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Pittsburgh Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Pittsburgh Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.6 
Organization 4.5 
Spectators 4.6
Number of comments: 228 [displaying comments 161 to 171]
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T. M. from DC
(10/27/2009)
"Me and my wife's first marathon together" (about: 2009)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Pittsburgh Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 It was a great time. | |
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B. Y. from Pittsburgh, PA
(6/25/2009)
"Well-organized, awesome race!" (about: 2009)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Pittsburgh Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Living in Western PA, I've been waiting for the "return" of Pittsburgh for several years. After a wonderful experience this year, it was well worth the wait! Organization: great! As recommended by the organizers, I got there early to park and had no problems. I parked in the garage for $5 at the convention center about 1 block from the start. The start itself was well-organized, with suggested pace signs posted. I lined up with the 3:10 crowd and had no issues at the start. Course: Fantastic! It was a great tour of the city - we hit all of the neighborhoods. To get 26.2 miles in Pittsburgh that's relatively flat was amazing. Of course, there is the one significant hill after the half, but it's really not a big deal. I kept a steady pace, climbed right up, and resumed my regular pace for the rest of the race. The steep downhill around 22-24 was really nice. By the time I hit the 25 mile-mark, I felt great. It was easy to push the last mile (my fastest) with the cheering crowds. It would be cool to run closer to the stadiums and the river, but overall, a well-designed course. Overall, a great mid-size race that I'd highly recommend! | |
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J. L. from Crystal Lake, Il
(6/23/2009)
"The marathon and city did a fantastic job!!" (about: 2009)
First Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 For my first marathon, I was very happy to see how my home town cheered me on. My home town did a great job of organizing it, and it went off without a hitch. I will be running it next year. | |
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C. h. from DC
(6/22/2009)
"Great Run" (about: 2009)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Pittsburgh Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 One of the best marathons on the East Coast. There's only one negative: ugly medals, especially for the half-marathon. Very bad. | |
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john carboni from schenectady ny
(5/20/2009)
"Pittsburgh! You won't be disappointed!" (about: 2009)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Pittsburgh Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I was impressed by the city, the race, and the people of Pittsburgh. Great low-cost dining. The baseball stadium is a great place to spend the night before. It is an outstanding value for major league sports. The expo was special, with Bill Rodgers taking the time to make everyone enjoy their experience in Pittsburgh. Thank you, Bill. The course was not the toughest; with all of the great hills there, it could have been a lot tougher. Well-run and thought-out. A very enjoyable event. Thanks! | |
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M. A. from Pittsburgh, PA
(5/14/2009)
"Good marathon but could use improvement" (about: 2009)
11-50 previous marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 The marathon course was challenging, but not overwhelming. The hills were not as bad as they could be. Some of the areas were not the most attractive. The weather was cloudy and cool with some rain - very good, in my opinion. The rain prevented some spectators from coming out, but those that did were great. The expo was a little sparse but there were plenty of helpful volunteers. The desire to be eco-friendly was admirable and mostly well-executed. As many have noted, the Styrofoam cups were tough to drink out of. I was glad to see that they were recycling the space blankets and almost everything else. | |
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L. P. from Colorado
(5/14/2009)
"Excellent job, Pittsburgh" (about: 2009)
6-10 previous marathons
| 2 Pittsburgh Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 The race was very well done. I was expecting some snafus in the rebirth, but was very happy with how well the race went. The organization was very good, the crowds were excellent, and I was happy with the course modifications. Very proud of my home town and the friendly people of Pittsburgh. | |
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Tessa Lucero from Canyon Country, CA
(5/13/2009)
"Good tour of an underappreciated city." (about: 2009)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Pittsburgh Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Hearing where I was headed, friends and family all had the same reaction: "Pittsburgh? You're going voluntarily?" Yes, I was, and it was a good race! The expo was reasonable, not enormous. I was glad to see plenty of running shoes available. And having Bill Rodgers there was impressive. We also took the opportunity to ride the incline and visit the Heinz Museum, both of which I recommend to visitors. Race day: parking was awful. We wound up on the other side of the Sixteenth Street Bridge and had to hike a mile to the start. The start area was a bit odd for those of us lined up in the back, with two right-angle turns before we even crossed the starting line. (And the porta-potties, with signs saying, "Capacity: 10 persons" were good for a laugh!) The