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☰
Big Bear Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Big Bear Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.6 
Organization 4.3 
Spectators 4.0
Number of comments: 19 [displaying comments 11 to 19]
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D. V. from Chatsworth, California
(9/10/2008)
"Beautiful Scenery - Kudos for a Great 1st-Time Eve" (about: 2008)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Big Bear Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Although this was probably the toughest marathon I have ever done (I have done LA, Big Sur and San Francisco), I highly recommend it and plan to do it again. Themed aid stations were awesome. Volunteers were totally nice and supportive - and the "goodies" were great!! The oranges slices (even watermelon pieces at one) were great and the sponges were like a gift from heaven!! One station even had Otter-Pops!!! There were a lot of locals along parts of the course who were also great for my moral. Course was very beautiful and even made me forget about the altitude - at least for the half of the course or so. :-) Aid stations each mile (instead of every other) would have been nice - but since that was posted, I carried my own, and that worked out fine for me. I loved the early start. Although it started late, it was announced that they were waiting for one additional shuttle (time for one more stop at the port-a-potty). Excellent job for an inaugural event - KUDOS to all involved. Please do this again next year! | |
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J. M. from San Diego, CA
(9/8/2008)
"Great Inaugural Job" (about: 2008)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Big Bear Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I'm really glad I ended up doing this pretty much at the last minute, largely treating it as a supported training run at altitude. I really enjoyed Big Bear this time of year. (I'd only just gone for skiing before.) Course was *really* scenic, especially looping the lake, and probably the most pleasant marathon start to finish I've done thus far. Excellent regular support on the course, which was critical due to ease of dehydration with low humidity at altitude. Gels, Heed, water, pretzels, etc. everywhere. I was able to grab a water bottle about halfway through and carry it with me the rest of the way, and found it helped a ton - this is indeed a marathon where I'd suggest carrying one's own hydration in addition to all the support stations. Locals and their interaction and themes really made it a ton of fun and should be applauded for how enjoyable they made the race. Bravo. :) There were probably more rolling hills than I'd anticipated, and the steeper ones late in the course made things a challenge - going slow early and saving oneself for late in the race was pretty critical. It could certainly have been worse, but the course wasn't a pancake by any means. My GPS showed about 1/4 of the course was uphill, 1/4 was downhill, with total elevation gain loss of +/- 1600 feet - about double what I encounter in most "normal" marathons in Southern California. On the plus side though, this probably made for more variety of muscle use and less repetitive stress than I normally encounter. I got to Big Bear early enough to acclimate a little, but didn't really encounter major altitude effects beyond dryness/dehydration and finding it important to take hills a little more gently than usual. With only 267 completing the full in this inaugural year, things got fairly spread out so that running felt largely solo and peaceful. Expect the race easily to add participants in future years, but the lower number was actually pretty nice this round. My biggest "complaint" would probably be post-race "pampering." I found only bananas, oranges, water and watered-down mixed Heed, and would have benefited from bagels, sports bars, etc. Gear check would have also been a big help to ensure that I had such things with me (I had to leave that stuff back in my car at Snow Summit, only obtainable after shuttling back). Also, I never found ice or a med tent at the finish to be able to ice my flared up knee, but I lived. Though likely not a PR course for most, this was ultimately a really nice change of scenery (literally) and Big Bear should be proud of itself for how well it pulled off a first-time event. I will be curious in the future if this attracts more experienced people who want variety and don't mind the hills, or if this tilts to first-timers who want something memorable for first completion and the patient road re-opening, and aren't worried about PR's. (Looks like they had the final people coming in at about 8 hours, and didn't need to panic about re-opening roads the way things were handled.) Ultimately, I can't wait to do this again, and especially think looping the lake (available only via the full, not the half) made this one of the best and most pleasant races/runs I've had in a good, long while. Nice job, Big Bear.... :) | |
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J. S. from San Diego, Ca.
