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☰
Manchester City Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Manchester City Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 3.8 
Organization 4.4 
Spectators 3.6
Number of comments: 84 [displaying comments 21 to 31]
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K. B. from Boston
(11/5/2012)
"And this was better than last year??" (about: 2012)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Manchester City Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 I decided to try it out because I heard that changes were made after all the comments about the 2011 marathon. Next November, I will definitely be running a different marathon. PROS: - volunteers and (minimal) spectators were very good - awesome gels (Gu! The good flavors!) and gatorade along the course - expo the day before was small but had a nice variety - new course incorporated some trails, which was cool variety - hot chocolate at the finish - frequent port-a-potties along the course CONS: - the majority of the course was through random sections of the city, which included behind industries or through parking lots at certain points. Course went through lots of dingy neighborhoods that weren't very scenic - there weren't as many hills as what I imagine in the past, but the finish was at the top of one (small, but still, what sadist planned that?) - I'm a slow finisher (5 hrs) and almost all the food was gone by then. I got a small cup of watery stuff a volunteer claimed was chicken soup and a cold roll. - pick up was advertised to be only the day before from 10-4 so I had to rearrange my day to get there (I'm pretty sure I spotted a table with bibs before the start that morning - sneaky devils) - very very few spectators. The majority of the support was actually from random citizens roaming through the city but who weren't actually there to cheer you on - a lot of people from the area used it as an opportunity to hold political signs instead of encouraging or entertaining ones. One read along the line of 'It's hard to run... from Obama's problems, vote for Romney blah blah blah' SUMMARY: I'm sure it could have been worse, I'm glad I didn't run it back in the day. Would not do it again. | |
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M. F. from Portland, Me.
(11/5/2012)
"Thank you Manchester City" (about: 2012)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Manchester City Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 The mob mentality pressured Mayor Bloomberg to cancel NYC on Friday at 5:30pm. What a huge disappointment 36 hours before the race, unreal. Enter Manchester,N.H. They kept marathon registration open until late Saturday afternoon. I drove down from Portand,Me. and registered at 3pm. Awesome, Thank you! Went to Boston for a great evening and drove back in the morning, less than an hour. The course is a bear with relentless hills, but it forces you to take it easy early, which is good and there are places to pick up speed. If you are a good hill runner you will kick butt here. 1st rate organization, great job, well done. I had a great time. The stretch running in the woods was super cool, as was the crowd coming out of it & with an announcer on a loud speaker no less. Neat stretch on a dirt road a few miles later with gorgeous lake views. Great support at mile 19 coming down a big hill into the city where the half marathoners went left to finish & the marathoners went right. I was running solo down the middle of the downtown street, fans yelling & an announcer calls out my name on the loud speaker. What a cool thing, it gave me such a boost late in the race when the quads were starting to rebel. The bike path was awesome at 23 & 24. The single lane wooden bridge over the river added mega 'trippy' charm. Running on smooth red bricks with a ROUGH river just to your left at mile 25+ was surreal. Sunny day, gorgeous fall foliage in a classic New England setting. Great neighborhoods to run through. I wouldn't come here looking for a PR but if you want to run an awesome marathon and have a great experience, come run this. And you get an extra hours sleep the night before, what a bonus! | |
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V. D. from Westfield, MA
(11/5/2012)
"Challenging and friendly small race" (about: 2012)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Manchester City Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I was one of the 500+ last-minute runners who signed up for the Manchester City Marathon after the NYC Marathon was cancelled. The organizers of this usually small race (approx. 500 marathoners in 2011) deserve thanks and admiration for their generosity and flexibility, allowing late registration through Saturday evening and scrambling to supply the suddenly larger group. The Manchester City Marathon offers a grueling course of rolling hills and at least this year a tough head wind. The hills weren't terribly steep, but they just kept coming! Yet as challenging as the course is, it offers a back-to-basics reminder of what the marathon is really about: pushing yourself to the limit in the company of fellow runners who are doing exactly the same thing. I met some first-time marathoners and international runners from at least 5 countries who had planned to run NY, and we were all working hard. Much of the course is beautiful but totally quiet; in places I ran alone for 10 minutes or more. Manchester offers none of the party scene distraction of a big city race (though the spectators in town and at transitions were great). As someone who thrives on external distraction and motivation during the marathon, I really had to dig to find my own internal drive. I recommend this marathon to runners who want a challenge in the company of a friendly comomunity. The scenery is varied with some especially lovely park trails and rail-trail sections along the river. Kudos to the organizers for running a well-organized event despite unexpected surge in numbers. | |
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M. B. from Albany, NY
(11/5/2012)
