Nov 16, 2024
Current Year Results
Results Search
Biggest/Best Boston Qualifier
2024 Results
2023 Results
2022 Results
2021 Results
2020 Results
2019 Results
2018 Results
2017 Results
2016 Results
2015 Results
2014 Results
2013 Results
2012 Results
2011 Results
2010 Results
2009 Results
2008 Results
2007 Results
2006 Results
2005 Results
2004 Results
2003 Results
2002 Results
2001 Results
2000 Results
☰
Marine Corps Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Marine Corps Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.5 
Organization 3.9 
Spectators 4.6
Number of comments: 937 [displaying comments 391 to 401]
|
paul and joan stock from Philadelphia
(10/29/2007)
"Great first- marathon experience" (about: 2007)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Marine Corps Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 First, the marines were incredible! Everyone was so helpful, courteous and respectful. It was an honor to be among them. Such fine people we have protecting our freedom. The rest - organization was meticulous. Every resource we needed was right there. The ONLY negative were the shuttle buses back to Runners' Village - extremely slow, to the point where we decided to walk back... yes, after 26.2 miles... to the Runners' Village. BUT, still a great experience. We'll do it again! Thank you to all marines and volunteers for a great day! | |
|
B. B. from Fairfax, Va
(10/29/2007)
"FANTASTIC RACE WITH THE BEST CROWDS" (about: 2007)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Marine Corps Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 Course: 5 Terrific course. Nothing to complain about. A seemingly flat course, it had it's share of rolling hills. Most of them came in the first nine miles or so, through Roslyn, Va., across the Potomac from Washington DC, and in some wooded areas of Georgetown. Things then leveled out until crossing the Potomac again at Mile 19 via Interstate 395/Route 1 to Crystal City, Va. That meant runners enjoyed about 10 miles of flat running through DC. It goes without saying that this was the best part of the course. No, not because it was flat, but because the scenery and crowds were terrific. The last six miles or so, through Crystal City and north to the Iwo Jima Memorial, were very tough. It was a steady diet of street and highway incline running, rolling hills, and lots of turns. The last mile was the most difficult of all - just seemed like it was never going to end. Fans: 5+ There's a reason they call this "The People's Marathon"! The crowd support was fantastic. There was no "best spot" for crowd support, but the most memorable had to be along the streets surrounding the National Mall (Madison Ave. and on Independence Blvd.). The people were nearly on top of the runners - it was amazing! Organization: 3 Could have been better. The expo was decent, but not great. Its location, the DC Armory, left a lot to be desired. But from what I've heard it was much better than in years past. Metro made getting to packet pickup easy. I can't comment on taking Metro to or from the race, as I drove and parked where I work in Pentagon City. I felt the morning pre-race facilities (port-a-potties, bag drop-off, etc.) were fine. I didn't notice if they made coffee, water, etc. available, but I had my own. The finish was a mess. Not intolerable, but messy nonetheless. Without slinging a lot of mud, the race organizers want to finish the race at the Iwo Jima Memorial, for obvious reasons. Well, there's just not a lot of room there. So when folks finish they get bottle-necked into an exit area, until they're finally poured out onto the streets of Roslyn. It's not as bad as I just made it sound - I mean, the streets are closed off and filled with all kinds of great post-race stuff, so that part of it was fine. The difficulty was getting everyone to that spot. My only other criticism was the timing chip. Turns out it was yours to keep, but I didn't know that and ended up walking all over looking for a place to turn it in. No big deal in the end. Overall: 4.5 A great race. I plan to do it again next year. Lastly, thanks to all of the Marines and other service members and civilians who volunteered to make the marathon something really awesome for 20-something thousand people! They worked really hard, and had great attitudes... everyone was great! | |
|
T. D. from Frederick, MD
(10/29/2007)
"Believe the hype" (about: 2007)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Marine Corps Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 First time running a big race and I was impressed. I read all the hype about big crowds and how I shouldn't try for a PR. Rubbish! The crowds were the best and really kept you motivated to run. The course is wonderful. Although I didn't set a PR, this was probably the best marathon I've ever run. I never caught myself wondering how much longer I had. Finish line and party were pretty busy, but I think the organizers did a great job with the number of runners they had to deal with. | |
|
Gary Bellanca from Lancaster, PA
(10/29/2007)
"Water station problems at end of race" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 Marine Corps Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 I can't believe that a fine organization as yours can still be in trouble at the end of an race. In this case, a slippery slope at the end of the race. People could not get to the water because of a slippery/muddy hill. Thanks to a number of marines who individually handed out water bottles to those in need. | |
|
P. W. from PA
(10/29/2007)
"Perfect Day; Big Event" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 Marine Corps Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 Absolutely perfect weather for another great Marine Corps Marathon. The Marines are gracious. The course is awesome. Tons of water and PowerAde. Fan support is unparalleled. And, there is plenty for the family to do during the race and to do before and after the race if you want to make a long weekend out of it. There is no question that this is one of the very best, so the comments below are made only toward making it even better. 1. The expo was mobbed, the room too small and the aisles too packed to move around comfortably. Use more of the armory and spread out a bit. 2. Directions to the start. This is my biggest gripe. We stayed at a hotel in Rosslyn to be near the finish line and only two Metro stops from the race start. All of the race materials said to go to the Pentagon Metro Station. So, I waited at the Rosslyn station, got off at the Pentagon, walked nearly half an hour and arrived at the start twenty minutes after the gun time (thank God for chip timing). Less than a mile later - and certainly less than the walk from the Pentagon Metro station to the start line - I was back in Rosslyn. My nearly-one-hour commute could have been about 15 minutes. I went back and looked at the race materials, and nowhere was there any indication that Rosslyn or Arlington National Cemetery Metro stops were near (and certainly not that they were nearer than) the Pentagon stop. Provide better directions with more options and avoid some of the bottlenecks. 3. My wife says brown is the new black and that I should diversify, but the race shirt is the first brown one in my wardrobe. Brown this year, yellow last year, purple the year before. How about good, old-fashioned white or blue or gray? | |