course itself was well laid out. I would have liked more bridges because I love "bridgey" runs; however, the course designer did a good job of avoiding the steeper hills that Pittsburgh has in abundance. I felt that we had a good tour of various Pittsburgh neighborhoods, both upscale and emerging. The split between the full/half was easy to navigate, although it was difficult to figure out which way to go at the second relay station. By the way, volunteers directing traffic should not be on cell phones rather than assisting confused runners. Especially appreciated were the church members who came out in force to staff aid stations and support the runners. I saw one church with a sign saying that services would be Saturday night so they could cheer for the marathon Sunday morning - what a wonderful idea! Aid stations were plentiful and well stocked, and having different flavors of PowerAde was a nice touch. Not all of us like lemon-lime. I'd have loved more oranges along the course, too. The finish line was a little crowded and difficult to anticipate, due to turns just before the finish. I'm sure that the finish-line staff appreciated being undercover, but I had a hard time finding my friends after the race (had to scale a guardrail and hike back) and noted that there were a great many non-runners in the finish area and there were no bagels left. I don't think that was coincidence. The shirt wasn't bad, the medal reasonable, and the socks in the goody bag were nice. The hike back to parking was not so good. And it would be great if the race could work out an agreement with a local gym to allow runners to shower post-race. All in all, a good race, and one I would wholeheartedly recommend to other runners. | |
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R. G. from Philadelphia, PA
(5/11/2009)
"Great job, Pittsburgh!" (about: 2009)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Pittsburgh Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 As a native Western Pennsylvanian, I was very excited to have an opportunity to finally run the Pittsburgh Marathon. It did not disappoint. Course: The course is challenging. There is a moderate climb leading to an extended plateau around mile 12. The good news is that you come down off of the plateau around miles 23-24 and finish on level ground. So if you are still feeling good around mile 21, you should be able to make your goal. Organization: I have no major complaints about the race organization. There were more than enough water stations along the way, and the volunteers were great. I was feeling a bit light-headed when I finished and several volunteers were very helpful. One minor gripe that, in general, seems to be repeated many times in marathon reviews was the medal handout at the finish. This seems like such a simple concept: place a medal around the runner's neck when they finish. Instead, runners had to seek out the medal holding volunteers towards the back of the post-race area. At least they weren't still in plastic bags! Spectators: The crowd support was great! The fans really embraced this race and there was a lot of enthusiastic support even in the areas where the crowds were smaller. Conclusion: If you haven't run this one, add it to your list. You won't regret it. Let's just hope the race is back for 2010! Thanks to all of those who made it happen in 2009. | |
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E. I. from Hollidaysburg, PA
(5/11/2009)
"Nice race overall; details need work" (about: 2009)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Pittsburgh Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 Positives: Relatively level course: A true achievement given Pittsburgh's topography. I know some people complained about the "hills," but seriously, if you're tough enough to take on a 26.2-mile run, surely 200 feet of elevation shouldn't be an issue. Unless you're from south Florida, or the Arizona desert, I don't see the hills in this race being an issue for anyone trying to run a PR or BQ. Crowd support: Great support on the course. People who were out were very enthusiastic. Lots of kids! Nice shirt: I like the Nike tech shirt. Friendly and helpful volunteers - Everyone I talked to had a smile on their face and were extremely willing to help. Areas for improvement: No-show shuttle buses: I ran the final leg of the relay. The shuttle bus to the relay exchange point was 1 hour late (the Relay Handbook stated the shuttles would run every half hour starting at the beginning of the race). NO EXCUSE FOR THIS. By the time the bus did show up, some of us who would be at the front of the pack were nervous that we would miss our teammates. Then, the police wouldn't let the shuttle buses through roadblocks. At that point we should have had a police escort. Anyway, once we were off the designated route, the bus driver didn't know how to get exchange zone. Fortunately, locals on the bus knew an alternative, yet longer route. As it was, the shuttle got us to the relay exchange zone with about 10 minutes to spare. I'm sure there's an explanation for this, but this was a pretty major screw up. Congestion at the finish: There simply wasn't enough room for all of the finishers to disperse. Add to that all of the family members and friends mingling around, and the finish area was mobbed. The convention center overhang gave the finish area a very claustrophobic feel. Finish line eats: People finishing a marathon deserve more than a banana, cookie and water. Medals: Sponsor "billboards" on the medals are tacky, and cheapen the accomplishment of those who completed the marathon. Save the advertising for other areas of the race. I'm not saying sponsors shouldn't be recognized, but do you see a McDonald's emblem on an Olympic medal? |
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