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☰
Austin Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Austin Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.0 
Organization 4.0 
Spectators 4.1
Number of comments: 421 [displaying comments 131 to 141]
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A. V. from Houston, TX
(2/22/2008)
"Way to go Austin!" (about: 2008)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Austin Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This was my second marathon and my husband and I ran this as a training event for Big Sur. We knew is was going to be hilly, and there were a lot of corners. The water and Gatorade were sufficient so that you don't need a fuel belt. We started in pace groups and that was very helpful because you don't need to pass a lot of walkers and slower runners. I loved the fireworks and since we ran the Disney in January I can honestly say the fireworks were more spectacular! Loved it! The smell of fireworks in the air will now always remind me of the Austin start. On the downside, the finisher shirt is great but by the time I finished (4:55) there were no more shirts left in my size. I think this should be more controlled. I liked the loop course because we could stay close by and had no need to drive. Austin can be a traffic nightmare if you have to get from point to point and previous experience with bad weather and cooling down too much whilst waiting for the shuttle is not a good thing. They were supposed to have 39 bands along the way, but I must not have seen them because I was disappointed at the lack of loud upbeat music. I expected much more because of all the promotion the bands got. The only reason I will not do Austin again is because there are so many other places I would like to go, but if you have not done Austin yet, I will surely recommend to put it on your list. | |
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D. R. from Southern Illinois
(2/22/2008)
"Mostly great!" (about: 2008)
11-50 previous marathons
| 4-5 Austin Marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I ran a slow marathon, and the fan support was far better than I expected. Thank you folks! Your cheering made a difference. The water stops and the residents all were EXCELLENT. I am one who doesn't like the new slower loop course, but given that I knew what it was before I got here, I can't complain, only reminisce. I enjoy running through Austin. It's a great city. I know there will be comments that I'm running for the wrong reasons and who needs another shirt, but the fact that they ran out of finisher's shirts is very disappointing to me. Yes, I finished late, at 5:49 (I was one who wanted to switch to the half but waited too long and it sold out). But, this race has a 7-hour limit. I've e-mailed a request about it, but no reply. This does seem like marathon-planning 101. Have enough finisher's shirts! Count how many registered folks there are, right? Am I missing something? | |
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S. P. from Lufkin, Texas
(2/22/2008)
"Nice experience overall, but too hilly!" (about: 2008)
6-10 previous marathons
| 2 Austin Marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This is an overall nice, well-run marathon, but unfortunately the course is too hilly. None of the hills are excessively steep or long. An occasional short, steep or even long hill is fine, but hills after hills after hills becomes excessive. Overall I had a fairly good experience and even had a PR, but despite this, this marathon will not be on my future schedule unless the course is changed. I ran the Motorola Austin Marathon several years ago, which was also hilly, but not as bad as the current course. I like the "circuit-type" course, but the elevation chart needs to be smoothed out. The volunteers everywhere along the course and at the finish were great. Police officers did a great job with the traffic and are very appreciated. The fans along the course were also great. | |
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Joe Miller from Kansas City, MO
(2/21/2008)
"Awesome!" (about: 2008)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Austin Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I had such a great time. This was my first marathon since college. I was a little worried about the hills, but they turned out not to be too bad at all - except the last one in the final mile, which was comparatively small but daunting considering how tired I was at that point. The crowd support was wonderful. There were tons of people out giving away candy and fruit and stuff. The spread-out course allowed my family to drive around and cheer me on at several different spots. The bands were great. I bet there was more rockin' in this race then at the famed Rock 'n Roll races. I especially appreciated the abundance of hard rock on the last couple of miles. The medal was nice and heavy, and finishers got a cool-looking technical shirt. My only complaint is that they ran out of free beer for us slowpokes. I'd been sort of looking forward to having one. But the one I wound up paying for later at the hotel tasted better anyway. The host hotel is a little ways away from the action downtown, but it has a great hot tub with a view of the skyline. Soaking there afterward, we were joined by the women's winner, Lucy Hassell. She bought a big bottle of champagne and rounds for everyone. That was a cool treat! This is a really good destination race. Austin is a great mid-February break for iced-in Midwesterners like me. My family and I had excellent meals all weekend and fun shopping on South Congress. Be sure to make a reservation if you want Italian food the night before. I recommend La Traviata. Thanks Austin! | |
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B. R. from Los Angeles, CA
(2/21/2008)
"What Hills?" (about: 2008)
3 previous marathons
| 2 Austin Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This is my second Austin Marathon on the "new" course. I don't understand all of the whining about the "hills. I am new to the marathon, and I am slow, but I failed to see anything significant about the hills on this course. At least "Dick" from Houston didn't show up. As far as the availability of Gu/"gel" here is a quote from the marathon website: "There will not be GU or gel on the course, (sic) please bring with you what you have been training with." Other than ending the sentence with "with," it seemed pretty clear to me that there would be no Gu or gel offered on the course. My ONLY complaint is that on their website they feature a picture of Desiree Ficker, who won the 1/2, but no photo of Lucy Hassell, who won the marathon. Hmmmm... Desiree lives in Austin??? | |
