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Marathon Details - Two Cities Marathon

North America Marathons > USA > CA > Fresno > Two Cities Marathon

Two Cities Marathon

Fleet Feet Two Cities Marathon & Half Marathon, 10K, 5K

Fresno, CA USA

November 3, 2024

http://www.twocitiesmarathon.com

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Race Details

This certified, fast, flat and scenic course is run primarily on paved pedestrian pathways and perfect for the seasoned veteran qualifying for Boston as well as the first-time marathoner.

Contact Information

Name:	Mike Herman
Address:	Fleet Feet Sports Fresno 9447 N Fort Washington Suite 106 Fresno, Ca 93730
Phone Number:	559-289-8444
Email:	Email the organizers

Runner Reviews (49)

Course 4.0

Organization 4.7

Spectators 3.8

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Number of comments: 49 [displaying comments 1 to 11]

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 > ]

k. h. from los angeles (11/2/2015) "Decent course, and very well organized" (about: 2015) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Two Cities Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I think this is a very well organized race. From reading the previous comments, they have made a lot of improvement and split the starting time of the 3 races. No traffic problem as previously described. The Clovis half is more fun and flatter than the Fresno half. Clovis half runs thru the old town bike trail and old town Clovis. There were more shades and only few bumps going in and out the tunnels. The Fresno half has a long stretch of uphill around mile 21. It is an out and back downhill and then uphill. I wish it was the other way around. The last couple miles were flat and finish line area was not far from the startline in a nice park. Very abundant post race food and hot breakfast. One of the best post race food give out I ever been in. The finisher jackets were very nicely made. Overall it is a 5 stars organized race. I can't say the course is bad and I know runners PRed in this race so it is doable. Fresno is not much a travel destination, so you wont travel across the country to run in this race. There are many more faster courses or better scenery races around. So u would expect to see a lot runners are locals or nearby town runners. Very small size for the full but tons of half runners. Can't complain, it is still a very well organized race!
J. B. from Silicon Valley, CA (11/3/2014) "well run, good schwag, decent course" (about: 2014) 6-10 previous marathons \| 2 Two Cities Marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 The course has nice parts: the trail between Fresno and Clovis, and the pretty, small town of Clovis itself. The trail did get crowded, as it's shared between full and half marathoners. Organization and support are above average. Hot breakfast and ice cream sundaes at the finish! I felt like the schwag was not as good as in 2011, when it included a heavy sweatshirt. Also, they ran out of size L finish shirts before most full marathoners finished. (The half marathoners got them.) Spectator support is good along the trail and in Clovis, but there's an out and back from mile 16 to 24 where it's just you and the aid stations.
R. C. from Boston (11/3/2014) "Had a blast running this marathon!" (about: 2014) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Two Cities Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 For a small marathon (387 total), this was really well run and thoroughly enjoyable. Previous years comments complained about having to mix back in with slower half marathon runners on the narrow paved trail section, but this must have been solved by changing the start times of the various events. The marathon started 45 minutes before the Clovis Half, which for me running 7:30 pace meant I didn't meet up with the bulk of them (running the opposite direction from me) until after the out and back section at 10-11 miles. No real issues there except for one water station when the half marathoners didn't pay much attention to runners coming the opposite direction. A little yelling solved this problem! The Fresno half marathoners were not a problem at all as the course was on a four lane street split so that one half was for marathoners and one half for half marathoners. We got a nice running hat, a tech tee, an awesome medal, and a finishers long sleeve hoodie t-shirt. The food afterwards was top notch - sundaes, eggs, potatos, sausage, bananas, plenty of water. They also gave out free massages, although it was an hour wait when I finished so I skipped it. Not a lot of spectators, but those that were there were very supportive.
