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California International Marathon Runner Comments
Back to California International Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.4 
Organization 4.3 
Spectators 4.2
Number of comments: 232 [displaying comments 171 to 181]
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G. C. from Oakland CA
(12/6/2006)
"Some very good reasons to do this one." (about: 2006)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 California International Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I love reading these marathon reviews. It's so interesting to discover what different people expect from marathon organizers. Here's my take: Start with the website. I thought the "Runner Info" page was well organized and contained a lot of good information - even some "runner's etiquette" suggestions. Their website asked the fast runners to be sure and leave some food for the later arrivals. To their credit, apparently the faster runners were able to resist the culinary temptations of boxes and boxes of bananas and bagels. So maybe the earlier arrivals found something more than dried-out bagels and under-ripe bananas. But hey, I don't run to the finish for the cuisine. Post-run food: minimally adequate. (But if they had better to offer, they should know to put it out as runners come in, not as the food disappears.) Hear me loud and clear, marathon organizers: NO HOSE WATER. There was one water stop that had the cheap stuff. The rest were fine, and all had enthusiastic staff. And the staff wore plastic gloves (so no finger water at the CIM). It seemed like there was one leg of 3 or 4 miles with no restrooms (about mile 10), but can't swear to it. Otherwise, restrooms were good and lines often short. Note for next year's etiquette page: Line up for the potty parallel to the course, not across it! (Perhaps this is a popular course for first-timers?) Prettiest finisher's medal I've got. Nice work. And from the "We'd like to thank the participants for their donations" column: not without humor, either. The obverse has the name of the sponsor, "Organs 'R' Us." (After a guy died in the SF Marathon I ran last July, this couldn't pass unnoticed.) Maybe next year they can add their phone number for a speedy pick up? Cool "Technical T" and we had a choice at registration of long- or short-sleeve. I chose the long-sleeve and for the first time I actually wore the shirt they gave me for the marathon. It's the first one I've got that looks nice on me. Like the medal - nice work people. Bus to the start ($10 at registration) worked well, as did the sweats bag pick up and delivery. I suggest you use the sweats bag opportunity; it's cold at the start. Excellent running weather in 2006. Clear and cool. I felt fine in shorts and their long-sleeve T, and I was glad to easily get my sweats back at the finish to warm up. My GPS watch agrees with the CIM: They say you start at 366 feet, and finish at 26 feet above sea level. My watch says I climbed 3,907 feet, and descended 4,248. But what others say is true - gentle rolling hills. I didn't see them as a factor. A special mention of the belly dancers about mile 24, on both sides of the course. Thank you, ladies. I needed a smile about then. This was my fourth marathon, and while I'll do more, I'm not focused on repeating venues just yet. But when I do, I'll be back! | |
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E. W. from Monterey Park, CA
(12/5/2006)
"Great Marathon, but Not Easy!" (about: 2006)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 California International Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my 18th marathon, and first CIM. The weather was cold but perfect for running. I don't know where people get the idea of a "fast" course from. Although it is a negative elevation gain, it was rolling hills the whole way, and I found this course to be one of my more difficult runs (and no training didn't help matters, either). The water stops with the volunteers were wonderful and the crowd support great. Having wide open streets with fall colors was nice. Overall, it was an enjoyable marathon (if you can call any marathon enjoyable)! Definitely worth doing once. | |
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Steven Kramer from Pebble Beach California
(12/4/2006)
"Great Race Day" (about: 2006)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 California International Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 This is my 15th marathon and my first here. The route is great on the legs and the spectators were teriffic. Passing through the small towns reminded me of Boston! Some good food at he finish would be my only suggestion. | |
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T. L. from Santa Clarita, CA
(12/4/2006)
"Good marathon, but could use some fine tuning" (about: 2006)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 California International Marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 Expo is well organized and convenient. Packet pickup was fairly easy, though it was confusing to have to leave the expo to get shirts and goody bags and then return to continue shopping. Bus pick-up was smooth and fast. Glad the buses were at all the listed hotels. Start line was fairly well planned, and though the porta-potty lines were long (as usual), it was nice to be able to wait on the buses (though the lungfuls of exhaust were not nice). Good course. I have to say the 5:30 pacer meant well but was incompetent. We went out in a sub-12 minute pace and the pace should have been 12:36. At 3 miles we were at 35 minutes and I dropped back, knowing I'd already gone out too fast. Course is nice and rolling, though I wish it were on the river parkway rather than on Fair Oaks Blvd. Finish line was NOT good. They ran out of medals again. I walked a mile back from the hotel to find out that they'd been out of medals for awhile and hadn't told us. It's not a big deal for me, as this was my 17th marathon, but for the first-time completers, I'm sure it was a big disappointment. I'll probably be back, but I won't trust a pacer again for a while. Again, not such a big deal for an experienced marathoner, but going out at that pace could be disastrous for a first-time racer. | |
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R. G. from Danville, CA
(12/4/2006)
