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Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon (formerly the National Marathon) Runner Comments
Back to Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon (formerly the National Marathon) Information & Reviews
Course 3.9 
Organization 3.5 
Spectators 3.4
Number of comments: 286 [displaying comments 111 to 121]
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C. R. from Burke, VA
(3/22/2010)
"Fantastic support from spectators, volunteers." (about: 2010)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon (formerly the National Marathon)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my first marathon and I couldn't have asked for better weather or a better location; it was easily accessible by metro, and we got great encouragement from other runners - especially in the last 6 miles. | |
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Nick W. from Providence, RI
(3/22/2010)
"Suntrust National Marthon is well worth running!" (about: 2010)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon (formerly the National Marathon)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I just got home from travelling to run the full marathon at the Suntrust National Marathon in Washington D.C. I had a fantastic experience and really enjoyed myself. I also managed to set a new PR and I was really thrilled with the entire experience. Below are a few thoughts on the race: Hits: -beautifull course that stretches through the historic bits of DC and past all sorts of monuments and historic sections of town. The front half is much more scenic. The back half is less so but I was so focused on the race at that point that I didn't really notice the surroundings much. -The course is great. A challenging but enjoyable first half, and the back half wasn't too bad, but the rolling hills in miles 23-26 were quite challenging! But to me that made it all the better! -The organization was top notch. I only had a few issues which I'll list in the misses section. I knew where I was supposed to be and when at all times. Communication was top notch via email, and once I got to town the process to get my number and other items was easy. -Medals are nice quality and the finish line festival was nice too. -The pace teams were GREAT!!! We had three pacers in the 3:40 group and they were great fun, motivating, and really helped make the miles go by. I had a great time hanging out with the 3:40 gang! I also loved not having to pay attention to pacing. Just following the pacers made that aspect of my race plan simple! -The temps at the end were around 67 degrees which was really hot when you've been training through the winter. The fact that there were aid stations every mile after mile 20 was AWESOME. I dumped lots of water over my head to stay cool! Misses: -there was one water station right before a sharp corner somewhere around mile 8 or 9. It led to quite a bottleneck of runners, drinkers, and people slowing to round the corner. that stop should be moved to avoid that. -better communication about pacing and where you should start should be done to avoid the fact that there were TONS of slower runners in front of me despite the fact I was lined up in the 8:20/mile pace corral. I had to fight my way through the crowd for the first three miles which was a big waste of energy early in the race. I know this is really out of the race organizers control, but I thought it could at least be mentioned a lot more over the sound system before the start. Larger and more signs with pacing on them would also help. -I never heard the gun go off. I just heard loud music the whole time. There should be a countdown over the PA so we know EXACTLY when the gun goes off. The music was way too loud at that moment to hear it. I really had a great time at the marathon and I would recommend it to other runners without hesitation. Be sure and get in a run at sunrise or dusk on the mall before the race if you can. Its GORGEOUS at that time! Congrats to a great job by all the organizers and thanks so much to all the volunteers! Your efforts were much appreciated! | |
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Barry Lowenthal from Suburban Baltimore
(3/22/2010)
"Nice race on a good, city course" (about: 2010)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon (formerly the National Marathon)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 I work in and around DC, and used to live in the city. This was a really well-done race - the course gave a good tour of the city (and not just the monuments - though running by the mall was nice - but also the neighborhoods). Similar in many ways to Chicago. The expo is small, but well attended by the local running community. Parking to get to the expo was the usual hassle. Race day organization was really well done. Metro to the start (and finish) is the way to go - no issue at all. Indoor bathrooms (though crowded) and LOTS of porta-pots for those of us with last-minute nerves. The race itself begins with the half and full marathoners together - not a bad way to run, since the race isn't too big (I think around 10,000 half runners and 3,500 full). We ran by the capitol, then the National Mall, and then up through some of the neighborhoods in Northwest Washington. Not a ton of crowd support. My biggest complaint about the course is that the full group continues with the half runners until just before the finish for the half - then loops through some parking lots at RFK Stadium. I would suggest peeling off from the half marathoners much earlier - perhaps at approximately mile 9 or 10. The post-race finishing party was OK, but they had free beer (no limits!) for runners - VERY NICE! But there were not a lot of food choices, and we had a long walk until the first water bottle was handed off - I would move the water to before the medal. All in all, a good race, and one that I'll consider running again. | |
