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New Jersey Marathon Runner Comments
Back to New Jersey Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.3 
Organization 4.5 
Spectators 3.9
Number of comments: 464 [displaying comments 101 to 111]
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T. S. from CT
(11/30/2009)
"Well-organized, flat course." (about: 2009)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 New Jersey Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 Ran this in 2009. My first marathon in 10 years; decided to try for BQ time of 3:35:59. I have a PR of 2:54 over 20 years ago. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express a mile or two from the start. No complaints. Morning of the race my wife was going to drop me at the shuttle buses, but because traffic was light she drove right up to the back of the sponsor hotel and dropped me off. Because it was raining, people were crowding inside the hotel, but there was ample room down some of the corridors to sit back and stretch, etc. One of the banquet rooms was used for dropped off sweats/warm-ups, etc. This race was larger than I expected. Marathoners are outnumbered 3:1 by half-marathoners. Organizers seemed to have everything under control. Course is flat and Long Branch is nothing to look at, but if you are focusing on time it might be for the best. Only complaint is that the course is double-loop, so you spend the entire 13th mile getting hosed by half-marathoners sprinting towards their finish. At the halfway point they veer left and marathoners continue on straight. I remember the halfway point to be extremely loud as the significant crowd was cheering in the halfers. This is my only complaint actually; after you pass the halfway point, it gets extremely quiet, as there are far fewer runners and no spectators. You enter an industrial section and it dawns on you that you have like 12 miles to go. That psychological trauma you must work through after passing the halfway point is really my only issue with the race. Though my recently-run 30K race time indicated I should have been able to do 3:30, I had a bad head cold, ran too hard over the first half, and finished in 3:43 (1:42/2:01). Though I missed my goal, I am considering running this again in 2010. | |
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V. M. from Morristown, NJ
(7/24/2009)
"Disorganized & Disappointing" (about: 2009)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 New Jersey Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 The shuttle to the race start was a mess! We stood out in the rain (though the weather was not their fault) for an hour before the shuttles got there. We were told they got lost because of the rerouting due to an accident. By the race start, which was delayed, I ended up being on my feet for hours more than I had wanted to. The hotel where you drop off your bag was crowded beyond belief! It took 15 minutes just to walk out after drop off. The 3:50 pacer didn't show until the last second, literally. He had no flag (and blamed it on everyone else), so my husband could not find me during the race. My husband was counting on spotting me by looking for the flag the whole time. We whizzed right by him. There was a TON more food at HALF marathon that I just ran than this! The other race had burgers, hot dogs, chips, ice cream, beer, and soda! I barely got my hands on a half-stale bagel at the NJM end. One positive note; the email updates were fantastic prior to the marathon. Art really does keep you in the loop. | |
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J. H. from Houston, Texas
(6/23/2009)
"Great Boston-qualifying course!" (about: 2009)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 New Jersey Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I picked this marathon in order to qualify for Boston, and it worked. The course is very flat, and I think that running two loops is a plus when you are trying to run a PR. I love the start and finish on the shore. Organization was excellent for a small marathon. | |
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M. W. from New York, NY
(6/3/2009)
"Beautiful & Well Organized" (about: 2009)
1 previous marathon
| 1 New Jersey Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my first marathon. Despite the rain, it was fantastic. The start and finish are right on the ocean and the course winds through small-town New Jersey. The crowd support was impressive given that it poured for much of the race. There was never a shortage at the drink stations, which were well placed. The finisher's medal was great, as was the long-sleeve t-shirt that was made of wicking material (not cotton). The running hat that they gave out at the finish was maybe the real bonus. All in all, a really nice first marathon. I'll be back in 2010 for sure. | |
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D. D. from New Jersey
(5/26/2009)
"Good course. Need to fix the parking for next year" (about: 2009)
11-50 previous marathons
