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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 101 to 111]
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J. C. from Cleveland, Ohio
(5/26/2009)
"Sneaky, Tough Marathon" (about: 2009)
2 previous marathons
| 2 Cleveland Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 This was my second marathon overall. Both have been the Cleveland Marathon. I liked the crowd support. Everyone was upbeat and enthusiastic. This helped me get through the last five miles of the course when I was running on fumes. I was disappointed that they did not have the correct times for the runners. My friend had a goal of running a sub-2:00 half-marathon. I felt like an idiot when, the day after congratulating him on accomplishing his goal, I realized that his time was 1 minute slower, which brought him over the 2:00 time. Words of advice to anyone wanting to run this marathon with the exact same course route: 1. RESPECT THE WIND OFF OF LAKE ERIE 2. RESPECT THE HILL ENTERING EAST BOULEVARD (mile 16-17) 3. RESPECT THE HILL ON MLK BOULEVARD THAT LEADS TO ST. CLAIR (mile 20-21) 4. DO NOT "GUN IT" UP THE HILL ON LORAIN AVENUE (mile 2-3) Overall, I was content with my time, which helped me qualify for Boston, but was not content with my pacing. If you do not pace properly in the beginning, the Lake Erie winds and the two hills mentioned will beat you up down the stretch. I made the mistake of running too fast for the first 10 miles and paid for it dearly over the last five miles. The last five miles should be taken advantage of time-wise because this part of the course (miles 21-26.2) is flat. The wind was very intense, heading north on East 18th (mile 25-26). In summary, I would run this race again. It would be neat to reroute the course through Little Italy if it's feasible. This is a historical neighborhood that out-of-towners would enjoy. As far as reversing the course to combat Lake Erie winds, I do not feel it helped or hurt, because the wind was from the north. I thought that the course was tougher than 2008. Good luck to anyone running this marathon in 2010. | |
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D. R. from Cincinnati, OH
(5/25/2009)
"Everything about this event was awesome!" (about: 2009)
6-10 previous marathons
| 2 Cleveland Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Extremely well organized - great improvement in the course since 2008. It was very easy to get to the race and the expo from the host hotel (Hyatt). Extremely nice after-race party. I recommend staying at the Hyatt, as they cater to the marathoners by providing a breakfast box and 3:00 p.m. late checkout. I went with three friends, and we all plan to do this event again next year!!! | |
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Valerie McCord from Piqua, OH
(5/22/2009)
"Wow! Great course, great organization, great fans" (about: 2009)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Cleveland Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This is the best "big-city" marathon I've done. The course was amazingly beautiful and mostly flat. I can't get over how beautiful the course is: through historical neighborhoods, the Cleveland cultural gardens and interesting business districts, as well as along the lake shore and over that cool bridge with the statues. Parking was a snap, even for a 19-foot, raised-roof van. It was easy to find everything. The post-race party was spacious, with plenty of snacks for runners. The start went smoothly, even with so many runners. I really like the different-colored shirts for the different race lengths. The expo had great vendors. Thanks to BP for the pics and American Greetings and Rite Aid. Where was $9.99 guy? The fans were AWESOME and everywhere, and the course made it easy for fans to appear and reappear. Literally, the comment from one fan got me up the one hill around mile 20. The fans really made the race. The absolutely only negative comment is about the beer. I'm not a lite beer fan. I think I'll live though. CLEVELAND ROCKS! | |
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K. R. from Bloomington, Indiana
(5/20/2009)
"Timing problems leave black mark on event" (about: 2009)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Cleveland Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 Times shifted from what was first reported. My time, and others, is 59 seconds slower than I actually ran. The explanation provided for this by one of the marathon officials makes no sense. This was my first time running the event. I liked it, and I qualified for Boston, but if they aren't accurate with recording the times, what's the point? I won't run there again. | |
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D. T. from Detroit, MI.
(5/19/2009)
"My first marathon... what a wonderful experience." (about: 2009)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Cleveland Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This was my first full marathon. WOW! What a powerful experience. The expo was fun, and meeting Bart Yasso from Runners World was a big highlight. The weather was fantastic, and the course was very scenic. The lack of music during the course was the only bummer. They more than made up for it with the gorgeous finisher's medal. I will be back. | |
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d. d. from sandusky ohio
(5/19/2009)
"improved, yet still room for more improvements" (about: 2009)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 Cleveland Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 The weather was nearly ideal. Thank God they changed the course direction by the shore (due to the wind). There are many close-by hotels, providing easy access. There were too many young and untrained/unsupervised helpers. It's a nice course overall, though some roads were rough. The 100-150 kids in red shirts who ran the last 1.2 miles were all over the road recklessly and in the way. We got cool finisher's medals, though. They need to have start corrals with reserved time slots to start the race. But overall, there were good facilities on the course, plenty of aid stations, and nice scenery by the shore and in the city parks. | |
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g. k. from springfield,oh
(5/19/2009)
"much improved" (about: 2009)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Cleveland Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 It was much better than when I ran it in '05. I liked the course changes. | |
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J. K. from Cleveland, OH
(5/19/2009)
"Decent race, but not a destination marathon" (about: 2009)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Cleveland Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 My bias: I like the big marathons, where it is just as much about the crowd and experience as it is the race. The good: 1) Excellent organization - lots of well-stocked Gatorade stops. Lots of porta-pots. 2) Nice party at the end, with cheap beer. 3) Fairly flat course. 4) Excellent, encouraging pacer groups. 5) You get to run right along Lake Erie shore for several miles. The bad: 1) Sparse spectators after the half-marathoners leave the group. 2) It finishes (miles 20-25) in a more questionable neighborhood. 3) Aside from Lake Erie, there's not much interesting about the course (though that might be said about Cleveland as a whole - and I live here, so I should know). 4) The wind can whip off Lake Erie and cause your pace to vary quite a bit. Well organized, and well executed; I'd run it again. If I didn't live here, I wouldn't travel to be a part of it. But that's just from my bias above. Kudos to the organizers. | |
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M. K. from Rochester, NY
(5/19/2009)
"Great Event, Very Well Organized" (about: 2009)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Cleveland Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This was my 4th marathon and I thought it was great. Loved the course. Very well organized water stops, great volunteers, plenty of porta-johns, and the finish line was awesome. In 2009, we had a picture-perfect day for running. Cleveland rocks! | |
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D. R. from Cincinnati, OH
(5/19/2009)
"2009 Cleveland Marathon was AWESOME!" (about: 2009)
6-10 previous marathons
| 2 Cleveland Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I ran the full marathon in 2008 and liked it, but in 2009, due to a number of changes, I absolutely loved this marathon. They made great improvements in the course so that the wind was at runners' backs when running along the lake. The race took the runners through some lovely parts of the city. It was well organized and the city and race hotel were great in terms of embracing this event. I strongly recommend staying at the Hyatt, as they include a breakfast box for each room that is booked for the marathon. They also provide an automatic 3:00 p.m. checkout on race-day for race participants! I will be back next year! |
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