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Empire State Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Empire State Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 3.9 
Organization 3.6 
Spectators 3.2
Number of comments: 28 [displaying comments 1 to 11]
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M. M. from Western NY
(10/10/2017)
"No Food, No support, No organization, Won't Return" (about: 2017)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Empire State Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 Expo consisted of one table, they handed out 8oz mini bottles of water, ran out of protein bars and bananas halfway through. Ran out of 10k medals so gave the last few 10k runners half medals. No support on the course. Water stations were lacking. Finish line was dull with no cheering because everyone was inside the stadium or gone. Will not return. | |
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E. K. from Pennsylvania
(10/10/2016)
"Inaccurate, missing mile markers" (about: 2016)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 Empire State Marathons
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 I ran this race in 2014 without any complaints. I returned in 2016 to a complete debacle. Most mile markers after 4 were either inaccruate or missing. No mat or sign indicating the halfway point. How can one accuate pace themselves. My 22nd mile was a '5:40'; this time is at least off by 1/4 mile. People were stationed at the turnarounds to write down the numbers of runners to prevent cheating. Clearly a non-running, for profit based organization running it. | |
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C. N. from Buffalo, NY
(10/20/2015)
"Worst organized race ever" (about: 2015)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 Empire State Marathons
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 I ran this race in 2013 and it was a huge disappointment. I decided to return with a course change to see if it improved. It managed to get worse. Pre-race, the website malfunctioned every time. The expo is in a car dealership located behind a plaza, with no signage directing runners. Oddest expo, and smallest. Organizers sent out emails stating that all runners must have ID to get packets, and must sign waivers. Upon arrival neither was requested, totally disorganized. Race morning, race was delayed due to weather, should have allowed those who were there to start on time, let chip time work for those who arrived late. Instead all Runner's had to wait in below freezing temps. Course was advertised as well marked with lots of goodies at the finish. Course was barely marked at all, at one place I saw another runner go the wrong way as there was no direction and volunteers had their back to us as they chatted. Many roads not closed, just the shoulder coned off. Course was pretty but again, not marked and the race is so small there were long stretches I could not see another runner. Parts also used a shared path, and the couple signs asking those using the path to defer to racers were useless. Nice having to go around three wide walkers and bikers over 20 miles in, that was ridiculous. That part was also not marked. I finished at almost exactly to 50th percentile for the full, so it's not like I was last. At the finish there was nothing to refuel, just a couple tables of bottled water. This was, start to finish, such a bad experience that it made me decide to retire from marathoning completely after more than 20. | |
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m. m. from ny
(10/19/2015)
"Great course, smaller race" (about: 2015)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Empire State Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 The course was excellent, Very flat, and scenic. The organization was very poor. Not a lot of communication before race weekend, the location of the expo was hard to find and there were no signs, massage tent at the expo but not at the race, which sucked! Not all turns on the course had volunteers to give direction. At one turn we almost went straight if it were not for a spectator. No spectators from mile 12-21 but its an out and back so when you start to see the leaders coming back you get some encouragement. Overall i would run this course again but they need to organize better. | |
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M. D. from New York
(10/27/2014)
"Quality small fall marathon" (about: 2014)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 Empire State Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 I ran this year as well as last. The course change was welcome as it was much flatter this time around. Miles 12-21 had virtually no spectators but the trail was scenic. Volunteers were great and the medals/awards at the end were nice also. Despite the winds the weather wasn't an issue with temps around 40. This isn't a huge event but is worth checking out for those in the northeast. Only concern was lack of communication before the race and website that seemed to have a lot of issues. | |
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Nancy Kinner from Alba, PA
(10/23/2014)
"Fast fairly flat, beautiful course" (about: 2014)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Empire State Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Well organized start/finish area. Beautiful paved trail course running along Onondaga Lake and the surrounding area during peak foliage season. Supportive, friendly staff and volunteers. Not many areas available for family spectators however, since the course is mainly through parks but the scenery makes up for the cheers of a crowd. PR'd and won my age group and BQ'd. Highly recommend, especially for first time marathoners. Great race! | |
