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s. m. from USA
(12/5/2006)
"Betrayed" (about: 2006)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 Seattle Marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 1 PLUSES: The course is beautiful, and this would be a wonderful event if: 1. It took place in July - Sept; 2. The course ran backwards - hills at the beginning, following the monorail through downtown Seattle at the end... but this will never happen for understandable logistical reasons. The finish line is a blast. I loved the dedication of the few spectators who braved the horrific weather this year to cheer the runners on. MINUSES: I felt betrayed by the race's website, advertising buses from the finish line back to the host hotel, only to find that wasn't true when I walked out into the exhibition hall lobby, after I changed into dry clothes! The monorail was also running on a reduced schedule, and not very accommodating of marathon runners.... The locals knew it was under repair and probably made appropriate plans, but us out-of-towners were ill-informed and out of luck. It was a miserable 2/3-mile walk in the pouring 34-degree rain back to my hotel, and my dry clothes were soaked. You should have seen all the unhappy faces of the runners walking back from the expo. I would implore the race directors to make sure their website is constantly updated so that unpleasant suprises like this can be avoided. | |
A. T. from San Diego, California
(12/3/2006)
"Fun course, but not for a PR" (about: 2006)
11-50 previous marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 Never had hot clam chowder that tasted soooooo good after being out in the cold for so long.... I am now a clam chowder fan. | |
L. K. from Junction City, Oregon
(12/3/2006)
"Fun course, but crowded with runners" (about: 2006)
1 previous marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 The half marathon is a great course. Plenty of water and fuel, and the spectators were very nice. BUT, the walkers should leave after the runners, as many do not follow very good etiquette and walk three and four abreast, causing A LOT of congestion at first. There were so many runners this year that I couldn't ease into any kind of pace for having to adjust for slower runners. Running for a fast time is not an option. A wave start would help tremendously! | |
a. h. from St. Paul Minnesota
(11/30/2006)
"Nothing special" (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 2 Seattle Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 1 We had not run this race since 1998. I participated in the marathon, my wife ran the half. They do a good job of meeting your needs on the course. They can do nothing about the weather. My fault I got hit with the sleet at the end of the race. Be prepared to run on a lot of cement. Maybe in better weather more spectators show up. Very little press coverage. The video on the news was from the half marathon; my wife got five seconds of fame. Being picky, here is what they could do better: Start the 1/2 in waves. The 1/2 is a popular event now with more runners than the course can hold. Getting more spacing between the runners would be good. Having some balloons up at the mile markers to make them more visible would help. If I was focused on running hard I would have never seen a single marker. GPS doesn't work well in the trees. | |
A. H. from Woodinville, WA
(11/30/2006)
"Improvements made this year" (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 3 Seattle Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 This is my third consecutive year of completing the full marathon course (plus a half the year before that). One of my complaints in years past was the marathon walkers that you would hit as you started up the I-90 express ramp around mile 2. It was a single lane and you would have marathon walkers walking 2, 3 or 4 abreast, causing congestion. This year that had the walkers go on one lane and runners in a seperate lane. This was a big improvement. This was also the first time the weather really was bad in the 4 years I have run this course. This is a chance you take running in late November. The volunteers were excellent, especially considering the harsh conditions (temps in the mid to high 30s and rain). I only saw smiles and heard words of encouragement. | |
s. m. from slc, utah
(11/28/2006)
"Good, hard, pretty course; horrible organization" (about: 2006)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Seattle Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 4 The GOOD: Gorgeous course, very hard last six miles (very hilly, the map and elevation chart don't do it justice). Nice medal, and lots of aid stations and volunteers. The BAD: NO TRANSPORTATION to the start line or more importantly from the finish line (the monorail was down for repair and no busses were offered). Lame tech shirt, and no food or supplies for finishers after the five-hour mark or so. Nice run, and a pretty course, but I couldn't recommend it overall to others! | |
L. B. from Anchorage, AK
(11/28/2006)
"Weather sucks, but race organization rocks" (about: 2006)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Seattle Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 Well what did I expect? It is Seattle after all; there should be reasonable expectations of rain. Mother Nature provided plenty of cooling precipitation - all through the race. Advice to runners: come prepared with lots of breathable, waterproof layers. Extremely good race organization. Goodie bag and shirt were exceptional. Course was beautiful and well stocked at aid stations. Almost no music or entertainment along the course. Somewhat confused finish area. | |
N. C. from Canada
(11/27/2006)
"Time for a change" (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Seattle Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 1 I hate slamming a race because I know how hard the people work to put it together - but Seattle stinks as a race as of right now. The weather in late Nov. is horrible. This year was soaking wet and very cold. The fans who came out where great - all 50 of them. But on the whole there are 3-4 mile stretches of road where you do not see a single fan... the worst being the stupid forest they send you through for two miles or so at mile 21-23. Not a soul in there except people out walking their dogs. The course is ok - very hilly at the end. Only an elite runner would call the last six miles of hills moderate. For the other 90% of the people there, it is a cruel way to finish a very long and cold and wet day. They need to re-think this course and change the date to a month earlier and maybe fans will come out. | |
C. G. from Seattle
(11/27/2006)
"My first marathon!" (about: 2006)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Seattle Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my first marathon. I started feeling the pain at mile 13. I was really doubting myself until I got to 16 and realized I had fewer than 10 to go. The pain didn't get much worse, so I just trudged along. A little bit wet and a little bit cold but not too bad. | |
L. M. from Sammamish, WA
(11/27/2006)
"Great marathon... nasty weather" (about: 2006)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Seattle Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 It rained off and on throughout the entire race. More "on" than "off." And it was COLD!!! - Expo was small but fine. - Participant t-shirt was fine. - Organization was very good. Lots of porta-potties and aid stations throughout the course. - The course itself was excellent, well marked and far less hilly than I anticipated. - There weren't many spectators, but the ones that did show up get high ratings for braving the weather to cheer us on. - The finish area was inside Memorial Stadium, which was nice for keeping us warm and dry. The finish area food however was *okay* at best. They had chowder, but since I'm not a chowder fan I didn't partake. Even if I were a chowder fan I'm not sure I would have wanted some after such a long run. I AM a huge fruit smoothie fan but didn't partake of the FROZEN fruit smoothies either, as the last thing I wanted to do was eat a frozen item. I was mainly looking for some carbs (muffins, bagels, etc.) but couldn't find any. Ended up walking out with just a banana and bottled water. Quite disappointing. Would I do this race again? Probably since it's a local race, but I'd wait until the last minute and only sign up if the weather looked half-way decent. |
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