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Detroit International Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Detroit International Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.5 
Organization 4.2 
Spectators 4.1
Number of comments: 406 [displaying comments 161 to 171]
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A. M. from Austin, TX
(10/23/2007)
"Great marathon - I would do it again" (about: 2007)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Detroit International Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Only a few minor complaints: No finish area map, which made it hard to plan where to meet with family, but as it turned out the "family meeting area" worked just fine. The tunnel was humid, but only for the last 1/4 mile or so. My support crew said parking was bad at the finish, but ok around the rest of the course. It would have been nice to have the volunteers at the finish line say, "Congratulations" when they hand you the medal, but other than that, all of the volunteers were great. I was pleasantly surprised by the Detroit scenery (who knew?), and going over the bridge into Canada was amazing. All in all, a great race - I would recommend it to anyone. | |
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c. h. from Knoxville, TN
(10/23/2007)
"Great First Marathon!" (about: 2007)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Detroit International Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 WOW!!! This marathon far exceeded my expectations. It was my first and boy am I glad I chose this over Chicago. The course was flat and the weather was nice. Windy at times, but not too bad. Plenty of water, Gatorade, bands, fans, police, etc. The spectators were just amazing!!! The only thing I didn't love was the tunnel (a little stifling), but it wasn't too bad. Running over the bridge was amazing and Windsor and Detroit were very scenic. Detroit is nothing like you'd think. As for the food, I though an apple, pear, bagel, and bag of chips were great. My only negative has nothing to do with the organizers or the race, but with the members of Team in Training. Their coaches need to teach them RUNNING ETIQUETTE!!! I had to dodge them several times when they walked and they constantly walked 3 and 4 abreast. They did the same thing at Country Music, but were ten times worse. | |
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M. K. from Boston, MA
(10/23/2007)
"Wonderful memory for my first race" (about: 2007)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Detroit International Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 The Detroit Marathon was my first marathon and it will always have a special place in my heart. My wife and I came into this competition having only run the 5-mile Ollie Road Race in Boston. For our second race ever, it seemed to be everything we asked for and more. There were many, many water stations, magically appearing every time I felt thirsty. People were shouting their supply, whether Gatorade or water, and water was always first. This alone was what got me through the race. I had a great time running the Ambassador Bridge and I personally enjoyed the tunnel. The toughest part was exiting and being hit by a wall of very cold, but very fresh air. We did wander around at the end of the race, not sure where to head to, but we followed the herd to the snack-pack area and met our family from there. I was hoping for more fans, as well. I watched the Boston Marathon on Comm Ave. near Mass Ave. and I think I'm a bit jaded about how people should be. Most of the folks were watching for their own family and friends and not cheering on everyone. There were scattered groups that were lustily urging all runners on. Overall, I couldn't ask for a better start on my marathon-running career. Hooray for Detroit! | |
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B. L. from Novi, MI
(10/23/2007)
"Amazing first time experience!" (about: 2007)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Detroit International Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my first full marathon and the best race experience I've had. The course is beautiful and offered a chance to see diverse neighborhoods in both cities. The race officials, spectators, volunteers, police officers - everyone was supportive and responsive to runners' needs. I agree with others that the tunnel was oppressive, but not intolerable, especially given the record high temps that day. The Lion's game that day made the end of the race somewhat difficult, but that falls more on the NFL scheduling and a few idiot football fans than race directors. Overall, I could not have asked for more! | |
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H. Y. from MI
(10/23/2007)
"Great Marathon But..." (about: 2007)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Detroit International Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 This was my first marathon and I have to say I enjoyed the course! You can't control the weather but we got lucky. It was windy but you can't control that. On negative side the packet pickup area is just too crowded. You do have enough space back there to spread out the tables so all the runners picking up their packets aren't on top of each other. Lastly, the shirt you gave out must have been a rush order job! It lacked creativity! We have a great art school in Detroit, why don't you have a contest and let them design it? I doubt I will wear this shirt when I go out running....I may wear it as a throw away in next year Detroit Free Press Marathon. | |
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J. M. from Detroit
(10/23/2007)
"Well organized event." (about: 2007)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Detroit International Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Reading some of the con comments on this marathon, I can't help but wonder if some runners ran a different race. The logistics of coordinating an international marathon which shuts down one major border crossing and limits a second major border crossing is huge. The coordination with local, state, federal and Canadian authorities has got to be enormous and from a runners stand point, was seemingly flawless. Then coordinate volunteers for aid and water stations in two countries. This was my first marathon, so I have no comparison, but there was nothing that I felt I needed, that wasn't provided. Even things I didn't think of were being provided before I could realize I needed them... 1. At beginning of race, racers were organized by expected finish time so that there wasn't a mass of people jocking for position at the beginning. 