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New York City Marathon Runner Comments
Back to New York City Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.7 
Organization 4.3 
Spectators 4.9
Number of comments: 604 [displaying comments 551 to 561]
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A Runner from houston, texas
(11/7/2002)
"over rated - come on" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 Crowds pinching in without any security control, under staffed water stops, 3- 4 hour wait outside prior to the race, confusing starting groups, long crowded walk after the finish to get to your duffle bags. I finished in 4.5 hrs. and won't be going back to NY for that kind of treatment. Good luck Olympics. | |
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A Runner from Whittier, CA visit www.whosnyc.com
(11/7/2002)
"Great crowds but don't try it if you're over 6 hrs" (General Comments)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The best advice is to avoid the buses to the start and take the Staten Island ferry in the morning around 7:30. It's way too cold at the begining corrals to be there so early when the buses arrive. I was so cold (30) that for the 5 1/2 hour wait for the start, it was stand around trying to stay warm. Race is great! Wonderful crowds! But be warned!!! Place alot of your pre race planning on what to do before you actually get up to the start! That wait for the 11:15 cannon can really worsen your times! But the great view of the Empire State building as you head toward central park will definately make you smile! Also, if you're from the West Coast, be ready for the early arrival of darkness, so if you're over 6 hours its really cold and damp and DARK! Don't forget your NY Times newspaper the next day!! | |
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Jordan Clouse from U.S. Army stationed in Little Rock, AR.
(11/6/2002)
"Tough course but superb fan support." (about: 2002)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Before: The 3hour+ wait before the start was long and cold (bring a set of decent warm-up sweats to pack in your UPS bag and also a set of throw-away sweats to wear to the starting line that you can discard). During: The course is very tough due to the hills after mile 12. This will test your endurance and will to finish. However, if you can enjoy the route, the scenery of the 5 boroughs is great - what diverse neighborhoods and people! The crowds are extremely enthusiastic and really do help motivate you to make it to the finish line, especially after mile 21. Good fluid and aid station support as well. (Incorporate several long-distance runs with lots of hills into your training for this race). After: The worst part of the race was the long walk uphill to the family reunion area after I finished and started cooling down. I was actually shivering by the time I met up with my wife. Being able to grab your UPS bag with the decent warm-up sweats you packed at the start will pay off here. (I would recon your designated family reunion area the day before with your family/friends and pick out an easily identifiable meeting spot - you are too tired to go looking for them in the crowd when you finish). Overall: A must-run marathon for the experience of 'New York' but not for a PR. | |
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A Runner from Chicago, USA
(11/6/2002)
"Five bridges to the victory" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 It is a great course. It was the first time i ran in NY marathon. I guess the idea of running through the five bridges kept me excited. I have to admit that the start left much to be desired. For the frist 4 min could not run at my normal speed. It was sort of a random zigzag run through the people. However without too much trouble quite easily i finish with the time 3:04. I really enjoyed the course. | |
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A Runner from Suffern, New York
(11/6/2002)
"One year after 9-11" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 I had the pleasure of walking..yes I am a marathonwalker with my son-who wore a pin stripped NY Yankee uniform #10 and my daughter in law who never entered a race in her life. Cold day..this was my 3rd NY Marathon so we were prepared for the 3 hour wait with extra clothing before bridge start. In the red group there were so many marathoners we never made it up on the bridge for the start. Spectators this year for the 'back of the pack gang' were sparce-but those that cheer are loud and great to have along the avenues. Due to the early elite women's start other marathoners were delayed 1 hour. By 5 PM it got dark and chilly for our final miles in Central Park. There is nothing like the joy of New Yorkers in each borough. Bands fewer than the previous years but still great, volunteers..many thanks to them all and police and firemen who support everyone for how long it takes. After race our UPS clothing bags were being consolidated somewhere? and it was a 45 minute wait in cold Central Park. This race is a must for marathoners. | |
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A Runner from USA-Midwest
(11/6/2002)
