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Rock 'n' Roll Savannah Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Rock 'n' Roll Savannah Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 3.0 
Organization 3.1 
Spectators 3.7
Number of comments: 66 [displaying comments 51 to 61]
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J. N. from Chicago
(11/8/2011)
"Savannah is great, race needs some tweaks" (about: 2011)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Savannah Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 THE GOOD: Savannah great place to visit. Tours, restaurants, lively riverfront. Expo very good for first time. Bands; just not enough of them. Weather was near perfect in low 50's. Running in historic downtown with Spanish Moss laden trees- beautiful. Good music in park at finish. Medical people well disbursed along course and at end. THE BAD: Winds from north at about 20 mph in last few miles. Cytomax drinks. (Bring on Gatorade). What little fan support they had was energetic, but very few of them. Bagels and water at finish. Could have done more food options. Some guy in a Competitor.com jacket riding his bike alongside riders- strange and dangerous. Course clogged and crowded through most of first 12 miles. THE UGLY: Running along a closed highway from mile 21-24. Awful. | |
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S. M. from Asheville, NC
(11/8/2011)
"Nice but logistical chaos and ugly course sections" (about: 2011)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Savannah Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Most aspects of this race were terrific with the exception of packet pickup, course scenery, and shuttle buses. Packet Pickup was a mess due to the small facility. Race organizers should not have allowed over 20,000 runners to participate knowing that parking and other infrastructure facilities could not handle the size. Packet pickup was a frustrating maze, both outside and inside. The course for this race starts and finishes in the scenic historical district but several early miles pass through smelly, industrial areas and miles 21-24ish follow a boring, windy 4 lane highway. I finished the race thinking that the course layout was poorly planned or severely restricted by City officials. Tybee shuttle drivers never checked for armbands and were not provided directions to and from the race. Whomever managed these drivers dropped the ball. Fortunately, we helped direct the drivers so they did not get lost. This race would be much better if it were capped at 10,000. Unfortunately, it will likely get much bigger and therefore see even worse logistical nightmares. I love Savannah but do not know if I will return due to the long lines and chaos. | |
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D. R. from Cumming, GA
(11/8/2011)
"Not bad for a first for Savannah." (about: 2011)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Savannah Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 This was Savannah's first marathon and was put on by the RNR folks. Here are my pros and cons. PROS 1. The marathon was well supported by Savannah. As we ran thru neighborhoods folks would come out and wave and cheer us on. 2. Huge expo-lots of vendors and helpful volunteers at expo. 3. Finish area-nice finish in Forsyth Park with plenty of room for family meet up, nice band and a free beer! 4. Course-mostly flat with enough turns to keep it interesting. CONS 1.Expo traffic-traffic was backed up late Friday afternoon as folks were trying to get race numbers. Bad location. 2. Mile 22-24. We ran on a closed highway against a stron headwind that was brutal. Even without the wind, a better route could have been found. 3. Starting Corrals-lack of security let many folks in corrals they had no business being in. | |
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D. S. from Texas
(11/8/2011)
"Potential to be the best of the Rock 'n' Rolls" (about: 2011)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Savannah Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 The inaugural RnR Savannah was a very good race. Spectator support rivaled the Country Music Marathon. This was my first visit to Savannah, and I loved it. Strong community interest in this race. For the most part, the course was scenic. Truman Parkway was a mentally tough section. A bit chilly at the start but good running weather. This race has the potential to best of the Rock n Roll series. Definitely recommended. | |
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Keith FitzPatrick from Norcross, GA
(11/7/2011)