|
L. D. from US
(10/29/2007)
"The transportation from the race was terrible!!!" (about: 2007)
4-5 previous marathons
| 4-5 Marine Corps Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 4 There was a line three- to four-city blocks long, with a wait of up to three hours for runners going to Crystal City. This was terrible - after running the marathon, runners were subjected to long lines and cold weather. This was the worst I have ever experienced. | |
|
I. W. from Baltimore, MD
(10/29/2007)
"Great race on a great day." (about: 2007)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Marine Corps Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I ran the Marine Corps Marathon this year as my first marathon. It was overall a great experience. I had read about issues at the expo. I went to the armory around 3 p.m. on Saturday and had absolutely no problems. On race day, the Metro was very crowded. That is no fault of the marathon organizers; DC metro should add extra trains. Once at the race everything went well. I thought the course was beautiful. One minor gripe is that at certain points it got very narrow. At one water stop I almost got knocked over because it was so narrow. At other points on the course spectators made it much narrower than it needed to be. Where the Marines were present they did an outstanding job controlling the crowd. They just were not everywhere to keep people back. While I am talking about the Marines just let me say that they were awesome. They encouraged you every step of the way and were always smiling. At the finish there was a bit of a bottleneck to get food and water, but it was manageable. I was able to find my family fairly easily at the finish festival. I had taken the Metro in the morning. The line to get on at the Rosslyn station was massive. Instead I took one of the available shuttles to Metro Center and went from there. Had to wait maybe 20 minutes for the bus, so not too bad. | |
|
B. S. from Tampa, Florida
(10/29/2007)
"Fun, good course, good scenery, great spectators" (about: 2007)
4-5 previous marathons
| 2 Marine Corps Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 Marines great as usual. Ran this four years ago. Much different course. Lots of hills on front end. (Hard to train hills in FL.) Spectators were great where they were. A few issues organizers should work on, in my opinion: Course gets narrow at times. Spectators some times drifted into street making it very narrow. Pick up for bags was a little far away after running 26.2 miles. It took one hour to get out of there, standing in a very crowded metro station at Rosalyn Center. Seemingly only way out. | |
|
D. S. from Washington, D.C.
(10/29/2007)
"Great Marines! Great Crowds! Great Course!" (about: 2007)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Marine Corps Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my first marathon, but not my first race. Given the number of people running, I was amazed at the organization! The expo/packet-pickup was run with exceptional efficiency. The race was a little crowded at the start and didn't clear up until a number of miles into the race - which was to be expected. The crowds were AMAZING and inspiring! The water stations got a little crowded, but there was always plenty of water to go around. The soldiers were always polite, positive, and supportive! I can't wait until I run this race again next year! | |
|
Christian Tracy from Keller, Texas
(10/29/2007)
"Good, not great." (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Marine Corps Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 This is a good marathon, no question. The positives: 1. The marines - great people making the pre-race activities enjoyable and the water stops efficient. 2. The course along the C&O canal is beautiful. 3. Corrals were easy to access up to the last minute before the race started. There are some downsides, however, that I find quite significant - for beginners as well as experienced marathoners: 1. Too few water stops. Spread out every 2-3 miles I find this too spread out for my liking. I personally like the option of taking water every mile even if it is just a mouthful. 2. Transportation in DC. What a mess! The lines to the metro were crazy and they actually made you swipe your card to exit the stalls on race morning. This caused significant delays. The metro service also was poor as there were 10-15 minute gaps between trains. 3. Finish area organization. Crowded finish area for those finishing slower than 3:30. I had no issues having finished around 3:10 and walked the nearly half mile to pick up my bag. I waited for family that finished in the 4-hour range and it was unbelievably crowded and the long walk to pick up your bag and to get to the metro stop was crazy. My recommendation: if you are finishing near 3 hours, get out of there ASAP so that you can catch the metro. Cabs cannot come anywhere near the finishing area as they have the area sealed off to traffic. If you are coming to run through the monuments, you might be disappointed as that portion of the course composes fewer than 3 miles of the total course. Other than views of the WA Monument and the Capitol, you really do not have a good view of any other monument. The lack of crowd support from 23-24 is also a downer as you run along the empty parking lot of the Pentagon. In all, this is a good marathon to do once if you live far away, but not one that I would spend the money to come to again. If you are a first-timer there are also easier courses to tackle. |
Quick Links
Marathon Search
Upcoming US Marathons
Upcoming International Marathons
Search Marathon Results
Latest Running News
Recent Newsletters
Race Director Tools
© 2000-2024, All Rights Reserved by MarathonGuide.com LLC