| 3 New Jersey Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I've run this race a few times now. The current course I think is a great one. Very spectator-friendly, a double-loop hour-glass (sort-of) course that has lots of water, Gatorade and medical support. Lots of pace teams. I heard some complaints about the quality of some of the pace groups, but I can't fault the organizers for that. Nice hotel for shelter and a place to change after the race. Definitely a good race for a Boston qualifier. Now for a couple of cons: Weather: because it's on the Jersey Shore, you'd think it would consistently have good weather. But the years have been 50/50 on this. In 2009, it was good for the first half, but it got cold and wet for the second half. I felt sorry for the 6-hour folks out there. Parking: Having a racetrack for parking is great idea, but their plan suffered from bad execution! That needs to be fixed for next year. Bottom line: A good marathon to run; in my opinion, the best in New Jersey. As a veteran marathoner, I like the marathons that encourage runners in the 3:00-4:30 range without subjecting him/her to lotteries and early entry cutoffs. This is one of those marathons for a Boston qualifier or a 26.2 long run! | |
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d. m. from Central, NC
(5/22/2009)
"Flat and scenic; could be better, could be worse" (about: 2009)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 New Jersey Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Your satisfaction with this marathon depends on what you wanted to get out it. My goal was to run a New Jersey marathon, so really anything else was gravy. The good parts for me: it's flat; it's got a double-loop, a smaller-sized field, plenty of bathrooms, and plenty of fluids; the south end of the course goes by some big houses (sweet!); and they give out a nice medal and a nice tech shirt. The OK parts are the tiny expo (but hey, it's a tiny race), small town (no real sights to see), and lack of hotels close to the start line (stayed at the holiday inn express 4 miles away and it was nice). The worst part for me was no space blanket. The weather was wet but I didn't have any troubles until I stopped running and then I was shivering. Tip: I took the shuttle in, but had someone pick me up. The line waiting for the buses to go back to the cars was long. My suggestion is to find a place to park near the start. | |
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J. Y. from New York, NY
(5/22/2009)
"Good, but not a great race" (about: 2009)
1 previous marathon
| 1 New Jersey Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 My first marathon, but I have been in other large runs (half and shorter) and I have to say I was disappointed with the organization of this race. I don't want to repeat previous comments too much, but I ignored the race instructions and parked at 7 President's Park and had zero problem finding parking. I arrived a little after 6 a.m. and there were plenty of empty parking spots available, so I didn't have to deal with the shuttle bus problem. Pre-race I thought was fine for a race of this size, but I had no idea there were going to be so many half-marathoners. Being a 2-loop course, for myself, it was a mental challenge with what seemed like every runner leaving the course after the first loop and basically running with only 2 or 3 people for the second half. The delayed start sucked, but I don't attribute that to the organizers. I thought the announcements kept us in the loop enough. It would've sucked not knowing what was up. Many thanks to the spectators who stayed out for the full marathon. I can't express my gratitude at hearing the cheers and music played, and staying out for over 4 hours in the cold and wet is not easy. The volunteers were outstanding, and the one plus of having such an empty second loop was that everything from drinks/volunteers to porta-potties was in essence overstaffed/supplied for the number of runners remaining. My biggest problem was the finish. It was so anticlimactic. There was an amazing finish set up for the half-marathon runners with the entire boardwalk crammed with spectators, music, and cheering. It was pretty desolate for the full finish. I guess I need to cut my time in half and try to finish in 2 hours to get that celebration. In addition, none of the amenities were clearly marked. I had to walk into a couple tents to find where the drinks and food were and I had no idea where the massage stations or showers were. I don't think I was the only one either because a lot of other runners came up to me asking if I knew where anything was. Overall, I had a lot of fun once the suck wore off and I think I definitely caught the marathon bug. I think with some tweaks - maybe starting half-marathoners later at a separate start point and posting maps of finish amenities or larger signs - would go a long way to making this a great event. | |
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J. A. from baltimore, md
(5/18/2009)
"Poorly organized, but fast, great course" (about: 2009)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 New Jersey Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 This was my 9th marathon and 1st NJ Marathon. AWESOME 2-loop course that finishes along the boardwalk by the ocean (on the nice soft wood...). Very flat and fast (I PR'd), with great volunteer support along the course. Only problems were: horrible organization (not along course, but pre-race logistics). 1) I was thrilled that there would be a 3:45 pacer, but he was a no-show. 2) It was impossible and stressful to locate the race bibs/chips on race morning (through Boscos Buddies). There were no signs and the place was PACKED. There were several of us searching for quite some time; I wasn't the only one. 3) Parking/shuttle services were pretty disorganized. 4) There are so many half-marathoners that you can't get a good start. I was forced to run the first two miles more slowly than I wanted to because of the crowds. Notwithstanding the logistical challenges, I LOVED the race and would love to do it again. The course is fabulous! | |
