Nov 15, 2024
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☰
Cleveland Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Cleveland Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 3.9 
Organization 3.9 
Spectators 3.3
Number of comments: 299 [displaying comments 1 to 11]
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B. B. from Pittsburgh, Pa
(5/20/2024)
"Beautiful but challenging course" (about: 2024)
50+ previous marathons
| 2 Cleveland Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Having run Cleveland in 2016, I signed up at the last minute for this year's race hoping to lower my BQ. The course is completely different. It is far more scenic than the last time I ran Cleveland and hits all of the landmarks of the city. There is a beautiful, long stretch along Lake Erie that is as pretty as anything that I have seen on a marathon course. The new course is also much hillier and has more turns than the old course. This is not bad, but anyone interested in a PR or BQ should know this before entering. I'm sure that the course was accurately measured, but my Garmin showed 2.5 miles at the 2 mile mark and a total of 26.64 at the finish. I strongly recommend this race for anyone who is looking for an Ohio race or is not trying for a time goal. The logistics were great, the packet pick up was smooth and on race day I was able to park 3 blocks from the finish and was on the interstate within 15 minutes. On a warm day, the organizers added water stations and the crowd support was excellent with many kind neighbors hosing the runners down (thanks to the folks carrying Super-Soakers as well). Chocolate milk at the finish, which is all I want after a race. A very nice shirt and maybe my favorite medal in 100 plus races. I plan on running the marathon again as it is close to home, but I will keep my time expectation muted. No trip to Cleveland is complete without a visit to Great Lakes Brewing. It is worth the 2 hour drive from Pittsburgh by itself. | |
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P. M. from Maine, USA
(6/20/2023)
"Well organized festive Marathon" (about: 2023)
6-10 previous marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I did not run this Marathon but flew out to Cleveland to support my son in his 1st Marathon. I have run 8 marathons in the past and 30+ half marathons. I thought the race was very well organized and festive. The runners expo was decent. The start/finish area was well set up and there is a festive meeting area & beer tent after finishing the race. I read a few articles about folks complaining about the new course with so many turns in it (course change for 23 due to construction). I asked my son afterwards and he didn't feel the large number of turns on the course were a big deal at all. He thought the course was quite interesting as it passed through the City/Stadiums/The Flats, etc. I assume that once road construction is completed that Cleveland 26.2 will return to the former course (with less turns). I thought there was good fan support during the race. Witnessed my son at mile 5 and again at mile 12 and then at the Finish. From what I witnessed and after speaking with my son in detail about his experience (he ran under 3:05) my opinion is the Cleveland Marathon is a quality event. | |
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Drew Kime from Cleveland
(10/25/2021)
"Great experience for my first race" (about: 2021)
First Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 This year the route returned to the Shoreway, which they had switched away from in 2017 to avoid the hills. That long climb at mile 12 (and 25 on the second lap) wasn't welcome, but everything else about how the day was run was excellent. Plenty of time for early packet pickup, lots of parking and accommodations right near the start, great energy at the finish. | |
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J. J. from Wisconsin
(5/20/2018)
"Good course for PR" (about: 2018)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Cleveland Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 Pros: Packet pick up easy; hotels close to start/finish; fast course with a few short hills; some pretty neighborhoods; volunteers very helpful and enthusiastic; lots of pace groups--like at least 10 minute intervals; you run past Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. Cons: 10k, half and full start same time so it is crowded through downtown. Lots of potholes and uneven pavement so watch your footing for first 10 miles or so. Suggestions: Start half and 10k hour earlier or later than the full; add a few more timing clocks along the route. All in all I'd do this one again. | |
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M. C. from Winston Salem, NC
(6/12/2017)
"Marathon well worth adding to your accomplishments" (about: 2017)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Cleveland Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This is a great race and manageable in size. The course is flat and showcases some of the more beautiful parts of Cleveland. I live about 7 hours away and decided to run this one on a whim after coming off a mediocre run at Boston. I drove up on Saturday morning was delighted at the well organized packet pickup and light traffic in downtown Cleveland. I stayed downtown at a Hilton which made everything walkable; including the Start / Finish. The weather can be tricky in Cleveland but the 2017 race was fine. The rain started around 3 hours into the race and was light at first. I finished under 3:30 and it was a steady at the finish. As I pulled out of town to head home around 4:30 hours in, I imagine those runners were getting drenched. All in all a great race and if I wasn't trying to hit different States, I would run this one again. | |
