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☰
Calgary Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Calgary Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 3.6 
Organization 4.3 
Spectators 3.2
Number of comments: 53 [displaying comments 41 to 51]
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Creighton Connolly from Beijing, China
(1/26/2005)
"A really good marathon weekend" (about: 2004)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Calgary Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I ran the half marathon here, and I hear that it is not as good as the marathon, but still really nice. It is great having the Calgary Stampede on the same weekend. So it is a good family marathon, as they have the stampede and races for every age group. The course was a loop, so the second half is more or less the same as the first, however it runs through a nice park, and goes past some scenic spots along the way. The start and finish is in a very nice, open spot downtown, and there are many hotels in the area; the stampede is also walking distance from the start/finish. This is my favorite half-marathon so far (have only run the Beijing Int'l Marathon & this one), and I would run it again any time. Overall a good choice for a summer run. | |
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S. A. from Winter Park, Florida
(8/26/2004)
"Sparse crowds....the best volunteers ever!!" (about: 2004)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Calgary Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Small field of runners, second half of the course was boring (long stretches of residential streets), more hills than I had anticipated, and thunderstorms and hail....those were the bad things. The good things, that far overshadow the bad, were the fabulous volunteers, the early part of the course through the Stampede Fair Grounds and zoo, the cool belt buckle/medal, and the whole atmosphere of Calgary during the Stampede. I may not run it again but I would recommend it for something different. The whole city really gets into the Stampede (although most people didn't know about the marathon) and there is plenty to see and do before and after the race. I can't say enough about the volunteers along the course and at the water stations....they made it a positive experience for me (despite the altitude, the weather, the hills, and bonking at mile 18). | |
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Jim Skibo from Cedar Hill, Texas USA (Dallas)
(7/24/2004)
"Great City, Neat Marathon" (about: 2004)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Calgary Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my 9th Marathon. I?m from Texas and I had a ball in Calgary, the city rocks. I chose this marathon because I wanted one in July and I wanted temps in the 10C or 50F range, and Calgary?s latitude delivered on that very nicely. The race is held in conjunction with the Calagry Stampede which is a huge western cowboy event that?s attended by 60-70 thousand people. The city is easy to get around with free downtown rail service to pretty much anyplace you?d want to go. You do NOT need a rental car if you stay anywhere downtown. WEATHER: Really nice and in the 8-14 Celsius or 45-55 Fahrenheit range. The neat thing... depending on ones? view and mine may be slightly warped... is in the last 5K of the race, the skies opened up, lightening bolts hit downtown buildings and bridges and pea-sized hail in considerable quantity came down for the last 4K /2.4 miles. It was actually kind of refreshing. COURSE: I was a little disappointed because I thought we?d be really close to the river and have views of that. I guess the Sunburst Marathon in South Bend spoiled me for sheer scenic riverside beauty. Everyone has their preferences in courses, so no matter how I?d rate it, you need to consider that I like a very varied course with as few 5K straight lines as possible. So, if I had my choices I?d rather have run a lot more downtown Calgary streets and then some of the bike paths that I saw when I came in from the airport, or run along the river as close as possible. But that?s me. Some people like a fairly straight forward course and if you do, you?ll like this marathon. For the USA ?non-metric? runners: The distance markers are in kilometers so remember to multiply by 0.6 to get the mile count. SPECTATORS: There really weren?t any spectators to speak of but those who were there were rather enthusiastic so I gave that category a 5. I truly don?t need masses to cheer me on, I?d rather run alone if I could! The finisher?s medal is really cool. Of my 9 finisher?s medals so far, this is #2 right behind the chrome Mercedes Benz emblem you get in the Birmingham Marathon in February. It?s a bronze belt buckle that is a tasteful size (not the pie plate cowboy variety) and cleanly executed. SUPPORT: Great! They had plenty of water stations that were well stocked with H2O and Powerade that was correctly mixed. I kind of liked the fact they had a different flavor at each stop. The start was also from an armory building that was nice and warm so you could hang there and then simply walk out to the start line which was very close by. The support staff who hung in there while torrential rain and hail was coming down deserve a round of applause! | |
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J. W. from Idaho
(7/18/2004)
"great marathon experience" (about: 2004)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Calgary Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Calgary was my second marathon and as a whole was a truly wonderful experience. The race was organized well, from the many volunteers to the 'pace bunnies' helping to ensure a desired race time. Everything about the race was a pleasure, and I would welcome the oppurtunity to participate in this event again. | |
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A. L. from Calgary
(7/15/2004)
"Getting better" (about: 2004)
11-50 previous marathons