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Eliot W. Collins from Raritan Borough, NJ
(5/14/2009)
"Cold and Wet - Will Return Again in 2010" (about: 2009)
50+ previous marathons
| 6+ New Jersey Marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I was the 6-hour pacer for this race. I walked as much of the race as I could, only taking running breaks as needed. I did each mile in 13:39.6; finished the half-marathon in 2:59:17 and the marathon in 5:58:04. I was out in the rain for the final three hours and it was so cold and wet that I could not feel my hands. Even a flat course can be challenging for me when the weather is this bad. My only negative comment about the organization was that the shuttle bus dropped us off way too far from the race start. I still look forward to returning to the New Jersey Marathon for the 10th time in 2010, and I will continue to recommend this race to others. | |
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L. S. from Pottstown, Pa
(5/13/2009)
"Great course for PR, but big transportation issue" (about: 2009)
3 previous marathons
| 1 New Jersey Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 First the good: Flat course. Only one semi-challenging hill, but overall, it was nice and flat. This was my third attempt to qualify for Boston and I made it with 1.5 minutes to spare. Plenty of fluid stations. Great crowd support. For a drizzly day, the fan support was much better than I anticipated. There was much less support for the second-loop marathoners, though but this could be expected. Now the bad: I think this marathon has grown too big for its britches. First, my hotel was only one mile from the designated parking lot where shuttle buses were delivering runners to the start. I sat in traffic for 45 minutes and made it only half that distance. This could have been due to an accident, which delayed the start of the race by 30 minutes, but I couldn't tell. I ended up parking on a side street and walking half a mile to catch the bus. I passed two policemen who apparently had nothing better to do than watch traffic rather than direct it (they did wish me luck, however). At the buses, it was every man, woman and child for themselves - no organization. After a 15-minute ride, we were let out half a mile from the start of the race, due to more traffic woes. I hold the city of Long Branch mostly responsible for this mess. Secondly, the host hotel didn't have enough space for runners who were dropping bags. We were herded like cattle to the respective drop-off point. Next, the race was delayed for 30 minutes. This was most likely due to the aforementioned accident, which the racers were informed of. What made it difficult to bear was the drizzle, which held off for the 30-minute delay but resumed just before the actual start. My next big complaint would be the size of the field. The course was jammed for the first seven miles or so. The majority of the runners were running in the half-marathon. The semi-good news is that the race cleared out for the second loop. The bad part of this was that many of the half-marathoners were walkers, and this required several evasive maneuvers on my part, particularly at the course's many turns. This would be another complaint about the course - there are numerous turns, so you definitely have to pay attention to avoid running into cones, curbs, other runners, etc. I was almost witness to a runner getting hit by a car when a frustrated (and downright stupid) driver lost patience with the stalled traffic and drove over a cone to get to a side street. Several runners had to detour around the car - myself included. Although the fluid stations were numerous, they were set up on either side of the streets, which made it difficult to avoid the cups, slowing runners, spent gel packages, etc., when I didn't want to take anything. There was also a slight dogleg at the finish, which confused me (and some other runners, who assumed they had made the finish, but were told that it was 100 yards or so after what appeared to be finish banners on either side). The finish tent could not accommodate all of the runners seeking food and shelter following the race. I wouldn't expect it to be able to hold all of the runners, but many were trying to stay out of the rain, and the host hotel seemed like a long walk from the tent. After a brief respite, I had to move on. I gave up on bus transportation back to my car, which required another half-mile walk through the rain to a long line of not-so-happy runners. I opted instead to butter up some very nice ladies outside the hotel, who allowed me to share their taxi. This was money well spent. Overall, I think this would be a much better marathon if they would limit the field to, say, 4,000 runners combined between the full and half-marathoners. I don't think the city or the course can adequately accommodate a field of 6,000 plus. |
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