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J. B. from Arlington, Virginia
(3/22/2010)
"Marathon very good for D.C." (about: 2010)
3 previous marathons
| 3 Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon (formerly the National Marathon)s
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This is the third year in a row that I have run the full marathon. The lines for the bib pick-up at the Armory were a disappointment, long and confusing, and the pot holes were pretty bad in areas (okay, it was an extremely bad winter but with a running Mayor ... and where was he this year?). That said, it is an impressive undertaking, having this marathon in D.C., particularly this year. The coordination needed between what must be a least three law agencies (Capitol Hill police, D.C. police and the National Park Service police for Anacostia Park) must be formidable. And what a day!: the Hill in session, organized protests (some quite ugly), and the start of major tourist season. As a local, I was touched by the number of residents who came out to cheer and the support of the police who handle the flow of pedestrians and impatient drivers extremely well. Very little unites us in this unique town and the marathon is a very good thing for the area. Now, if the race directors could get the Washington Post to really cover it ... | |
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A. M. from Arlington, VA
(3/22/2010)
"1st half-marathon was GREAT (few improvements?)!" (about: 2010)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon (formerly the National Marathon)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 This was my first time running a half-marathon. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it! My only suggestion for improvement would be for the rest stops (I know with so many people it is hard to man the stops). However, at the second drink stop, they had already run out of PowerAde. I was unable to get a GU until mile 11. Each stop before was out of it. It wouldn't have bothered me so much except that this was my first race, and I didn't realize it would be gone so fast. If I had had a heads up about it, I would have carried some on the course with me. Those are my only negative thoughts; other than that, it was an AWESOME route and race! | |
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S. F. from Boston, MA
(3/22/2010)
"Worth traveling to? Yes!!" (about: 2010)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon (formerly the National Marathon)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I agree with prior remarks regarding the water stops. Very poor that I had to wait for someone to splash some water in my cup. More volunteers needed at the stops during the first half. Once the field dispersed, the water stops were fine for the second half of the marathon. Nice course, loved running the Mall and the tunnels. Loved the rolling hills. Loved the beer stop at mile 6! Thanks to the spectators! I do remember thinking it was very depressing to peel off from the half marathon and be directed behind the stadium onto a service road pockmarked with potholes and grass growing up from the pavement, the road was wet and muddy in places and the scenery was not yet melted snow dumped there from the parking lots. A smaller field of runners around me made me feel completely hopeless for almost 2 miles, then you ran Capitol Hill and the mall again so that helped spark a second wind. Nice expo, nice t-shirt I can actually wear, good choc. chip cookies at the finish, nice heavy medal, accurate and enthusiastic pace groups. Easy Metro transportation to the race. Definitely a destination race, the city is awesome! | |
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A. D. from Arlington, VA
(3/22/2010)
"Parking took forever..." (about: 2010)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon (formerly the National Marathon)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 First, the downsides. The parking situation was terrible. Since the start and finish is at RFK, one would think they are used to seeing much larger crowds. It took us over an hour to park. Absolutely unacceptable. I have never seen such disaster and that includes much, much larger events. I agree with other runners that water stops were crowded, but volunteers were great. Finish line was a mess. Hard to find anything and the lines were awful. Also, it is not a bad idea to separate runners from other people and have no re-entry rules; this way people who just finished the race can get their water relatively quickly. Positives. Flat course with only a few rolling hills. We had a very nice day, although it did get hot pretty quickly. I was thinking that a sprinkler, at least at the finish line would have been a welcome addition. Or maybe at least some cold sponges. I don't know, something to cool you down. Traffic control was great. Crowd support was fine as well. | |
