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Vermont City Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Vermont City Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.2 
Organization 4.4 
Spectators 4.7
Number of comments: 303 [displaying comments 81 to 91]
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s. R. from maryland
(6/20/2010)
"Too many runners overwhelmed the event" (about: 2010)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Vermont City Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 This was my first time running this marathon; after running every year for the past 5 years in the Marine Corps Marathon (30,000+ runners), I figured this would seem small. It didn't. The course from the starting area through the narrow streets and bike paths to the finish area is simply not big enough to handle the number of runners there. It was frustrating at times and downright dangerous at others, as relay runners weaved in and out, cutting off tired marathoners. The course has some beautiful spots and some bad ones: the waste water treatment facility at mile 21 was a particularly nice touch. The few spectators who there were along much of the course were quite enthusiastic, and many had their own informal water and food stations set up - which was good, because there were not enough formal ones, and several were so small that in the crush of bodies it was hard to get anything. Overall, it was fun but disappointing, and I will probably not run it again. | |
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J. M. from Long Island, New York
(6/17/2010)
"Well-organized, scenic course" (about: 2010)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Vermont City Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my 33rd marathon and 1st in Vermont. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. All aspects of the race were well-organized. The drummers at mile 15 were awesome. The spectators were friendly and very encouraging. Except for the the hill at mile 15, the course was relatively flat. The cold beer at the finish was a nice touch. | |
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T. S. from Seattle, WA
(6/9/2010)
"As good as a multi-event marathon gets." (about: 2010)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Vermont City Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 This was my 21st state and 27th marathon. This is neither the flattest nor fastest course I have run, but it is amongst the best. The noted cloverleaf design - coupled with the unique cityscape and spectators - really makes for a nice course. Alternate race distance events do distract from the marathon experience, and the relay mix does take away some of the special atmosphere of finishing 26.2 solo. It does, however, give more people the chance to participate and was handled well for the most part. Others have mentioned what that did to the finish area. Basically one of the better multi-event marathons I have run. It's great to run on a course that is well marked. The mile markers were huge and correct, plus aid stations were numerous. Lodging options are easy to find and access to the start was a no-brainer. Turned out to be a great destination marathon in a nice city. I don't run the same marathon often anymore, but I would do this one again. | |
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C. A. from Burlington, VT
(6/5/2010)
"Best time EVER!!!!!" (about: 2010)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Vermont City Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I can't even begin to describe what a great time I had at this marathon! My first - and it won't be my last! I have lived in Burlington, VT for 10 years now, and I am kicking myself for never attending this event before! The crowd support was amazing and the organization was better than expected. I will definitely make this marathon a yearly event! Let's just not run out of water at the end, please! | |
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P. N. from Austin, Texas, USA
(6/4/2010)
"Vermont!" (about: 2010)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Vermont City Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 The good: Lots of cheerful spectators, lovely course, great water stops on the course, nice technical shirt, and great medals. The bad: The finish area was a mess. I came around one of the (many) corners in the last 400 yards to find a whole family (stroller and all) standing in the middle of the course. I had to stop and wait until they moved. There was no food, no water and no ice cream. Later I heard someone say that that they didn't run; they just sat and ate ice cream. :-p There also weren't very many porta-potties on the course. After running 26 miles, we had to walk all of the way to the far end of the finish area to get out of the fences, then all of the way back to get to the busses back to the hotel. | |
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H. S. from Tucker, GA
(6/3/2010)
"Good race, but could use some ironing out" (about: 2010)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Vermont City Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 This was a beautiful and fast course. The spectators, such as the drummers, were enthusiastic. However, it was a crowded and bottlenecked at several points (4-hour pace, anyhow) with no way to speed up, trapping you with people slowing down! The finish area was horrible. Couldn't get through to anything, and hard to get back to family. I ended up climbing the fence with the help of a spectator. I didn't take any after-race things (not worth it with the crowds!), so I don't know on supply. Also, warning: false finish! There's a sign hanging up, so you think the finish is there, and as you get there, it says, "Almost there!" Not cool! The finish area also makes it hard to pass people with the crowd. This course needs some adjustments, or else they need to make the race smaller, for sure. However, it was a good race. If the extraneous stuff does it for you, it has a nice shirt and nice, heavy finisher's medal. | |
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M. E. from Connecticut
(6/2/2010)
"Nice, fun, too congested" (about: 2010)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Vermont City Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This was a really nice race. Positives: Great volunteers. Nice course, and scenic in key spots. Nice location for a weekend visit. Not too hilly. Constructive criticism: The race is too big for the narrow streets and bike paths - it would benefit from start corrals. The relay adds to the congestion, and leads to dangerous conditions in the last few miles, where very young relay runners on fresh legs are weaving in and around the exhausted marathoners on the narrow bike path, exercising bad judgment and causing risk of injury. The start area needs help with entrance to the chute - put up some big banners up high showing where to enter. I could not figure this out due to the congestion. The finish area is a disaster. Need to clearly mark exit paths and organize flow of runners through the area. I got a bottle of water at the end (thanks!), but the line for food was dozens deep, so I abandoned my quest for a single banana, struggled through the crowd of people with bikes, dogs, strollers, etc., trying to figure out how to get out and to the street. Not good, but should be simple to solve. Overall, I enjoyed this marathon greatly, but it would have been even better with a little attention to these issues. | |
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R. G. from Williamstown, MA
(6/2/2010)
"Great but crowded" (about: 2010)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Vermont City Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 The Good: Beautiful course that I look forward to running again. Great spectator support. The Bad: Crowded. Start area is a mess, with no indication of an appropriate "area" for given pace. The Ugly: Waited 35-plus minutes for the "every 5 minutes" bus from the hotel to the start. Apparently that happened to a number of hotels. | |
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T. T. from Easton, PA
(6/2/2010)
"Great community support" (about: 2010)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Vermont City Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 This was a very well-organized race, from the expo to the event. My only gripe was that they ran out of water at the finish and I did not feel like walking a 1/4-mile out of the way to get a bottle of water. Other than that, it was a great event and the people of VT are magnificent. I would run this race again! | |
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P. L. from New York
(6/2/2010)
"Great race but poor finish area" (about: 2010)
4-5 previous marathons
| 2 Vermont City Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 This was my second running of this lovely course. As with last year, the spectators were marvelous: Plenty of water stations and the route could not be nicer. Even the huge hill at mile 15 is fun, given the shouts of encouragement from the crowd. It seemed to me, though, that something had gone wrong with the organization at the finish. Last year was perfect. This year was horrible: I was nearly knocked down by a relay runner dodging through the runners with 10 feet to go; There was no ice cream and only limited food left; I was yelled at by an official in the food tent because I could not hear his mumbled question; I couldn't find my family because of the crush of bodies; And getting out of the finish area was complicated by multiple school buses parked nose-to-nose Note to the organizers: please fix this, as I would like to run next year too! That said, I was hugely impressed by another relay runner who caught me when I was flagging at the 25-mile point and stayed with me to the finish, providing encouragement the whole way. You don't get that at the ING New York Marathon! |
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