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☰
Georgia Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Georgia Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.1 
Organization 3.1 
Spectators 4.0
Number of comments: 459 [displaying comments 141 to 151]
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J. R. from Smyrna, GA
(3/31/2009)
"Exceptional tour of Atlanta's best hills" (about: 2009)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Georgia Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 The ING Georgia Marathon was my second full marathon and, although this course has a significantly more challenging terrain than my previous marathon (Snickers Marathon) in Albany, GA three weeks ago, I still had a great experience (and a faster time). I live and train in the Atlanta area, but the ING Georgia Marathon gave me the opportunity to see Atlanta through the eyes of a tourist. The 26.2-mile course traverses several notable spots in the city. The race starts at Centennial Olympic Park, by the CNN Center, then passes through Georgia State University, the MLK Jr. historic sites, Little Five Points, the Carter Center, Agnes Scott College, Emory University, Virginia Highlands, Piedmont Park, Georgia Tech, and back to Centennial Olympic Park at the finish. The aid stations were plentiful throughout the course, with water and Gatorade being provided in full force... usually by volunteer groups that had individual themes and music. I'm grateful for the police officers and volunteers who worked the course and gave motivation to all of us runners. I'm not particularly grateful to the driver of a black BMW who ignored the volunteer telling him to stop and almost hit me as he proceeded through an intersection without waiting his turn, but that's no fault of the race workers. My one criticism of the race organization would be that a map of the starting area was not provided. I made it to my corral at the start line by simply following the crowd. A small issue, but perhaps one that will be remedied at future races. The essential aspects of the race organization that make it possible for runners to actually complete the race, however, were all in good order. Once again, my appreciation goes to the outstanding course volunteers and to the police officers along the way. As for the course terrain, the hills were a challenge, but every hill has a downhill on the other side and I appreciated the opportunity to alternately utilize and relax different muscles, making this race somewhat easier for me than a flat marathon. I advise every ING Georgia Marathon hopeful to train well on hills, because the notable Druid Hill section of the course is a demanding stretch of terrain. Overall, this race made me proud of my home town once again. Good work, everyone! | |
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R. T. from NJ
(3/31/2009)
"Except for a chaotic start..." (about: 2009)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Georgia Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 There is no doubt that this a challenging course and it makes you put forth your best effort up and down the hills. I never complain about hills because hills are what make the marathon unique. There was an elevation chart. If you don't like hills, don't run the course. Run in FL or AZ. My biggest gripe was with the start. It was chaos and it remained chaos until the half-marathoners parted at mile 7. This is nothing against the half-marathoners but more an organizational issue. First, they packed too many runners into the narrow streets at the start. Marathoners could never hit their running stride until mile 7. Although corrals were set-up and the runner's corral number was on the bib, the start was like a stampede, partly runners' issues and partly organizational. Yes, it was chip-timed but the effort put forth getting through the crowds for 7 miles was effort that could have been expended on the hills. After the race, the runners appeared to be locked into Centennial Park - away from the food outside - and officers would not allow runners to go out of the side gates. This was my 40th marathon but I would not do it again. I will say that the convenience of the start/finish with the host hotels was fantastic, though. | |
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S. A. from Cincinnati, OH
(3/31/2009)
"Challenging, Beautiful, GREAT Course. FUN!" (about: 2009)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Georgia Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I thought the course was a definite challenge, especially the hills at the end. But if you love hills, you will love this race. | |
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Christian Griffith from Atlanta, GA
(3/31/2009)
"ING Georgia Got It Right!" (about: 2009)
6-10 previous marathons
| 3 Georgia Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Year one was a little messy. Year two was better. But this year was the best ever. The crowds were a little smaller (cold), but still, many were out there with pretzels, oranges and gummy bears. The course is simply stunning. Yeah, it's hilly, but so what. ING Georgia rocks! | |
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d. l. from tmr canada
(3/31/2009)
"hilly, and too many half-marathoners" (about: 2009)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Georgia Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 The race is really a half-marathon (13,000 half-marathoners run) with 2,000 marathon runners jammed up for 7 miles. I could not get on pace and was frustrated with the crowd. Even finishing at four hours you get tangled up with them walking four abreast. Another negative was the "gear check," as you just dump your stuff in a swampy tent and hope it is there when you finish. No volunteers were there to take or return your gear. On a positive note, they had very friendly volunteers. Everyone was so, so friendly. I would not recommend this marathon. Let the halfers have it all to themselves. | |
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S. H. from Atlanta
(3/31/2009)
"Improved organization BUT still lacking in areas." (about: 2009)
3 previous marathons
| 2 Georgia Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 Packet pick up went smoothly and the expo was nice. It was impossible for many of us to got to our corrals at that start of the race. Many runners were climbing over barriers to get to the race course start. They need more volunteers and signage directing people coming out of MARTA. A map of the corrals would have been nice too. No one knew where they were going. Once running, the route was great and there was plenty of water, Gatorade, and crowd support. However, I was disappointed that there was no GU/gel. I loved the tech shirt and the medal. I will run it again next year and hope for better organization. | |
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M. W. from Atlanta, GA
(3/31/2009)
"Challenging and scenic course; needs better org." (about: 2009)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Georgia Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 I am from Atlanta, and thought the course was very scenic but VERY hilly. I did not feel there were good instructions telling us the best way to get to the start, and the start was chaotic - not enough signage telling you where to go, where the porto-lets were, etc. I couldn't find my corral, as some of the corrals weren't well marked and weren't monitored by volunteers. There was ample Gatorade along the course, but at the end there were no volunteers or signage directing us to the finish celebration. I thought the expo was much better than expected. Overall, this is a good race, but it definitely needs a little more organization. I would run this again, though. | |
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F. D. from Mexico
(3/31/2009)
"Not as bad as I would have expected" (about: 2009)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Georgia Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 That was my 10th marathong and I got my PR on this course even though the race is very hilly. By the way, I am surprised to see that many people are registering PR's at this event and I think that this is partly because the weather is not hot and partly because there are fewer people than in big majors. The good things: The starting time at 7:05 is perfect. The start and finish are in the same place, and there are plenty of good hotels around (unfortunately, that is less and less the case in many other marathons). Many folks were cheering at the strategic points (top of the hills)!! There were few stands at the expo, but they were good. Bad things: Gear check had no volunteers working. At several parts, you had to share the road with cars. You couldn't see the finish line from very far away, which would have been nice. Mile 23 was not visible (at least I didn't catch it). The walkers were honestly not as much of an inconvenience as I would have expected. I would recommend this event in any case because the pros heavily outweigh the cons. | |
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K. G. from Georgia
(3/31/2009)
""Tough course"; great day to run" (about: 2009)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Georgia Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 The start to this marathon was the worst. Absolutely no people were directing us where to go. It was like cattle being herded into a corral. People at the beginning were forced into a fence and had to climb the fence to get in. However, the course was spectacular, though it had way too many hills. I thought I never came down - just up, up, up. Support was great, and the water stops were fantastic, but it needs more time and distance signs. Overall, they did a good job, but it needs work at the beginning. | |
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C. T. from Cataula, GA
(3/31/2009)
"Keeps getting better each year..." (about: 2009)
6-10 previous marathons
| 3 Georgia Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I ran this third version of the ING Georgia, and it was, by far, the best yet. Everything was about as good as it could get, and that's key. For those runners that are like me and do not like flat courses, this course is your friend. The hills are welcome and give you the much needed recovery on the downside. Great, great race and I heartily recommend it to all. |
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