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A. R. from Franklin, TN
(3/21/2010)
"excellent spring marathon with a great course" (about: 2010)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon (formerly the National Marathon)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This was my DC area marathon and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The Expo was nice, not huge like Chicago, but with lots of vendors. The Metro opened early making transportation to the Start very easy. The course was well-marked and took in most of the tourist sites you go to see when in DC. I thought the water stops were plentiful and I never had to wait for fluids. The post-race spread had good food, plenty of drinks, but the space was a bit crowded. There did seem to be lots of room that they could have expanded into. My only complaints were the majority of the roads were in horrible condition, causing the runners to dodge potholes and run on a cambered surface for a lot of miles. The water stops were confusing in that the water and Powerade were not at different tables. I like it when water is at the first table and the Gatorade is at the next. That leads to less congestion if you know to go to the last tables to get your drink. These are minor problems, though. The water stops is an easy fix, and the potholes is easy, too, since nobody is going to fix them Overall, I thought it was an excellent race, in a great city. The fantastic weather helped too. I would highly recommend this race to anyone looking for a mid-size spring race, that is relatively flat, easy to travel to, and has all the amenities of a bigger race. | |
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B. N. from CT
(3/21/2010)
"Decent course and spectators" (about: 2010)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon (formerly the National Marathon)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 This was my first marathon and first race in DC. Overall, nice race. The course is overall pretty good - the half is 100% good, but the 2nd half of the marathon course can get somewhat dismal, especially miles 17-21. The weather was unfortunate - a freakishly hot weekend, and miles 18 - 24 had no shade, just a hot sun remorselessly baking runners and heating the ashpalt to temps in the 80s. If you are running on a warm sunny day, take this into account and pace yourself accordingly. If we could trade the Anacostia part for a tour of Georgetown, that would be great. If you are driving to the race, traffic around RFK is miserable. I hit RFK just before 6:00 am and by the time I had parked, I had barely enough time to jog to the starting line. You need to get there earlier than you think. Metro might be the best way to go. The start was a bit of a mess - the corrals were not marked, and the pace teams had these tiny signs about the size of an index card. Tough to find. The water stops were a mess. Drinking on the run? No way. You had to stop and wait. Some stations ran out of cups and people were just taking swigs out of a gallon jug. The cups were slighly bigger than dixie cups - maybe an ounce or two of water. Because of the weather, I think people may have been bonking early because they were getting dehydrated. The tables need to be farther apart and better staffed. The crowd was great from Dupont Circle to Union Station. On the 2nd half, spectators are sparse, except for a part of Anacostia, and on Minnesota Avenue. It is actually a bit of a shock making the turn around RFK stadium, and all of a sudden hearing and seeing a huge crowd of people. Overall, a good race. I'm sure if the weather had cooperated, I would have enjoyed it more. | |
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Gary Steinberg from South Florida
(3/21/2010)
"Great half-marathon! Awe-inspiring!!!" (about: 2010)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon (formerly the National Marathon)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Okay, first things first. It didn't hurt that the weather was absolutely PERFECT! No way it was under 50 degrees to start. For 2011 be mindful that this is NOT normal for D.C. I have no major complaints about the start. Yes, the signs were poor. There were no corral numbers. But there were signs with pace times which worked just fine. And even though there were a lot of people, there was no congestion at the start and we all got a running start. The course was phenomenal. It was much hillier than I thought from the topo map on the web site (which was very wrong according to my Garmin-underestimated the grades), but the hills made it challenging and diverse. The sites were spectacular. Washington is a beautiful city and experience. The hill at the finish line sucks but that's life I guess. The after race refreshments were fine (water, fruit, cookies, pretzels, etc.). Of course, there were no gels until Mile 11 for me (I'm a middle of the packer meaning 1/2 the runners got none). That sucked but was expected. The best part is hanging out in D.C. afterwards and seeing the sights and enjoying the history of our nation's capital. Will definitely do it again! |
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