Back to Steamtown Marathon Information & Reviews
j. c. from West Virginia
(10/13/2014)
"i liked everything about this marathon" (about: 2014)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Steamtown Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Greeted at Forest City High School by cheerleaders and students and posters all around the gym. Inspired by the generous and cheering residents of the towns we ran through back to Scranton. Great course beautiful scenery. Have always heard Steamtown was as good a marathon as there is and I now believe that to be true. | |
R. P. from Buffalo, NY
(10/13/2014)
"Thank you Steamtown" (about: 2014)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Steamtown Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 First time running Steamtown, 5th marathon. Pre race emails were excellent. Scranton and the surrounding area offered many great choices for hotels and restaurants. Very easy to get around town. The course was scenic and challenging, volunteers were great, running thru small towns, fan support was awesome. The finish area was great, so was the post race party. Great race, love the small town feel. | |
K. B. from New Jersey
(10/13/2014)
"Great race!" (about: 2014)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Steamtown Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my first time running Steamtown and it was great. It was harder than I anticipated (the downhill and slight hills around mile 23-25) but fantastic. It is incredibly well organized, there is good crowd support and a lot of hydration and fuel stops. You get to wait in the high school before the race so you aren't freezing. There are frequent and funny emails from the race director. I will definitely be back and would recommend this race!! | |
Michele McLeod from Olney, MD
(10/13/2014)
"Charm and variety" (about: 2014)
6-10 previous marathons
| 2 Steamtown Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 There are so many great things about this race, so I'll try to repeat what others have said. There is a lot of variety on the course, some scenic (the rails to trails), some a little vacant but there you get a lone supporter in a folding chair, or the guy who said 'welcome to Scranton!' Then there was the raucous party street that was a boost near the end. The runners were a nice crowd, too. I chatted with some local runners and paced off them. I expect to hear back from some of the townfolk I handed postcards to. I would highly recommend it for a first or 40th marathon. | |
C. M. from Connecticut
(10/13/2014)
"FANTASTIC! Can't beat it" (about: 2014)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 Steamtown Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Great marathon - well organized, well run, and the most enjoyable I've ever run, I'll be back year after year. The volunteers are amazing, the team that pulls it together is untirable (if that's a word) and the spectators are funny and just great. Well run event from signup to the showers at the end! Thank you all for all you do! | |
L. B. from Morris County, NJ
(10/13/2014)
"Overwhelmingly positive experience" (about: 2014)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Steamtown Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I can't say enough about this race. This was my first marathon, and I am so glad that it was! It's a perfect size: not too many people to be claustrophobic, but enough not to feel like you are running some small-town 5K. WONDERFUL community support, excellent course support, just a great race overall1 | |
A. K. from Scranton, PA
(10/13/2014)
"Marathon of the Decade" (about: 2014)
11-50 previous marathons
| 4-5 Steamtown Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This is an incredible marathon! Great course, tons of crowd support, lots of helpful volunteers! Not to mention the race emails..they are the best. If I ever retire from running I'll register just for the emails. | |
B. G. from Pittsburgh, PA
(10/13/2014)
"Perfect BQ course & extremely well organized race" (about: 2014)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Steamtown Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Was my 18th marathon and 1st Steamtown. Loved it! Earned my 7th consecutive BQ. The course was beautiful, the crowds enthusiastic (more so than any small-town marathon I've run), the race well organized and the emails wickedly entertaining. Other than the requisite stiffness from the 4 1/2 hr ride back to Pittsburgh, I'd rank this near Boston as my fave (better, IMHO, than Wineglass or Mohawk-Hudson). | |
Bill Fiore from Clarks Green, PA
(10/13/2014)
"Great marathon" (about: 2014)
11-50 previous marathons
| 3 Steamtown Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Year after year this is a great marathon. The icing on the cake is the post race party with drinks and food for runners and their families. Way to go NEPA. | |
A. P. from Silver Spring, MD
(10/13/2014)
"Surprisingly tough course; great organization" (about: 2014)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Steamtown Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Beautiful and varied scenery (until the trip through an industrial wasteland near the end, but even that is thematically appropriate). Terrific organization of packet pickup, race marshaling, transport, expo, finish line. Having Forest City High School as a warm dry staging area was a huge plus on a 38 degree morning. Loved the Assistant Race Director's nutty email updates. The whole race is very professional without losing its funky small-marathon feel. Don't be fooled by the course profile into thinking this will be an easy marathon. The downhills hammered my quads despite training for downhills and running the downhills conservatively, and by the halfway point I had no idea how I was going to get to the finish, but the great spectators helped me pull through. |
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