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Amelia Driscoll from Mobile, Alabama
(6/5/2017)
"Fast course and great tour of Cleveland" (about: 2017)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Cleveland Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Overall, great race! Would absolutely do again. Pros: Fast course. Lots of downhill. Only one hill worth mentioning - around mile 4 or 5. Hill into the finish line (over a bridge), but it wasn't a substantial one. I was sort of nervous about the hills based on the elevation map they provided online. But that elevation map is wrong! Only one real hill. Beautiful tour of Cleveland. Lot of cool neighborhoods. Good pacers and plenty of room in early corrals. I had so much fun during this race. Cons: (1) For me, the weather. I wanted cool and dry. It was warm and humid. Not Cleveland's fault, obviously, but you should know this is a possibility. Average low in May may be in the 40s or 50s, but it was close to 70 on this occasion. Not my fav. (2) No timers anywhere on the course until the finish line. I don't need one every mile, but it'd be nice to know at a few landmarks (every 10k and at half maybe?). I purposefully (because it was warm and humid) didn't run w/ a watch. I didn't care about my mile splits but it would have been nice to know what general ballpark I was in before I saw the finish line. (3) Last part of course combined 10K, half and full finishers. They should have separate lanes. Truly not trying to be a jerk, but at mile 25, I didn't appreciate bobbing and weaving around half marathon walkers. I just wanted to be done. (4) Blue Powerade. Wth? Ick. I hate sports drinks anyway, but on a hot day, I had to get some sodium and electrolytes into me (I'm what you would call an 'aggressive sweater' =D). Why people don't stick to red, orange or yellow is beyond me. If you are gonna use blue or purple or something else random, let people know on the website so they can practice choking that stuff down on their training runs. Other than these complaints, this was an awesome, awesome race. | |
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P. B. from Chicago, IL
(5/24/2017)
"A very good experience all the way." (about: 2017)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Cleveland Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I really enjoyed this marathon. The marathon was very well organized, up to date information was a always available, the pick up hall and show and finally the course itself was all first class. I especially enjoyed the fact you could stay downtown Cleveland at a hotel without spending a fortune at a great hotel. Also the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was a bonus. | |
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B. C. from Mt. Pleasant, MI
(5/23/2017)
"Weather was rough, but..." (about: 2017)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Cleveland Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I will not blame the Cleveland Marathon for the weather. Course: Very tight and several sharp turns early. However, other than this, a fine course featuring downtown Cleveland, although once the course moved away from downtown, a fairly boring course. Organization: 2 complaints here, one relatively minor. It would have been nice to have gear check close to the start line (perhaps using shipping trucks) rather than requiring athletes to walk from the finish area to the start area after checking their gear. The other complaint that I have is that the first/last water station on the out-and-back segment tore down early, ignoring the walkers/slower runners going out when I passed the first time (~mile 13.5) and being completely gone when I passed the second time (~mile 21.7). I finished the race in 6:08, well under the 7 hour time limit, so there is no reason the volunteers should have abandoned post. Spectators: A bit subdued due to the weather, however great support where they were available. Other: It was great to have a walking division (however, it would be nice if we could get a walking division free from runners) | |
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w. o. from Yorktown Heights, NY
(6/11/2016)
"Hail Cleveland!" (about: 2016)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Cleveland Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Weather was pretty bad, as others have said. Course was pretty easy. Volunteers were awesome. I was well prepared for this race (I trained for the 'hill' at the end, but I used socks for gloves). I still managed to PR this thing by 6 minutes. Expo was nothing special, but the weekend was generally a good experience | |
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J. B. from Chicago, IL
(5/21/2016)
"Unforgettable - Good and Bad" (about: 2016)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Cleveland Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 I have run many marathon and part of the excitement is that you never know what you are going to get. We got it all in Cleveland. The weather was unbelievable; rain, hail, high winds, frigid temps, everything. The course was not that scenic and very few spectators on the course, (Can't blame them, I didn't want to be out there). The roads were quite uneven but because of the hail, I was always looking down. I did not appreciate the hills at the end of the race. Mentally, this race was really tough, even for a fellow mid-westerner who runs in cold and snow every winter. Cleveland wasn't the best but I was surprised that I did not see more fans and more excitement in the city. There were not a lot of people who ran the full marathon so the second half was pretty lonely. Can't blame them for the weather, but I guess I expected more for a long running race. |
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