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R. R. from New York, NY
(10/21/2014)
"Fall Foliage in Central New York!" (about: 2014)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Empire State Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 Overall, a well organized and volunteer supported marathon. The race director changed the course of the 2014 marathon from previous years about 10 weeks prior to the start. Not a huge deal but probably should have offered goodwill refunds to those who had signed up prior to that if they did not want to run the altered course. New course was mostly on a paved trail around Lake Onondaga. Only a small portion of the race is run in traffic. Pros: Extremely well supported with volunteers (big thumbs up to the volunteers!), police blocking roads, water/Accelerade/aid stations appx. every 2 miles, gels, porta potties, etc. Start/finish at the minor league baseball stadium so ample parking. Pre-race pasta 'dinner and a movie' very interesting and great concept. Cons: Poor online communication prior to the race - website not updated or updated late, FB posts went unanswered or delayed. Not reassuring, especially for out-of-towners. Sparse post-race spread of assorted fruits, chocolate milk, water, and chips. Pre-race expo was in a car dealer's mall about 8 miles from race start, a bit random (why not have it in a meeting room at the sponsoring hotel?). One factor out of the race director's control was the weather - 20 degrees below normal temps and windy - tough conditions. | |
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J. R. from Rochester NY
(10/21/2014)
"Fast but quiet" (about: 2014)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Empire State Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 They changed the course in 2014 and it is pretty much dead flat. It also winds through a park for 80% of it that is closed to the public. So if you want crowd support, this isn't your race. If you want a PR, then this is a good one to run. The field was small (~500 for the full) and there were few, if any, bottlenecks. We had an exceptionally windy day but I was still able to beat my PR by nearly 12 minutes. It is a fast course. The organizers are not the best communicators (found out about the course change on Facebook) and they could use one more water stop at the end (last one is at 24). But it was easy to register, park, and run. The goodie bag should have been called 'bag to hold your shirt' because that was about all that was in it. If you want a big experience, ESM isn;t there yet. Not even close. If you want a fast course, then this absolutely fits the bill. | |
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Ed Robins from Philadelphia, Pa
(10/23/2013)
"Fast, well run PR type of race" (about: 2013)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Empire State Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Running in upstate NY was a good experience for me. Packet pick-up was easy and there was a modest expo where you could pick up gels, last minute needs or some race themed souvenirs. Fleet Feet running stores offered a way to customize your race shirt for only $5. Nice perk. The race begins and ends the Syracuse Minor league baseball park. There was plenty of room and parking was a snap. I arrived an hour early and could've arrived later. This is a mid-sized race w/ 500 or so in the full and 1500 in the half. There is a marathon relay also. I like when there's a relay. The energy of the transition zones and seeing some fresh runners late in a race are both welcome. Scenically the early and late miles are the best. We run along Onondago Lake for miles 2-4 and then again 20-24. This is flat and very pretty. The mid-miles are fine but they can't compare to the lakefront miles. Also the mid-miles we run a lot on a steeply sloped shoulder. There are a few gentle, longish hills during those mid-miles but really the course is pretty fast. We had great cool weather in 2013 and fit runners could do well here. There are lots of aid stops and all had water and a sports drink. This year it was accelerade so beware (I can't handle that). I saw gel being handed out also. I carry my own so I'm not sure how many times. Race crowding isn't an issue since the half begins a half an hour later. There is a pasta feed at Fleet Feet's store but I didn't go. The post race food was simple, traditional fare. They did have chocolate milk, Yeah! Also its always a sign of a good race when there's still food left over for us slower marathoners after the halfers finish. A nice long sleeve tech shirt (which I did customize) and a nice medal. | |
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M. K. from Syracuse, NY
(10/21/2013)
"Did it; won't be back" (about: 2013)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Empire State Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 Syracuse is my hometown, and it's a strong running town, so I had hoped this race would reflect our local passion for the sport. But it doesn't. Here are a few issues: 1. No baggage check at the start/finish, and even worse, no advanced warning of that sad fact. 2. Where were the bands this year? The guy playing drums at the entry to the park was terrific, but where was everyone else? 3. There's nothing they can do about it, but the final (and first) 3 miles of the course are desolate. I prefer 3 miles of spectators (or even 1), but it gets lonely out there. 4. Poor post-race food. Chocolate milk, tube yogurt, awful cookies and a banana. Really? I don't want to dwell on the negative, but there are plenty of positive comments here to balance out mine. I won't do this race again (not even the half). |
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