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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 181 to 191]
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J. r. from rochester, ny
(5/5/2009)
"Great event/much better than expected" (about: 2009)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Pittsburgh Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Great race. Pros: 1) Great course to PR on, with loads of downhill; there are only a couple of uphills, and they really weren't that bad. 2) The expo was better than I expected it to be. I actually bought more here than at Boston. 3) Parking was easy, and fairly cheap. 4) Good refreshments at the end. 5) Crowd support wasn't too bad. 6) Nice shoe bag. 7) Race ends only blocks away from Primanti Brother's - a great place to go after running 26 miles. Cons: 1) They made the shirt kind of ugly, with the Dick's logo right in the front chest, and the sizing is atrociously big. 2) More porta-potties are needed on the course. | |
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R. M. from charleston, wv
(5/5/2009)
"Great race" (about: 2009)
4-5 previous marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Everything was perfect. Easy packet-pick-up, great start, great fans, nice finish. You never know what to expect with a first-time (well, almost) marathon, but they pulled it off without a hitch. | |
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D. N. from Pittsburgh, PA
(5/5/2009)
"Pittsburgh hills, great support and nice weather" (about: 2009)
6-10 previous marathons
| 2 Pittsburgh Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Thank you to Pittsburgh for a great day. Weather was perfect and I enjoyed the light mist of rain mid-race. The hill going up Forbes was challenging, but it's pretty much downhill from there. Can't wait until next year. | |
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A. S. from Philly
(5/5/2009)
"Thank you Pittsburgh!" (about: 2009)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Pittsburgh Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 What a great race - I enjoyed every minute of it and it's all because of the wonderful volunteers and spectators. First-rate. I also loved the course, which was a great tour of the city for this newcomer. My only suggestion for the race organizers is to switch to paper cups next year. The Styrofoam, in addition to being environmentally unfriendly, tends to crack when runners do the "squeeze." | |
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M. C. from Youngwood, Pennsylvania
(5/5/2009)
"This was a ton of fun" (about: 2009)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Pittsburgh Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I smiled the entire time. There was never a section without spectators - even in the rain! Only 4 stars for organization due to the confusion after the finish line. Excellent event. Excellent, excellent, excellent. I've never had so much fun running!!!!! | |
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G. H. from cleveland, OH
(5/5/2009)
"enjoyable experience but tough course" (about: 2009)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Pittsburgh Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 This was my third marathon, and having only having run flat courses, I thought Pittsburgh's course was tough. They did a good job choosing the course, since Pittsburgh is pretty hilly. The expo was small, but well organized. Crowd support was excellent. | |
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U. M. from Pittsburgh
(5/5/2009)
"A good race that will get better and better." (about: 2009)
11-50 previous marathons
| 6+ Pittsburgh Marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 This is my hometown race, so I'm very glad to see it back, and I applaud all of the hard work that brought it back. It's a fun race in a great city, and it's worth running just because it is in Pittsburgh. Course: The course is overall good, but three legs through the Strip district and the two miles above West End Bridge felt like we were doing laps with little crowd support. Being from the area and knowing all of the hills, I know there aren't many options for moving the route, but changes could be done. A finish in Point State Park would bring back some of the downtown. Also, maybe run by Heinz Field and PNC Park more so that out-of-towners would see those landmarks. Finish area: Too crowded at the end and too confusing. Neat idea to have finish under the convention overhang, but just not enough space considering the size of the race. Need to move back to Point State Park. They needed a map of finish area in the pre-race materials, since they closed off so many walkways. The sign for the family meeting area was at ground level and not easy to find. (Note: Organizers have already said they need to rethink the finish line area.) Finisher's medals were pretty average - a Dick's promotion more than a finish medal. Spectators: I've run a bunch of Pittsburgh Marathons, and crowd support was small this year; but I'm sure that was just due to the wet weather, since they have gotten big crowds in the past. "Music by the mile" was more like "music by the 5K" - again, probably due to the weather. Electric amps and rain don't mix. Aid stations/water stations/medical crew are world-class. If you're from out of town and considering this race, it's definitely worth doing. I'm sure every year it will get better and better as well. | |
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H. B. from Denver, CO
(5/5/2009)
"My favorite marathon" (about: 2009)
50+ previous marathons
| 2 Pittsburgh Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I'm thrilled that the Pittsburgh Marathon is back! Beginners will truly appreciate the flat course and the fan support along the entire route. Veterans will enjoy the flawless organization. Everyone will love the easy parking (over 20,000 spots for 10,000 runners), plenty of bathrooms, lots of free stuff (loved the socks and T-shirts) in the goody bags and after the run, and more than adequate support along the course (water/aid stations about every mile). The only drawback that I noticed was that it was slow going when leaving the race area because of the several main street closures. However, this minor annoyance would not be an issue for out-of-towners staying in the downtown Pittsburgh area. I highly recommend the race to beginners and long time marathons alike. If you are visiting, be sure to explore all of the unique Pittsburgh neighborhoods (e.g. South Side, Little Italy, Mount Washington) and don't leave without trying a Primanti's sandwich! | |
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l. m. from chicago
(5/4/2009)
"welcome back" (about: 2009)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 Pittsburgh Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 There's no place like home. There's no place like home. This was my 20th, and one of my favorites ever. I am biased. Great job by the race director and committee. A few tweaks, and it will be perfect. Add a couple of more vendors at the expo, a more obvious separation when the half splits (though it was obvious to me), and keep the same volunteers but give them better instructions at the water stops. Oh. And that hill in the middle.... I will be back. | |
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L. P. from Pittsburgh
(5/4/2009)
"Excellent, well organized, first-class event" (about: 2009)
11-50 previous marathons
| 4-5 Pittsburgh Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Thank you so much to all of those who worked so hard to bring the marathon back to Pittsburgh. The new start and finish was ideal. I've run the race starting at the zoo, on Grant Street; and starting at the strip was ideal, given the parking and space. The volunteers were spectacular. Thank you to all who made it possible. |
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