"Perfect run on a perfect day" (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 California International Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 After running away from the CIM weather reputation to various southern marathons for the last three years, I ran the local CIM for the first time this year and it was a perfect run on a perfect weather day. Temperatures in the low 40's at the start with no wind or clouds led to ideal conditions. Smashed my PR by 9 minutes running with one of MANY pace groups. The course has rollers throughout the first half, but that keeps the legs fresh and none of the climbs are of any significance. Crowd support not on par with the big boys, but there were loud pockets of support scattered through the course and in particular at the relay exchanges. Great design made for a beautiful finisher's medal. Separate finish lines for men and women are a nice touch too. Finish line was well organized with massages, hot soup, food, and sweats all available within yards of the finish. | |
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H. C. from Emeryville, CA
(12/4/2006)
"Rolling Hills, Flat Finish" (about: 2006)
3 previous marathons
| 1 California International Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Net downhill course has quite a few rolling hills for the first 2/3 of the course, but none are that steep or long. After a short hill, it was encouraging to see long stretches of declines. Most of my training was done on completely flat terrain, so my quads did get quite tired and sore during the marathon. Cold (32F) at the start, but the sun warmed things up throughout the day to about 55F. Bus ride to start was well organized and is must for all runners. Bit more crowded throughout run than expected - didn't really thin out till mile 14/15. Wish the water stations were closer to mile markers, but at least they were plentiful. The small towns and scenery were nice. And spectators were great - best of the three marathons that I have run (LA, SF, CIM). Finish was really well done, and the spectators lining the way into the capitol building were energetic. Bag pick-up and food locations were a little hard to find. But food at finish line was good: Clif Bars/recovery drinks, two kinds of soup (lentil and tomato), apples, bananas, bagels, and Starbucks Gingerbread Lattes. Good course to run for a fast time. Was hoping to finish in 3:30, but instead finished in 3:43. Still lowered my PR by 40 minutes. | |
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Jonathan Bischke from Los Angeles, CA
(12/4/2006)
"Highly enjoyable race" (about: 2006)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 California International Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 My brother and I completed the California International Marathon yesterday and highly enjoyed the experience. The weather was beautiful, the fans were enthusiastic and the course was interesting. It's definitely a course that you can run a fast time on, especially if you don't mind rolling hills. The only things that could be improved for the race would be a few more porta-potties at the start (lines were pretty long and resulted in us starting a few minutes after the gun went off) and better food at the finish (loved the tomato soup but there wasn't much else to enjoy). Otherwise, everything about the race was good and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone interested in running a small but enjoyable marathon. | |
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Min-gyu Clark Kim from Davis, CA, USA
(2/6/2006)
"Fantastic" (about: 2005)
1 previous marathon
| 1 California International Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my very first marathon in my life and I just loved it. This marathon actually inspired me to become a better runner and since this event, I have been training intensively. The course was mostly downhill and very scenic. What surprised me was the spectators and volunteers. They were there to cheer you in that early chilly morning. I really thank their effort in spite of weekend morning sleepover. As for the organization, I can't really compare with others yet, because this was my first marathon. However, there were plenty of water stations and porta-potties and so forth. And yeah, the medal at the finish line was beautiful. Well, overall I loved it and yes, I am running next year - with intensive preparation to make the Boston Marathon! | |
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RJ Lott from Richland, Washington
(1/26/2006)
"Marathon is set up for a fast time!" (about: 2006)
2 previous marathons
| 1 California International Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Definitely do this race for a very quick time! There is plenty of room to run on the wide streets and the frequent aid stations and spectators will keep you going! Just be careful of the weather. It can be quite cool at the start (near freezing). The days leading up to the race in 2006 were quite cold, rainy and windy! Also watch out for the fast start. It would be very wise to stick with one of the excellent pacers the entire route. | |
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k. m. from Central Valley CA
(1/4/2006)
"Good race but not great" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
| 3 California International Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 This was my third run of CIM and admittedly a mistake was made on my part - promised to help a slower run acheive a PR. That said, there seems to be an attitude of "if you ain't fast - you ain't nothing" by many race organizers, not limited to CIM. Pacing to finish at 5:45 found that many of the water stations were closed well before the cut-off (many volunteers were apologizing), the trucks picking up equipment were darting in and around runners - and worst of all - there was very, very little support at the finish and no medals. The reason given? "More people than expected." Oh my gosh! How, after 24 years of putting on a race, can you run short of medals? We did receive in the mail a medal only three weeks later - that was impressive and responsive - but this race is going to be in trouble when folks catch on to the Sac Cowtown Marathon held the first weekend of October when the weather is more predictable. |
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