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☰
Garden Spot Village Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Garden Spot Village Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.4 
Organization 4.9 
Spectators 3.4
Number of comments: 41 [displaying comments 21 to 31]
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D. S. from Columbia, MD
(4/1/2012)
"Outstanding All Around!" (about: 2012)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Garden Spot Village Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Perfect marathon. Great organization. Challenging, but rewarding course. Great volunteers! I thoroughly enjoyed this race. The hills are more challenging mentally than they are physically except for the one at mile 21ish. Nice break from flat, fast, boring courses. Post race food options were the most I've seen at any of the last 4 races and nothing ran out. This is a MUST DO race for any marathoner!!! | |
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D. C. from Roaring Brook Twp., PA
(4/1/2012)
"Tough, scenic well-run race" (about: 2012)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 Garden Spot Village Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 The course winds through hilly but scenic Amish country. It's not the easiest of courses but I ran it last year and plan on running it again, so it's not as bad as others make it out to be. For where its run, I think there's a nice spectator turn-out. This was my 17th marathon and it had the best after race spread I've seen. Burgers, hot dogs, milk shakes, granola bars, trail mix, apple and grape juice, chocolate milk, coffee and tons of other things I'm forgetting. That's a nice touch after 26.2 miles. Massages are provided, along with showers a hot tub and swimming pool. Altogether one of my favorite races. | |
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Jeff H. from Virginia
(4/1/2012)
"My New Favorite" (about: 2012)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Garden Spot Village Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 This was marathon #41 and I agree with the other comments, yes there are plenty of hills, but the course is great and the views of vast unspoiled Amish farmland are what made it my favorite. Organization: this has the one thing that I wish more marathons had, which were volunteers scattered throughout the start/finish area holding signs that said 'need help?' so it was easy to find help rather than try to track down someone. Course: If your preference is the mega-marathon with thousands of people running through the city streets, this is not one of them. Once we split away from the 1/2 marathoners around mile 7, it left only about 250 of us throughout the rest of the course, where to me the scenery cannot be beat. I should have counted the Amish buggies that passed by, my guess is about 25-30, and probably about a dozen or so Amish families standing outside their farms watching us go by. As for hills, yes like everyone mentioned there are some, but for the killer uphill at mile 21 the payback is a long and strong downhill between miles 23-24. Spectators: I mentioned the Amish families, and there were also plenty of enthusiastic volunteers at the water stops, there were plenty of places where nobody was around... but if you want city streets that are lined with people, go elsewhere. If you like great scenery of the rolling farmland and the great outdoors, THIS is the one for you. I'm working on 50 states and will be back for this one just for the great course and organization. | |
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J. H. from Blakeslee, Pa
(4/1/2012)
"Scenic, well organized, and tough" (about: 2012)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Garden Spot Village Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The race is very well organized, parking is a breeze, and everyone was friendly and helpful. The post race food and care was exceptional. The specators were enthusiastic if not numerous. The scenery, with the Amish farms, horse and buggies, and some of the best manicured farmland and homes, helped take my mind off the hills. If you want to challenge yourself, this is a good one for that. I would recommend that you train hard, but don't look for a PR, come and enjoy the experience, it's well worth it. | |
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R. P. from Portage, MI
(4/12/2011)
"Well-run, very hilly, great scenery" (about: 2011)
11-50 previous marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my 15th marathon and by far the most challenging course due to the many rolling hills. But the course is beautiful, the support was great, and, for a small marathon, it was very well run. Great job by the GSV team for putting this together. | |
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J. S. from Lancaster, PA
(4/11/2011)
"Outstanding Marathon" (about: 2011)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 Garden Spot Village Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Great, small-town marathon. The race is extremely well organized. Course is very scenic. Aid stations well stocked and organized. It is a tough course with some significant hills. But otherwise outstanding. | |
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J. S. from Louisville KY area
(4/11/2011)
"Great support, especially for slow runners" (about: 2011)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Garden Spot Village Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Course was more challenging than I expected. The race directors did a great job of supporting all runners, even those of us who finished last. All water/food stops were kept open until the bitter end and the wellness director stayed near the back of the pack as a sweep finisher. Thanks for a great job. | |
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T. K. from Red Lion, PA
(4/10/2011)
"hilly, great support from spectators" (about: 2011)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Garden Spot Village Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my first 1/2 marathon - the course was hilly but that's to be expected in the area. Great amount of water, and great number of porta-potties. The spectators and people who lived along the course were so great! Well organized; glad to run a race that benefited an organization rather than a "money-maker." All of the volunteers were great, from start to finish. Would definitely run again! | |
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G. D. from Pottstown, Pa.
(4/9/2011)
"Tough but gorgeous course!" (about: 2011)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Garden Spot Village Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Hands down, this was the hardest course for me to date! Scott did an absolutely wonderful job organizing this event along with the GSV volunteers... very warm and welcoming people! The only thing I didn't like was to hear the runners complain after the race about the lack of "free food" offered to us. I guess they fail to understand the logistics of what else goes into having the event to even allow us to run. They should be thankful for what was done for us. The free food was perfect... thank you! | |
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B. M. from Baltimore, MD
(4/27/2010)
"Great small-town marathon" (about: 2010)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Garden Spot Village Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This was a great race - I really like the smaller ones, and this one has a nice feel to it. People are friendlier, and things are just more relaxed, which is important. I would have given a 5 for the course if it weren't for the mammoth hill at mile 21! |
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