2. I found porta johns throughout the race and each water/Gatorade station was consistent (water first and Gatorade second) so you didn't have to guess what you were getting. 3. Course scenery was constantly changing. For those complaining about feeling stuffy or claustrophobic in the tunnel, its as if they didn't read the route description. It says in every piece of info you can find online about the Detroit marathon that it contains the only underground mile for a marathon. I did find the tunnel difficult, but the enormous crowd support at the end of the tunnel was amazing. 4. End of race food was good for me (bag of apple, orange, yogurt, bagel). This was basically all the same things I had thought to pack with me. I didn't really expect a pasta lunch, so I'm unsure what others expectations were. 5. FREE POST RACE MASSAGE! I can't imagine how this was worked out for the thousands of runners, but each half marathoner and marathoner was given a free 10 min massage with two masseurs. 6. Race results were available almost immediately on the marathon website. And you could even see yourself crossing the finish line once you got your time. http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071022/NEWS05/71022013 And on a final note for ALL marathoners, I think they should remember the major imposition they are causing many many people and to respect the city they are visiting. I read so many comments (for all marathons)complaining about not enough crowd support or that residents didn't show up. People have lives. They go to church on Sunday, they have picnics, family commitments and closing off many many streets throughout these cities causes an inconvenience to the residents who need to work around the marathon. Instead of complaining that they didn't come out to see you run, you should be thanking them for using their roads and streets while they find alternate routes. So THANK YOU to all the residents who came out to support the marathoners, and THANK YOU to all those who patiently waited until it was over to get on with your Sunday business. | |
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D. H. from Oregon
(10/23/2007)
"Good, but not Outstanding" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Detroit International Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 Pros: * Course was relatively scenic, at least more than I anticipated * Expo well organized * Plenty of water/Gatorade stops * Lots of on-course extras (Gu, M&Ms, jelly beans, etc.) * Music on course. Especially liked Martha Reeves signing 'Dancing in the Streets.' Didn't care as much for 'STOP in the Name of Love' at about 21 miles or so. It sent the wrong message to tired runners! :-) * The sunrise when going over the bridge. * Supportive Border Patrol. Cons: * Weather was hot and windy (no one's fault, but made it difficult) * Tunnel was stifling hot and no fresh air * Not to much marathon merchandise worth buying. The company they used this year typically doesn't do the best job of this, in my experience. * Start area too crowded. Maybe need to separate the events time wise. * No finish area map, resulting in tired finishers struggling to find whatever they needed * No Gatorade at finish * Finish goody bags could have been better. Chips, apple, bagel, and yogurt were better than nothing, but pre-cut fruit, cookies and a beverage other than water would have been easy additions to improve the finish area food needs. You can't please everyone on this topic, but I think most would agree that the food items were uninspired at best. * Few spectators, other than at a couple of locations downtown. It seemed that the local residents didn't turn out; just runner support crews. * Web site claimed that there would be real-time online tracking of runners. From what I've been told, that wasn't available. Overall, I liked Detroit. Good, but not Outstanding. | |
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Ken Pearce from Charlotte, North Carolina
(10/23/2007)
"Watch out for Relayers!" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Detroit International Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 This was my 23rd marathon and I was impressed. As mentioned earlier, there wasn't a lot of desirable marathon merchandise but the Expo was well organized and very near the Start and Finish lines. They even tried a new timing tag that adheres to your shoe lace, enabling a correct time for a runner in case they had a bad chip. Course was interesting and I must say, I never ran through a mile long tunnel before! Indeed, it was humid and a tad claustrophobic, but unique none the less. Nice wind and crowds to greet you as you exited back into downtown Detroit made it all worth while. Not certain if my luck was bad but I encountered more pain-in-the-a** relayers in this race than any other I have been involved with. Note to Relay Directors - please have a class on marathon etiquette! Most of the relayers are 10Kers or running novices. This is fine, but they need to learn marathon savvy. For example, don't walk three abreast at a narrow turn or exit to the tunnel and please give right-of -way to marathoners at the latter water stops. You've run three miles; we've run 23! I probably encountered the 5% bad apples but for some reason they were very conspicuous and especailly annoying this race, not only to me but several other runners I talked to or overheard complaining. Oh well,that's what makes marathons fun - the unexpected and how we adapt to it. Nice job Detroit and thanks for the fantastic weather!!! | |
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M. L. from Canada
(10/22/2007)
"American fans rock!" (about: 2007)
3 previous marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 What an amazing day! I could not get over the level of crowd support. The course was beautiful with a mix of inner city, parks, bridges, a tunnel and, of course, a couple of border crossings. No chance of getting bored even though I lost my pace group and my music died. As previous runners have said, Detroit is far nicer than you would expect. The sunrise over the Ambassador Bridge alone is worth the run! | |
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Y. W. from Ann Arbor, MI
(10/22/2007)
"Pretty good with a few minor improvements" (about: 2007)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Detroit International Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 This is only my 2nd marathon. Pros: Flat, international, great Detroit neighborhoods. Cons: Lack of direction and staff at start, lack of porta-johns during race (4??? And a long line!), and lack of medical personnel at the end. Where were they as I limped right past the finish line and the man behind me collapsed?! A little warmer than planned, but tolerable. Fun stuff. :-) |
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