"Don't be in a hurry !" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 5 This is easily the worst organized race I have ever been involved with. I have raced in about 10 marathons, and NYC is defecient in the following: (a) Packet pick. One must wait and go from one holding pen to the next (supposedly Fire Code did not allow so many persons inside of Jacob Javits Center.) Excuse me, but are there not over 30,000 runners registered ?!! (b) A start line with last bus pick-up at 7:00 am for an 11:15 START !!! wait, wait and wait. (c) Finish Line was crazy. THis is not a 26.2 mile race it's a 29.2 mile race. You have to walk for 1.5 miles to 81st. to get your bags and then walk back 1.5 miles to 67th. St. to get to Tavern on Green were the specatators you paid $150 bucks to see the race are waiting for you ! Chicago Marathon with over 37,500 persons is 10x better organized. Will never, ever run this race agin ! | |
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A Runner from Norwood,NY
(11/6/2002)
"Great run; but don't look for a fast time here" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 The NYC Marathon is truly a wonderful race. However, it is filled with first time marathoners, and with that in mind you shouldn't be looking for a fast time. My only criticism of this race is the complete lack of control exercised by race organizers in the starting corrals. I got in my proper corral, and I was amazed at the number of people with seeding numbers in the ten thousands, twenty thousands, and even very high twenty thousands that were in the corral pushing their way to the front. I saw zero personnel from the race organization monitoring the corrals and trying to keep the seedings somewhat in tact. If you've run one of these large marathons before, you know that when the seeding system goes to hell, the first several miles are a nightmare. I think I spent more time running sideways than I spent running forwards. It was very frustrating to have to expend that much energy early just to get close to my goal pace. The race organizers need to be far more diligent in keeping the seeds organized in the proper corrals. Someone else commented about the hardness of the course causing injuries. I don't know about the hardness of the streets, I tend to think the weather this year got colder as the race progressed and I had problems with a calf pulling. I also saw many other runnes struggling with injuries late in the race. I blame the weather. If you do NY, do it for fun and throw your time out the window. That's the only sane way to do this marathon. Enjoy it...slowly! | |
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Mike from Springfield, Massachusetts
(11/6/2002)
"Awesome Experience" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The thing that definitely makes this marathon so great is the spectators.Must have heard my name a hundred times when running the course.Some tips: print your name on the front of your shirt, stay at a hotel near the finish line (its almost impossible to get a cab when you finish), make sure you have dry clothes at the end as it can be cold (UPS does a great job with your bags), don't bother with the pasta dinner (the line was a mile long and moved very slowly),have an alternative plan to meet your family at the end. Enjoy everything New York has to offer we were lucky enough to see The Lion King and would highly recommend it. This was my 6th Marathon. Have done Vermont City, Mystic PLaces, Myrtle Beach, Sugarloaf and the Air Force Marathons. This was one of the best.Finished New York in 4:43 and would recommend doing it at least once. | |
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A Runner from New Jersey
(11/5/2002)
"THE BEST !!" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 What a blast ! Spectators are just fantastic and soooo supportive. I just fed off their energy. I think the course is great - including the bridges and different running surfaces - as the variety is just another unique element. I can't wait to do it again next year ! | |
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A Runner from asheboro, NC
(11/5/2002)
"Lots of hype but a poor choice for a marathon" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 There are only 2 good things about this marathon - real New York bagels and seeing the sights in NYC. Otherwise it is a poor marathon for a number of reasons. You have to catch a bus to staten island and wait till 11 AM to run thus running through lunch. By 11 AM you are done with most other marathons. The fact that they can get 30,000 people to the start line shows great organizational skill. If only the water and gatorade stops were well staffed. They weren't! Mostly unsupervised kids, you had to wait for someone to pour you a cup of water. You had to stop and wait to get a cup of water! CRAZY! There was gatorade at maybe half of the stops. Each stop consisted of 6 to 10 tables. Certainly not enough for 30,000 runners. Finally at the end you had to walk a mile to get your bags and the chip removal area was even further away. The T-shirt design 'Love it' is the absolute worst T-shirt I have ever seen and I have been running for over 20 years. There is nothing about the shirt that even hints at NYC. The course is relatively flat except at the start and at the end before going into central park. The crowd was great in manhattan and spotty elsewhere. This wasn't a marathon I would repeat. Chicago or Cincinnati where much better courses, better organized, better T-shirt, better medal, etc. The temperature was great for running but then the race director didn't have much to do with that. |
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