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Route 66 Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Route 66 Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 3.9 
Organization 4.5 
Spectators 3.7
Number of comments: 254 [displaying comments 21 to 31]
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I. D. from Iowa
(12/10/2014)
"Good Race, Hilly Course" (about: 2014)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Route 66 Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 All in all a great race. Well organized, police do a great job keeping the roads clear, water stops were well stocked. Not a ton of spectators along the course but you do run through some pretty areas of Tulsa. The major downside of this race was the hills. They don't look that bad on the elevation chart but they add up after a while. We were not prepared for them and it made the last half of the race pretty painful. We stayed at the Holiday Inn that was just a block away from the start and it was perfect. So nice to stay warm and show up at the start at the last minute. | |
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J. H. from Glenpool OK
(12/4/2014)
"Good Marathon" (about: 2014)
4-5 previous marathons
| 3 Route 66 Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I live near Tulsa and this is my 3rd Route 66 marathon. This is a fairly hilly course and I heard a lot of people talking about how hilly it is. If you are ready for hills then you will pass a lot of people in the last 10 miles of this race. My Garmin showed the total cumulative elevation gain as 1063ft. Here is the URL for my elevation chart http://s1137.photobucket.com/user/48down/media/rt66marathonelevationchart_zps6dc8408d.jpg.html I think this chart makes it look hillier than it really is. The volunteers for this race are great and there are a decent number of spectators along the route. The bands/music along the course are good. I thought the water/gatoraide stops were great. They are big and spread out and I never had trouble getting water. The expo was good although we also had to ask where packet pickup was located. Corral organization is good, although I had to get my corral changed from D to A at the expo because I registered after Sept 30th. It was easy to get it changed but it would've been nice not to have to. | |
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Bret Simmons from Reno, Nevada
(11/30/2014)
"Disappointing" (about: 2014)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 Route 66 Marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 I ran the first Route 66 Marathon and was very impressed. The old course was not that great, but the goody bag was the best ever - sweatshirt, free long sleeve tech-finisher shirt, sandals for the end. I was back this year and was much less impressed with the event. The course was more scenic, but very hilly throughout. It's not a large field, but they stagger the coral starts by 5 minutes. Yes, they make you stand and wait even though that is really not necessary. Worst of all, the make you purchase your finisher shirt. I've run 12 marathons and this is the first time I've ever had to buy my finisher shirt. Unbelievable. Bag pick up at the Expo was unorganized. They make you walk to three very separated places in the room to fill your bag. I did not receive a bag for checked gear and did not notice until it was too late. On the plus side, there were plenty of aid stations that were well manned all along the course. Just can't recommend this event any more. I won't return. | |
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B. M. from Mobile,AL
(11/27/2014)
"Great race with scenic course and fabulous crowd" (about: 2014)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Route 66 Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Course: very scenic with hills but awesome crowd Support. The water stops were stocked and volunteers were fabulous. Race medal: very big with great design Race shirt: WORST shirt EVER!!! (and I've run A LOT of marathons!!). What's even worse is there were really nice shirts for sale!! Organization : very good Start: Awesome with confetti | |
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D. B. from Tulsa, OK
(11/25/2014)
"Good overall race, finish could be better" (about: 2014)
6-10 previous marathons
| 3 Route 66 Marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I have participated in this race several times in several different course arrangements. While most of their adjustments over the years were for the better, when they moved the finish to the back side of Guthrie Green in downtown they lost a lot of atmosphere for the runners. For the marathoners the last several miles are by far the worst part of the course. Mile 23-26 is not where you want the worst part of the course to be. And for all runners the last 1/2 mile is far from building to a climatic finish. You are routed on some of the least scenic roads of downtown with virtually no crowd support until the very last block. If organizers insist on Guthrie Green finish they could move it to the South side and route the last few blocks much better. Although I would prefer a finish at Veterans Park like it was up until 2013. My comments only focus on the negative but overall I must say this is a very good marathon and very well organized, it just needs one adjustment to make it great like it used to be. | |
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R. R. from Houston, Texas
(11/24/2014)
"Good but details important" (about: 2014)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Route 66 Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 Course was more hilly than expected and ran through mostly suburban neighborhoods so not much to take your attention from it. Not a huge number of spectators, considering the good weather, but those that came out were very enthusiastic. A large number of live bands and recorded music was a great touch. Great route policing/volunteers. Nice refreshment stops with gatarade at each one and well marked. Only negative was when it switched to gatarade on one side of the street and water on the other side made for confusion. The only other confusion when all along red was for marathon and blue for half, but the sign for the split off for the two routes had the colors opposite. Great touch to have hotels convenient to the start to pre-arrange late checkout. This should be a best practice everywhere. The Aloft hotel was next door to the packet pickup and the start so very convenient. Disappointed with the packet pickup arrangement: No directions upon entry as to where to go to get your packet. My packet did not contain the race booklet so had to go back, but then later noticed it did not have the clear bag check either so had to go back in again. The t-shirt is lame/cheap compared to what you expect. Expo did have enough to get what you needed. Not much of a selection of restaurants open within walking distance of the start area. Starting corral arrangements were well planned and seemed to work well. Finish was confusing as I was given the wrong medal and thought to check before I got too far, but many others are not thinking straight at that point and the presenters could check. Not major but many were confused on where anything was such as the gear bag retrieval area, where the shuttle buses are located etc. It also was not readily apparent where a finisher should go to cheer on the following finishers coming in. | |