"Fun, hilly, marathon with cool weather" (about: 2012)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Manchester City Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I ran this as part of my quest to run a marathon in all 50 states. This was state #9. This is the ideal time to run a marathon in the Northeast, with cool but too-cold temperatures. The expo was small but fine for a small marathon. The course was hilly as expected, but only a couple were on the long side. Most were short but took their toll on my legs and endurance, expecially in the second half. Hydration stops were adequate, about every 2 miles, with GU at miles 9 and 17. Volunteers were plentiful and encouraging. I liked the 3 parts of the course that were on trails or bike paths. We did run with traffic for a lot of the race, but I never felt at risk of being injured. The post-race food was running out by the time I finished, but it was adequate. The t-shirt and medal were just so-so, nothing special. | |
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A. K. from New York, NY
(11/4/2012)
"2012 was supposed to be an easier course?!" (about: 2012)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Manchester City Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Whoa. I was primed to run a 3:07-3:10. I ran a 3:24. This race was a killer. They changed the course to apparently make it easier and I am frightened to know what it used to be. Hill at every mile today INTO a head wind for pretty much the entire race. Holy schnkies! If you are into difficult challenges and levels of torture, run it! The organization was great and the people were soooo nice and accomodating. I came up after NYC was canceled and apparently 400 others did also. Nice event but be ready. Hill training dot com and then some. At mile 20 I felt like the hill was a 90 degree perpendicular hill...into the wind. Awesome. | |
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A. T. from Chicago
(11/4/2012)
"I loved it" (about: 2012)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Manchester City Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Sarah, the RD?, is the best-letting all us NYC 'refugees' enter past the deadline. Loved the variety of the course-residential, wooded trail, running by water. Volunteers were so nice; spectators were encouraging for everyone. Yes, hills made it a tough race, but I still ran my normal time. The chili and soup at the end was the best, as were all the massage therapists. Everyone was just so nice! Weather was perfect. Glad we got the 'foil' at the end. Just have absolutely no complaints and only kudos for a well-run, friendly, well-organized race. | |
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k. s. from NH
(2/21/2012)
"Awful" (about: 2011)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Manchester City Marathon
COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 Like a lot of people said, the course was overly hilly (no best times will be made here) and much of it was blase/ugly. You would think that in scenic NH the course would be beautiful but wasn't even close. Lots of people complained about the hills. | |
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M. Y. from OH
(11/14/2011)
"Small town marathon" (about: 2011)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Manchester City Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 1 Overall this is a decent race and after running Chicago last month it was nice to run a small town (less crowded) marathon again. Me and my wife both thought it was a very friendly city. Weather was awesome, sunny and decent running temps. Organization: Expo was pretty small as expected. As many have already commented, it's so nice to not have to fight traffic/crowds to get to the start line. We stayed at a hotel about 10 minutes away and drove right in and parked about 1 ½ hours prior with no problems, but could have come much later had we wanted to. I do think the 8:45 start time is too late. Course: I didn't think the hills were as bad as some have commented, it's rolling but nothing that is terribly long or steep in my opinion (of course after running Wineglass I don't much expect to PR anymore anyhow). It did get pretty lonely (runners or spectators) after the ½ split off, but that's OK, it is what it is. Port-a-potties did seem a bit lacking. Plenty of volunteer's to guide us at turns that might have been confusing. I loved the trail portion through the park. Swag/Extras: Love the arrangement with the YMCA to use showers as I had to fly out that evening and finished long after my hotel checkout time. I like the shirt (better then the one I got in Chicago, go figure). The medal is OK, I have better and worse, I don't think the sponsor's logo being large is an issue as some have mentioned; after all sponsors help keep the cost down, so let's not complain. I can't comment on post-race food as I didn't take the time to look for food afterward as I wanted to shower and to eat a real meal anyhow. As a 50 state runner NH doesn't have very many other choices for marathons, but I think this one was a decent choice. | |
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M. T. from Connecticut
(11/12/2011)
"Beautiful but challenging course." (about: 2011)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Manchester City Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Absolutely loved everything about this marathon. Super friendly race officials and spectators, proximity of hotel to start/finish line, beautiful course with rolling hills...just awesome! | |
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Don Cuddy from Mattapoisett
(11/9/2011)
"Shut up and run" (about: 2011)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Manchester City Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 This is an old fashioned race where you go out and measure yourself against the course. You probably won't get a time to boast about but if you are true to yourself you will get something more enduring. People who quibble about traffic or broken sidewalks don't understand what running is all about. This is a great race. |
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