(9/8/2008)
"I enjoyed Big Bear and had a great time running." (about: 2008)
11-50 previous marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Great trip, good weather, and lots of friendly people. | |
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allison van wig from Long Beach California
(9/7/2008)
"Very good for first time in Big Bear" (about: 2008)
4-5 previous marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I thought you guys did a great job for the first time. I hope you do it again. | |
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J. H. from Los Angeles
(9/7/2008)
"A must-do marathon on your list" (about: 2008)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Big Bear Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I ran this marathon yesterday and had a very good time. Loved the course, which is similar to the Lake Tahoe course. Loved the aid station themes and even meet Santa Claus. :) The race was organized very well and the volunteers were absolutely awesome. One big disappointment was the finisher medal. It's a very toy-like medal and it didn't matter if you ran the marathon, half-marathon, 5K, kids' run, or even rode the bike tour; you still go the same cheap medal. I've never seen that in any marathon where they give out a bigger medal for marathon finisher than for half-marathon finisher. They also gave medals to some spectators. We all ran a long time to earn that medal. If they fix the medal issue, then this race would receive 5 stars and I would be back next year. | |
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Mojave princess from Mojave, CA
(9/7/2008)
"Great potential in a beautiful area" (about: 2008)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Big Bear Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 I should start by saying that I really liked the race. Big Bear is beautiful and running around the lake is lovely. However, there were a number of things I felt that could take this race to the next level. 1. Cups: The aid stations' cups were horrible. Some had those 2-ounce cups (you'd need to take 4), and others had Styrofoam or hard plastic cups that are impossible to drink from while running. 2. Need more water stops: Between the altitude, hilly course, lack of humidity, and heating up quickly, water every 2 miles was not enough. My mouth was dry the whole time. And I live in the desert. 3. The organizers kept telling us there would be Cajun food at the finish line, but they never told us we had to PAY. Who carries money on a marathon? Other than the $10 lunches to buy, the only free food for athletes was icky orange and banana pieces. And waiting so long for awards and then the shuttle meant waiting a few hours before refueling. 4. I thought with the theme of the race, much more could have been done with the shirts, medals, and awards. 5. I heard that cash prizes for the winners were advertised on the website, and then removed race week. A friend of mine signed up just for that reason and would have won the cash. Not cool. BUT... I think after addressing some of these issues, the race has great potential. They very much so seem to have the support of the city and residents. Good luck! | |
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C. D. from San Bernardino, CA
(9/7/2008)
"Kller Hills! Great Spectators! Need Better Finish!" (about: 2008)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Big Bear Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I haven't been in many marathons, but this one is almost as good as any other. Lots of hills, but oh well, it's Big Bear. I loved the people on the residential route; they were awesome. They were there cheering and handing us water on their own aside from the water stands. The water stands were very well equipped too, by the way. They had sponges and other stuff, and that was great. The finish line stand only had oranges, bananas and Heed. The lack of bagels was disappointing. I didn't come in so far back that they should be out. That's my only gripe, but I think that for the runners, special treatment at the end is a biggie!! | |
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Charles Wilform from San Diego, California
(9/6/2008)
"Altitude is everything" (about: 2008)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Big Bear Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 It is Big Bear, which should say enough. This was a difficult, rolling course, even without the altitude, which topped out at 7,100+, according to my Garmin 305. For an inaugural race, it went pretty well, even though it started about 15 minutes late. The course support was good, as well as the fan support. The chilly 0630 start soon gave way to a sunny, dry and hot marathon by the 10K point. I heard that some runners thought the course was too ambitious, which may be the case, as it could have been flatter. This was not a big-city marathon with all the bells and whistles, nor was it advertised as such. If a runner went for bragging rights, a Disneyland-type medal and a nice flat course, they were sadly disappointed. But if they went for the experience and a challenging course, they got what they came for. You know what? I am one of the few runners to run and finish the first ever Big Bear Marathon. That is enough for me, and I got what I came for. | |
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P. C. from Monrovia, CA
(9/6/2008)
"Great inaugural race!" (about: 2008)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Big Bear Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Very well put together inaugural race. The aid and "rest" stations were plentiful, and I enjoyed the themes of the aid stations. Everyone along the route was great; there just weren't a lot of people outside of the fuel stops. Being a runner/walker, I appreciated the road closures the entire route as well as the Highway Patrol and volunteers re-routing traffic. The scenery for the full marathon couldn't be beat while running around Big Bear Lake on a beautiful September day. The hills during the second half of the race were a test, after having finished the gorgeous run around the lake. I would definitely recommend this for a challenging, fun, altitude race. |
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