"Great City for a race - poorly organized event" (about: 2011)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Savannah Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 5 I've heard it said that you should never enter an inaugural race and Rock-n-Roll Savannah proved that adage true. If you want to get off to a bad start, begin by holding the expo for a Saturday race on an island with one road leading to the facility. Then require all 25,000 runners to personally appear to pick up their numbers. Most runners travel on Friday and cannot get to the expo until the late afternoon. It appear as though all the runners converged on the expo at the same time, creating gridlock on the one road into the site. It took 1 hour and 45 minutes to travel the two miles from downtown Savannah to the expo. By the time we got there, the expo was closing down but the staff was kind enough to give us our race numbers before booting us out the door. (In all fairness to the race staff, they did keep packet pick-up open an hour longer than scheduled) In the future, the expo needs to be moved off the island or they need to plan to stay open much later on Friday night. Another option is that they could let runners pick up race packet for their friends rather than forcing all the runners to appear in person. The Friday night activities were just the beginning of the nightmare. We stayed on Tybee Island and we paid $25 for a shuttle from the island to the race start. We were fortunate enough to get on the first bus, but there were not enough buses for all the people who paid for the shuttle and some had to drive themselves into Savannah even though they had paid for the shuttle. Once we got to the start area, we got in line to use the rest room. There were plenty of port-a-potties set up, but close to 2/3s of them were still zip-tied shut and unusable. The bag check, corrals, start, course, finish and post race activities were first rate. Rock-n-Roll always does a fantastic job with the race itself. The fun continued after the race as we tried to get catch the shuttle back to Tybee Island. We picked up our gear and headed to the shuttle pick-up point, arriving about 15 minutes before the first shuttle was scheduled to depart for Tybee. Once we arrived we learned that the first shuttle would not be there until 10:30am, a half hour later than advertised. 10:30 came and went, but there was no shuttle. There were, however, plenty of shuttles to the mall where many of the runners had parked. The story we got from the shuttle staff was that they could only clear a certain number of shuttles into the race area at one time and the mall shuttles had gotten into line first and we had to wait for all of them to clear before any of the Tybee shuttles would be allowed in. Eventually, the staff did divert a mall shuttle to take people to Tybee, but we had waited in line for more than an hour for our ride back to the island. The staff definitely needs to work on the logistics if they want people to participate in this race. Let me leave one note about fan support. The people of Savannah are fantastic spectators! There were people spread out all along the course and they seemed to enjoy watch the race and much as we enjoyed running. What a great city for a race! | |
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Bryan Massingale from Davidson, NC
(11/7/2011)
"NOT up to Competitor Group Standards" (about: 2011)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Savannah Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 2 I have to say I was surprisingly disappointed in this event. It wasn't on par with other R&R events runners have come to know and love. Our shuttle got lost both to/from the race. The course did nothing to show off the best of Savannah, quite the opposite. The stretch on Truman Freeway was a disaster, desolate, hilly and extremely windy with no crowd support when needed most. The EXPO was also a logistics nightmare and wasn't able to handle the volume of traffic to get to the convention center. I'll certainly do other R&R events in the future, this however won't be one of them. | |
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P. C. from San Francisco
(11/7/2011)
"Not the way to showcase a beautiful city" (about: 2011)
11-50 previous marathons
COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Ran the Savannah RnR on Saturday and true to Competitor events, it was fairly seamless... Hit the expo early Friday morning, drove over the only bridge (and only vehicle way) to the convention center&.we hit it when it opened, so no issues with crowds&HOWEVER, by mid-afternoon, the wait on the bridge was bad, and got worse with runners sitting in traffic for hours just to pick up their numbers&the Competitor group did extend the hours of the expo to accommodate, but would have been stressful regardless&.the easiest, best way to get to the expo was taking the free ferry from downtown&sure, there were lines, but it moved much quicker. Race morning we lined up for the free shuttles from the Savannah Mall&again, seamless, very well organized, though where the buses were picking folks up was never communicated&just had to drive around the mall and look for crowds¬ a big deal if one had enough time&the early birds definitely had an easier time of it. The return back to the mall was also fairly quick and well organized. Support along the route was good, plenty of water/cytomax, GU at 2 spots, salt as well & crowd support was decent, it's no NYC, but the Savannahians really did show up and were very excited to have this race in their city. The course itself however was sadly lacking&Savannah is a BEAUTIFUL city, but VERY little of this was highlighted as they ran us through industrial parks (what was that smell?), the projects, and a long lonely stretch on the highway!!! There were pockets of nice little neighborhoods but they were few and far between&the route was boring, depressing for the most part and every local I spoke with was surprised we were running in those areas at all&hopefully this will change for next year&maybe take a page from the Mardi Gras RnR (best RnR route ever) and improve the areas they have the runners visit. | |
