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☰
Columbus Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Columbus Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.4 
Organization 4.1 
Spectators 4.2
Number of comments: 335 [displaying comments 311 to 321]
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A Runner from Michigan
(10/22/2002)
"Good and Bad, but truth" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 Race was decent, but not FLAT, just kind of flat. The course is continuous easy grades (1-3%), but not flat. If you are from Florida its hilly, from Vermont its FLAT. To start, lots of room at starting line to be comfy and find your place, but it is probably because half of the people were in line for the 6 poorly marked porta potties at the race start. Race organizers... you can NEVER have too many porta johns, they cost $50 to rent get a few more. The first miles seemed mismarked, some a bit long and some a bit short, but each 2-mile split seemed about right, (or I was running a mile repeat tempo workout). The course was pretty nice and the roads were good, not too pockmarked, crowned, and no concrete. There was a decent amount of room to run, and a good number of racers. The GU at Mile 12 was not there, it was at mile 15. This may not seem like much, but if you train a certain way, and count on something, then it should be there. The end was ok... a tough uphill, and a sharp downhill in the last mile. The medals and post race food were average, No finisher shirts, race organizers... save the race shirt and combine it with a finishers shirt. If I had a choice of one or the other give me a finishers shirt. Good race...Not great, and Fast race but not Flat | |
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A Runner from Dublin, Oh
(10/22/2002)
"Great marathon for sub 5 hr marathoners" (General Comments)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 I've run this marathon as a marathoner and a relay runner. In both cases, I enjoyed the course, the spectators and the support. However, this year, I worked the 21 mile water stop. The course was advertised as staying open for 7 hours. The week before the marathon, the walkers were told they were getting a one hour early start. Race organizers and police came thru our area about 4 hours into the race and said the roads would be opening up in 15 mins. They didn't open for another 30 mins, but there were still walkers and runners coming thru. Our station was on a busy 4 lane road without sidewalks, forcing exhausted runners/walkers out onto the street or walking on very uneven grass. Basically, anyone finishing in over 5 hours was finishing with questionable support. Another sidenote, my husband ran the relay this year. Again, they ran out of relay medals and the relay runners' shirts said walker on them. This marathon continues to go downhill. I ran Towpath in Akron the week prior, and I'd highly recommend that as a local alternative. | |
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A Runner from Louisville, Kentucky
(10/22/2002)
"Another well done marathon!" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This was another great Columbus Marathon! I'd run this twice before on the 'old course'. The new course seems to be easier because the final few miles are downhill. The Volunteers were enthusiastic, there was plenty of All Sport and water along the course, and the weather was ideal. There were enough runners that you were never alone on the course, yet could always run your own pace. I'll be back next year! | |
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A Runner from Maryland
(10/22/2002)
"Flat and fast course with under 4,000 runners" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 The course and time of year make this a great PR course especially for a Boston Qualifier. Plenty of Water/Aid Stations and volunteers but lacking a bit on crowd support until the last 4 miles. A nice city to visit. | |
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A Runner from Ohio
(10/21/2002)
"Probably not again ....." (about: 2002)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 Overall it was a decent experience, but not one I'll pay to re-live. Expo was lacking, gels on the course were not where advertised (but most experienced marathoners carry their own, so that probably doesn't matter), some course issues with lack of support, lack of traffic control. Minor things overall, but not what I expected. If you want to do an Ohio marathon, shoot for the Cincy Marathon in the spring. | |
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A Runner from Chicago, IL
(10/21/2002)
"Excellent Regional Race" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Facets of the race that I liked very much: (1) relayers wore a clear sign on their backs, so marathoners didn't accidentally pace with them; (2) relay stations were unobtrusive; (3) a local office building was opened at the starting line, where some racers warmed up (and Starbucks was open!!); (4) volunteers were numerous and friendly; (5) participants were spirited and not too numerous (so you could get your race pace almost immediately, not like my home town marathon where it takes 6-7 miles of jostling around). Possible improvements: (1) last 0.2 mile descent is on bricks (ouch!) -- could this be switched to another street?; (2) the last few miles of the race is unshaded and kind of uninspiring (e.g. backs of buildings, warehouses) -- a little re-routing and/or more spectator support here might help; (3) while I appreciate the low entry fee, charging $10 for the finishers' T-shirt is a bit chintzy. I made a PR here and would certainly consider running it again. | |
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A Runner from Columbus, Ohio
(10/21/2002)
"Course reopened to public too soon" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 This was my first Marathon and I was running with someone who runs Marathons. They started shutting down the courst and we had no mile markers, no more liquids being handed out, not sure which direction to turn, etc. and we were fighting pedestrians on the sidewalks. We were told the course would stay open until 2. It started closing at 12:00 noon. I was at the point of finishing at 5 hours but once this started closing up and the streets re opened and us running in uneven grass on the side of the road and dodging cars, it was 6:54:03. I was not very pleased and nor was alot of other runners along with us at the time. | |
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A Runner from Indiana
(10/21/2002)
"Great overall" (General Comments)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I recommend this marathon to anyone who enjoys very organized marathons with less than 5 thousand runners. In my opinion, this marathon is comparable to Detroit Free-Press, but is definitely not as flat as Detroit. I train in a very flat city, and was expecting NO hills because the word is that this is a flat course. There are hills in this marathon, but are mostly gradual-sloping hills, and not steep. The good thing about Columbus is that you are always surrounded by runners, but still have lots of room to breathe. The crowds are very enthusiastic, and are especially great at the end of the race down the home stretch ...for a second there I thought I was finishing at Chicago. I'd do this one again but will be more prepared for the gradual sloping hills. | |
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A Runner from Fairfield, OH
(10/21/2002)
"Organization is continuing to deteriorate." (General Comments)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 Participated the past 3 years. Good course with challenge the final third. Expo disappointing. Posters disappointing. Little care in styling medals. Discontinued marathon pin because not enough profit. Very small, crowded recovery area. Refreshments = bagels water and banannas. | |
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susc_26.2 from u'town pa
(10/21/2002)
"very well done" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Ran this race in 2000, came back for 2002. Great weather, flat course, easy access from hotels to start and finish expo needs work, nice size race 3,000 runners, good food at the finish and bagpipes were really cool. will do again. |
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