| 4-5 Calgary Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 This is my 4th time running the Calgary Marathon and 16th marathon overall. The revised course this year is a lot more interesting to run than in previous years. It was a good move by the organizers to move the course off the bike path and onto the closed roads. The new start/finish area is great. | |
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nancy dennis from Bakersfield, C.A
(7/12/2004)
"Great marathon, but needs more excitement " (about: 2004)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Calgary Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 This was my second marathon - I ran the L.A. Marathon in March of this year. The course was great, and the weather was great (until the end, when it rained). Next year, maybe put a better map on the web, in order to place family or spectators better. Needs more water stations (closer together, every mile or so). Also needs more entertainment at the beginning of the course and not just at the end. Coming from CA the altitude didn't bother me as much as I expected - I ran this one 1 hour faster. | |
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K. M. from Calgary Canada
(7/12/2004)
"43 km of really nice running" (about: 2004)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Calgary Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Pretty flat, interesting to run through Stampede Park at 7:15. Run through some well-treed neighbourhoods, a quiet park and a lot of time beside the Bow River. The last kilometer includes climbing two short steep hills (on-ramps) and I was running out of jam! Lots of porta-potties, water, sponges, spectators and food. I enjoyed it. Thanks to all the volunteers. | |
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Rob Barrett from Coastal Washington State, USA
(11/17/2003)
"Well done, fast summer marathon with many pluses " (about: 2003)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 My first marathon in 20 years, although I race 10+ races a year. Looking to gauge my training at Calgary while ultimately going for a Boston qualifying time. First, pleasant expo but nothing exciting or really notable except the great volunteers at check in. I took the bus ride of the course which was almost worse than useless as we wandered around the many areas closed to traffic or under construction and I found it difficult to remember where the course went. That was the worst of my race experience however. Race morning was ideal for running - cool and overcast without a trace of wind. The start area was well organized and clothes check-in efficient. Plenty of port-o-potties if you didn't wait to the last few minutes. The start got off in good time and the course pleasant with just the minimal grades on rare occasion to keep it interesting. Not hills!! Aid stations were well stocked at my pace: 3:38 finish time. Beautiful and pleasant course and many kind runners. Spectators cheered for everyone and were frequent enough especially just before the downtown last miles. One final problem was a discrepancy between the big clock at the finish line and official results of about 2 minutes which made an emotional difference to me. Nice to have a belt buckle as a 'medal' Post-run was efficient with some good snacks and I got a massage within 10 minutes of waiting. One last benefit was going to the Stampede that afternoon and enjoying some really fine rodeo. Great experience and race. | |
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P. L. from Ottawa, Canada
(10/29/2003)
"Great Marathon!" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 I was very impressed with the Calgary Marathon. The only thing that lacked were the supporters cheering us on. The run had beautiful sights. Two thumbs up! | |
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A. S. from Boston, MA
(5/7/2003)
"Nice small destination marathon." (about: 2002)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I ran this race in 2002. The thing I like best about it is that it has the feel of a big destination type of event, but the race day logistics of a small marathon. With the Stampede in town, the entire city is in a celebratory mood, and there are things going on everywhere - a great place to bring the family (I could see returning just to go to the Stampede). On race day itself, the majority of runners are there to do one of the shorter races - the marathon itself is quite small. The nice thing is that the marathoners start well before everyone else, so the start is quite manageable (I finished my warm-up 5 minutes before the start and had no problem just walking into the field about 3 rows back from the starting line which is about where I wanted to be). With the small field, there is no congestion on the course and no trouble getting water at the first stops. At the finish there are a lot of fans and there is a great support area set up to handle a large number of runners, but by the time the marathoners finish, most of the other racers are done so again there is no crowding (and no wait for a massage). These are all the pluses of a small field - the downside is that you may be running by yourself for stretches toward the middle and end of the race. As far as the course goes, other than some hills around miles 3-4, the course is about as flat as you are going to get. The first half of the course is not very scenic (after the zoo its basically a tour through suburbia), but the second half is a return along a greenbelt next to the river which is much more pleasant (they ought to just run along the river out and back - the field is small enough that this could work). I agree with others who have mentioned the altitude. If you are coming from sea level, do not expect to PR on this course - at 3300 feet it is just high enough for the altitude to be a factor, but you won't really notice it until the race itself. Having said that, despite running 5-10 minutes slower than I had hoped (it was also hot in 2002), I did manage to qualify for Boston on this course. Overall a great experience. |
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