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J. P. from Sioux Falls, SD
(11/7/2011)
"Pretty good inaugural marathon" (about: 2011)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Savannah Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This was my first RnR marathon and was surprised how well organized it was for a first year race. First of all, Savannah is a great city to hold such event and they did their best to make the runners feel welcome... it's been 20 years since I lived there and was treated wonderfully. Although the course was quite flat, there were some rolling hills on highway overpasses to negotiate and a stiff NW wind which slowed times considerably over the last several miles. I really enjoyed the crowd support within the city and the bands were a welcome distraction along the way. The expo was packed and had many vendors giving out free samples... on the other hand, the post-race food was quite sparse and a bit disappointing. I would suggest staying downtown because the course makes it nearly impossible to bring a vehicle anywhere close to the starting/finish line and it's a 30-50 minute shuttle ride from anywhere else. The Savannah mall shuttle is free but required a wait of over half an hour to return. All things considered, it's not surprising Savannah sold out and will probably do so again in the future. | |
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D. R. from Boston
(11/7/2011)
"Good excuse to see savannah" (about: 2011)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Savannah Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 Oversold event. Not able to get hotel near start or expo even 3 months in advance. Spent too much $$ on taxis back & forth from my airport hotel room. If i'd been able to stay downtown would've gone out for a nicer dinner after the race. Course was not too hilly. Lots of pretty parts w Spanish moss but large section on highway & run- down parts. Expo was awful. Poor access, no ingress & egress - could have been a big disaster in emergency.Rock roll co handed out their generic bags w no swag. | |
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S. H. from Minneapolis, MN
(11/7/2011)
"Great Locals, but crappy course" (about: 2011)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Savannah Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This was my 4th RnR race (128th marathon overall) and they still don't get how to put together a race course. Once again, as with LV last year, they insert a number of 180 turn arounds for the marathon. Unfortunately, I registered for another RnR race next year, but it will likely be my last, unless they start designing marathon courses, and add in a 1/2 marathon; not designing a 1/2 marathon course and adding on another 1/2 for a marathon. This course had a lot of industrial sections to run through and then about 5 miles on highways, including 4 of the last 6 miles into a wind tunnel. Some positives include Great Volunteers!! You guys & gals were great! The water stations had plenty of fluids and the volunteers knew how to hold the cups. The other positive was the local crowd support. They were also great!! One other positive I would be remiss at not mentioning that the organizers got right is that when the 1/2 marathon and marathons merge back together at mile 24/11, they keep the two races separated until the finish. Hats off for that logistical success!! It was one of few. The race shirt was o.k. although I was given a medium despite registering for a large. They don't allow shirt size changes at the expo, despite their error. That was stupid. Speaking of the expo, the only way to get to the Savannah convention center is to cross the only bridge to the island it's on. That caused MAJOR traffic issues. Not a good place to host the Expo. Didn't stick around for the post race entertainment as honestly I just wanted to get back to my hotel and sleep since I had to get to the race start 2 1/2 hours early just to get a parking spot. Speaking of the finish, it was about a mile & a half from the start. And there were no shuttles from the finish back to downtown. At least I didn't see any. They need to move the start and finish closer together to avoid that. The finisher's medal was o.k. It depicts a famous fountain in Savannah, yet not once during the race do you actually see the fountain. Overall, if you want to run an RnR marathon, I would skip this one. Savannah isn't much to see other than a quaint 6 x 6 block area in downtown and you only see that at the start when it's pitch black. The local infrastructure can't support a race this size and if they try to grow it, people will just get more frustrated. They would be better off just doing a marathon and eliminate the 1/2. |
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