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T. M. from Atlanta, GA
(11/24/2014)
"Very good mid sized race" (about: 2014)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Route 66 Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 There were a couple of unique things that help make this race worth running. The course is constant rolling hills through many different areas of Tulsa. The pace leader told us that this year the course was changed so we ran about 1 mile on Route 66. I noticed no issues with the corrals, but I did not look at the one I was assigned, I just lined up near the pace team I planned to run. The Center of the Universe was a cool feature to an otherwise non-descript course. The post race food and drink was plentiful and good. I also liked the special area for Maniacs and 50 staters. Overall a very good organized race. | |
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J. S. from Minneapolis, MN
(11/24/2014)
"Much hillier than expected." (about: 2014)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Route 66 Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This was a well run marathon. My corral experience was perfect contrary to reports from past years. Water stops and the finish line were all very well organized. Every mile marker has a clock. The one big thing was... this was MUCH hillier than I had expected and I heard every single person comment on the hills. I had reviewed the elevation chart before registering, but somehow that chart didn't give me the proper understanding of how hilly it would be. I finished about 7 minutes slower than expected, but it was my fastest marathon from a relative standpoint (the ranking of my finish overall and in my division). I would recommend running this, but plan on running it slower than you trained for. | |
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Ed Robins from Philadelphis, Pa
(1/2/2014)
"Well orgnized race w/ nice perks!" (about: 2013)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Route 66 Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I am a 50 stater who ran here as my Oklahoma race. I usually prefer smaller races (this race had 2000 in full and 4700 in half) but I decided to run because of the perks offered to 50 staters. I was not disappointed. 50 staters and maniacs get a special pre and post race area and specific medals. First time marathoners get special medals too. But the entire race is well organized so all runners feel pampered. The race has already negotiated with the host hotels to give runners a late (3:00) check out. All races should do this! There are plenty of aid stops (all with sports drink) and volunteers. In 2013 we had brutally cold weather and still there were plenty of smiling supportive volunteers along the way. Many were set up to warn runners of ice patches ahead. The course is not terribly scenic but its pleasant as we run through neighborhoods surrounding Tulsa. There are numerous rolling hills. None alone are that tough but collectively they can hurt. I live in a hilly area so I did not think the course was too bad but I heard lots of complaints. I think most of these folks were expecting a flat course and were surprised. Check out the elevation chart. I gave the race only 3 stars for fans but it was very cold in 2013 so I can't blame folks for not coming out. I'm suspect the support is better in other years but I don't know for sure. I had the same issue with corral selection as other runners have identified but I just stood at the front of the corral and it was fine. The race could probably use one more corral because about 1 mile into the race we turn right onto a street that is too narrow this early in the race. But perhaps that complaint is a bit nitpicky. This race has a fun distinction. They offer a .3 mile (purely optional) detour where runners can run by what Tulsa calls 'The Center of the Universe'. You can experience a unique echo and get a cool commerative coin. This detour comes at the 25.5 mile mark so many folks understandably just want to finish. I took the detour and completed what the race jokingly calls the world's shortest ultra race!! I stayed in the Holiday Inn host hotel. It was literally steps from the start line (a blessing on this bitterly cold morning) and they have a free shuttle from the airport. They were very accommodating to the runners. Tulsa was very dead in the evenings. Restaurant options within walking distance were limited. I ended up eating every meal in my hotel. They had a good restaurant luckily but if you want some variety I think you'll need to rent a car. The expo was well organized, not too crowded and effortless. You can purchase race themed souvenirs if that's your thing. The medals are great but the short sleeve tech t-shirts are surprisingly bland. As I said I usually prefer smaller more intimate races but I really enjoyed my experience in Tulsa and I suspect others would have the same feelings. | |
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J. E. from Minneapolis, MN
(12/1/2013)
"Nice Marathon" (about: 2013)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Route 66 Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 I had the same issue with the corral. I have run the last 3 marathons in the 3:45 to 4:00 range and was put in corral D. The corral letter so small on the bib, I just walked into the corral A and they didnt say anything. So it ended up much to do about nothing. Stayed at the Holiday Inn, which is just a few steps from the start line. That was important since it was 23 degrees at the start. Overall I like the course. Rolling hills are fair (e.g., not too steep). Start and end in downtown but most of the marathon is though residential areas. Odd its called Route 66 but never really run on Route 66. Always had enough room to run, didn't feel closed in by other runners. The pace group leader was spot on. The post-race set up had spaghetti , thought that was a nice touch. Medal is a keeper, the short T was about average Other than the SNAFU with the corral set up, I would recommend this marathon |
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