marathon calendar next year. Thanks Liz Recto for a job well done. | |
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J. B. from Bloomington, IN
(3/21/2006)
"Lovely scenery, great race" (about: 2006)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Lower Potomac River Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I wish I'd been in better shape to run this marathon, because the course is cake and the race support is tremendous. As noted by others, the temperature was pretty warm for mid-March, but the course itself is sweet - bucolic country roads on the first half, and a fast (well, not for me, but theoretically fast) second half on a state highway. Food and water were plentiful, and actually I didn't think the crowd support was that bad. It's such a small race that spectators can drive along the course and stop several times to see their favorite runner. For instance, I don't know who they were cheering for, but the same father with his two daughters stopped six or seven times along the way to cheer on someone in the race (mommy, I presume). If you want to have family and friends see you in a race, this is a good race to have it happen. Also - the school where the race starts had clean bathrooms and plenty of space for runners to gather indoors to stay warm before the race. I couldn't stay for the buffet, but the school was a great place to start. Thanks, school officials/race organizers! | |
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D. s. from FL
(3/20/2006)
"Good Small-Town Marathon" (about: 2006)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Lower Potomac River Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 1 First 12 miles of course were very scenic along coastal roads. The rest of the race is a mostly uninteresting out-and-back run along a country highway. The only thing that made the second half interesting was the rolling hills. Race was warm and sunny, which is unusal for this time of year. If I were to do this race again, I would like to see a 7 a.m. start for the faster runners with a 6 a.m. start for the slower runners. First 12 miles would even be more scenic with the sun rising earlier in the morning. Aid stations could be improved - maybe add a few more and don't use little tiny cups. Not all the aid stations had the tiny cups but some did and I had to take 3 of those cups to try to stay hydrated. The course seemed long. Once I hit 26 mile-marker, it was more like .3 to .4 mile to the finish than .2. Nice destination marathon with things to see in the area such as St Mary's City, Solomon's Island and Calvert Cliffs - all are nearby. Book hotel accommodations early to get the best rates as I found the motel rates to be a little high in the area. Post-race party was superb. There didn't seem to be much of a pre-race pasta party - just an informal gathering which I didn't attend. There is a Cici's pasta and pizza buffet nearby where I went to carbo load. | |
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T. M. from Bethesda, MD
(3/19/2006)
"Worth doing again" (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 1 A brutally hot day (81 degrees by the time we finished) made this not much fun. Nice course, well organized, nice buffet at the end. Hills were tolerable. Worth doing again next year and hoping for cooler temps. | |
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j. l. from Chesapeake Beach, MD
(3/15/2006)
"Come on down!" (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Lower Potomac River Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 This was my seventh, and my SMALLEST marathon. I was looking forward to the scenic first half of the course (and it was BEAUTIFUL), and prepared for the 2nd half to be the "business end," as RD Liza puts it in the race info. I was NOT disappointed by anything! I am a slower runner, and had some trepidation about doing the suggested early start. Well, I LOVED the early start! It was beautful and serene at 7 a.m., and I have never started a marathon in such a supportive and awesome collection of slower runners, Marathon Maniacs, and 50-Staters. The aid stations were ready for us even though the "regular" starters were not coming until an hour after us. And because of the nature of the course, with several out-and-back sections, there were always plenty of runners in sight, even though the field was the smallest I've ever been in. The course support was NOT big-city cheering crowds from end-to-end (which I find frazzling and exhausting, anyway, but some runners are really into that stuff. Know which type of marathoner you are when you decide on this one!). The support that was there was friendly, folksy and fun. I'd say perfect. Volunteers, too. Perfect. The weather was one of those fluke days - WAY hot for this time of year - but hey: weather will do what it does. I suggest being prepared for SUN, however, because there's not a lot of shade on the course. Hot showers, a sit-down meal with what seemed to be a buffet staff of thousands, lots of goodies and gummies and Gu along the course, too. Pretty race finisher's medal with a lighthouse, and a nice dry-release shirt. Hands-on and home-spun. I loved it. | |
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Doug DeMark from Chesapeake Beach MD
(3/13/2006)
"Peaceful... Delicious Marathon... Run It." (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Lower Potomac River Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Peaceful and quiet. If you've been looking for a beautiful course to run your marathon... with water scenery, good air, osprey and hawks flying overhead, tall trees and farms, this is it. With fewer than 300 runners, it's you and the open road. If you like crowd support, this isn't the one. Water stations were a breeze, volunteers were always ready. FYI: Southern Maryland is not flat, as you'll discover between approximately miles 17 and 21. Great buffet in the hall following the race... roast pork, shrimp gumbo, and salad. Bring a towel. Showers are right there too. For such a "small" marathon, they sure took care of their runners. Thank you and congrats to race director Liza Recto and her staff. You did a good job. See you next year. Doug DeMark Marathon #7 | |
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J. S. from Sterling, VA
(3/13/2006)
"A nice, small marathon" (about: 2006)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Lower Potomac River Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I'm trying to be objective, which is difficult, as I had a pathetic performance at yesterday's race. But any time you have to take out your orthotics at mile 19, and then walk the last 7 miles sans shoe liners to get your medal, it's bound to color your opinion. In all, this is a nice, small marathon, and I plan to be back next year, hopefully in better form. I happen to know the race director from other running activities, and this year, this race fit into my schedule better than most other March/April races. It's a good, small race for back-of-the-packers like me, which is a bit of a rarity. The early start at 7 a.m. gives one almost seven hours to finish the course. Both race-walkers, and any slow runner, should feel comfortable here. If you can "beat the bridge" at Marine Corps, you can finish here. I agree with the comments that it would be nicer to have the flatter, scenic part of the course at the end, but I can see why the course is the way it is. Without closing Rt. 249 (the main road in and out of Piney Point/St. George's Island), it would be impossible to have a swarm of marathoners on that road at the beginning of the race. Also, running along that road out and back for the last 14 miles, it is vitually impossible for *anyone* to get lost. This year's race featured freakishly warm weather, but there were enough water stations along the course that my Camelpack didn't run totally dry. In most years, I would expect temps in the 40s and 50s. Kudos to the race volunteers. Not only did they have plenty of formal (and informal) water stations along the course, but they also checked on all runners along the Rt. 249 stretch, and some of them actually knew the course well enough to provide mileage updates ("you're at about Mile 22.7")! The one complaint I had, was at the post-race buffet, they were all out of meats, and all of the other stuff you can justify when you've just run a marathon. They had only tortellini pasta - like I really want *more* pasta after the last few days of carbo-loading! I don't think that was the fault of the race - the menu is that of the nautical school that hosts the post-race buffet, and which changes the menue day-to-day for its students - but it was a disappointment. The buffet also closes a bit earlier than advertised, so if you finish anytime after 1:30, beware. And any finisher's medal with a lighthouse on it is alright in my book. (My last one with a lighthouse was a seashore race that was also my P.R.) If you like small races put on by running clubs, you'll like this race. But if you prefer the circus atmosphere of the mega events, please skip this one. We'll gladly keep it to ourselves. |
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