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J. N. from Brigham City, Utah
(2/20/2008)
"Way to go, Austin!" (about: 2008)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Austin Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was mine and my husband's 10th marathon and I am so glad it was in Texas! Yes it was hilly, but that is what the description said it would be! We train at 4500 feet, and if you want to know hills, come to Utah! I didn't PR but I wasn't expecting to; it was a beautiful day, LOVED the fireworks and the scenery was wonderful! I thought the finish was great - I love the downhill at the end. The support: outstanding! That is the most people we have seen at any of our others! The expo was incredible! I am so glad I got there on Friday - to listen to Dick Beardsley was the best! Loved the medal, loved the shirts, and yes, we will be back! Just because I didn't BQ doesn't mean we didn't BBQ!! Salt lick was the perfect finish!! Kudos Austin! When the sun was rising over the city, I got the gentle reminder again of why I run. Thank you! | |
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F. B. from Tucson, AZ
(2/20/2008)
"Smoky start, hella hills" (about: 2008)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Austin Marathon
COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 I'll start with the positive: 1) The weather was beautiful! 2) The pace groups were right on. 3) The music was fun. However, the following are reasons I would never recommend this race to anyone: 1) The course. You may have all realized by now that Austin is no longer the fast course it once was. However, not only is the course awful, but they keep changing it!! When I signed up, I heard there were complaints about the hills from the year previous and they were making changes to make it better. I kept waiting and waiting for them to post the official course map. When they finally did - all hills!! And 1-2 months before the race is NOT early enough to finally get the official course map posted. It should be up at least 6-8 months before, to help with proper training. Now I'd already signed up, and I had done hill work, so I decided to do it anyway - but the hills still were awful. 2) Someone decided it was a grand idea to set off fireworks at the start. Not a few - a lot. So runners had to start their race off running through clouds of smoke. As a runner, as a normally well-controlled asthmatic, as a physician - this is unacceptable. I fought to keep pace up and down hills, wheezing, and finally realized I was not going to get my breathing back under control around mile 15, where I finally stopped. Thanks a lot to whoever thought of that brilliant idea. Five months of training, blown at the start line. 3) No one could get on the site and download maps the day before or day of the race - NOT helpful for spectators trying to figure out where to find you. Now, I don't know if AT&T saves money by doing a looped course instead of the fast point-to-point that Austin was known for when Motorola ran this race.... I've heard some people think the course is prettier this way. But if I wanted a scenic, hilly marathon, I would have run Pike's Peak or Big Sur. Austin should have stuck with what it had going for it... speed. Not that it's not a fun town, but it's not worth hauling up and down hills just to look at a few trees. This race is still coasting on the reputation of being a "great" marathon from back when it was a fast point-to-point - and sans lungs full of smoke at the start. I'll go back to Austin some other time to listen to music - but not to run this race. | |
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Christopher Powers from Arlington, Texas
(2/20/2008)
"WOW! What a day for a first marathon!" (about: 2008)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Austin Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 As a first-timer, I can't compare this event to any other, but I wanted to use this space to thank everyone who made it possible. A big thanks to the organizers, volunteers, spectators and mostly to my fellow runners who helped and inspired me throughout. You all turned a test of oneself into a communion with humanity... and one of the best days of my life! | |
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S. H. from Austin, TX
(2/20/2008)
"Keep the hilly course, but get rid of the TRAFFIC!" (about: 2008)
50+ previous marathons
| 6+ Austin Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Well organized, good expo, good start. All parking garages in the city should be opened. Crowd support wasn't that great until later in the day. The post-race bag check pick up and food were the best ever for Austin. Thanks, HEB, for the hot soup. Really nice finisher shirt. Course is challenging. It seemed like we were always going uphill. Why is the 13.1 medal nicer than the 26.2? If Austin dropped the half marathon and focused only on the marathon, it could be better than Houston or Dallas White Rock. The top 3 marathons in the US do not have a half (BOS, NYC, Chicago). Austin has an excellent half marathon 2-3 weeks prior. Why do we need another one? The other problem is the lack of a closed course. The marathon will never be 1st-class with traffic on the course. It is too dangerous. Drivers don't realize that runner's bodies don't respond well to impact. Austin gets better every year. Keep up the good work. | |
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M. M. from Minneapolis, MN
(2/20/2008)
"VERY IMPRESSED!!" (about: 2008)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Austin Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 This was my 11th marathon and I was so pleased with the organization and effort from the race directors and volunteers. This is one of the best I've ever run. Here's what I loved: expo was easy to get to and navigate two race shirts (1 tech, 1 cotton) easy to find parking morning of race (came about an hour early) pre-race heat lamps!! tons of water and PowerAde throughout race music along the course start and finish at same location post-race food was WONDERFUL (cookies, chips, HOT soup, water, PowerAde, fruit, and more!) great medal Some things I didn't like: spectators at start (it got pretty messy - but wasn't the worst) the hills were a bit of a surprise - the elevation map doesn't do the actual course justice... however, everything else about this race outweighs the hills - it's worth it I have a high standard for races and Austin should be very proud of themselves. They put on a wonderful race! |
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