A. H. from Fresno, California (11/23/2012) "Growing pains" (about: 2012) 11-50 previous marathons \| 3 Two Cities Marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I've run this a few times, in previous iterations there was a half that essentially took off in a different direction from the full. This year a second half was added, unfortunately they were sent out in the same direction as the full marathon (not a problem at first since people did a good job lining up according to pace), HOWEVER their turn around came before the turn around for the full. This meant that those running the full did a few more miles after the half marathon turn around, then made their turn around only to run smack into slower half marathon runners just before the point where the course narrows! Shortly thereafter, there was another short out-and-back for the full, but not the half, so we then re-entered the course with even slower half runners. Other than that, it's still a great, reasonably-priced event, the weather's almost always perfect, the hooded sweatshirt and hot breakfast at the finish are if anything getting better, every year there are a few more spectators. All of the good comments below are true, this really is an excellent example of a friendly local race put on by runners for runners. In its current form, it would make an outstanding first marathon experience or a great alternative to big corporate events, but as a fast course for those looking to BQ or PR, I have reservations.
j. c. from bako, califus (bakersfield) (11/6/2012) "much improvement from the 1st year but." (about: 2012) 50+ previous marathons \| 2 Two Cities Marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I like the new course and the organization much improved. I am ok running without too many spectators. i went to try to break 2:50 minutes but i got discourage after mile 4 when I come almost to a full stop on a wall of people running the half marathon. It takes too much energy to weave and go though hundreds of runners who are walking. on mile 8 or 9 i was tripped right entering the tunnel and stumble almost hitting my face on the ground. then after getting up and started to regain my balance , I was hit right on my face by a lady walking and waving to her friends and she got very upset. the bike path is too small to have so many people walk and run it is just unsafe and reduces the chances of improving better times. at least make a 3 feet lane for faster or elite runners. good luck
B. P. from CA (11/14/2011) "Great organization and weather" (about: 2011) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Two Cities Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 First off, organization of this race is top notch relative to other small marathons. The Aid stations were well stocked, goodies were excellent, and there was a very nice expo for the bib pickup area. The only gripe for the expo was that the baseball stadium where they had it was in a sketchy neighborhood, and there weren't clear signs for where to park. The weather couldn't have been better. There was a threat of a rain storm the day before, but it was done before the start. Better yet, there wasn't any annoying wind to deal with. The course was ok, but nothing exciting. Lot's of straightaways, which I actually like, but a significant section of the course is on a bike path that runs diagonal through town. This means there were several short tunnels under roads we had to run through with slight dips and inclines right before and after. They weren't as bad as some bike paths I've been on, but they did break up your pace. The bigger issue was the ~3 mile incline after the 20 mile turnaround point. It's not steep, and you really can't call it a hill, but right at the time your legs are getting really tired the last thing you want is a long steady incline for three miles. It probably slowed everyone's finishing time by at least a minute to deal with it. It might be a good idea for the race director to consider adjusting the course, like adding more distance in Clovis (it is called Two Cities) to avoid that long incline. The Finish area food and goodies were great. There was a FULL breakfast waiting for us at the finish, which I've never seen before. The Finisher medal was nice, although they neglected to put the year directly on it (just on the ribbon part). I really liked getting the finisher sweatshirt at the end as well. Mine had a sewing issue on the shoulders, but that's easily fixable. It was neat going shopping and eating after the race in Fresno and seeing the sweatshirts everywhere. The Tech shirt given at the expo was also nice and unique looking. The crowd support for the race was pretty good for a small marathon. The bike path section was pretty quiet, but because of the cross traffic of the marathon course, there was plenty of cheering going on. The marathon added your name on the bib, which meant complete strangers knew my name and cheered for me. Really nice to have that. The biggest crowds were actually on the last section from miles 17 to the finish. Overall a well run race on a 'flattish' course. I'd like them to consider adjusting the route to avoid that incline (especially when they advertise flat and fast), but in reality it's a minor quibble.
C. R. from Saskatchewan (11/15/2010) "Well organized marathon" (about: 2010) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Two Cities Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 We picked this race because of the great reviews on this site and because of the flat course. Because we live in a place that has absolutely no hills (inclines are even hard to find!) it is hard to train for hilly courses. The race lived up to its reputation for being well organized. Everything ran as expected: hotel shuttles were great, volunteers on the course were plentiful, and exuberantly friendly and encouraging, and as other have mentioned there were tons and tons of porta-lets. I also really liked the finish line and finish chute: lots of space to move around before encountering the rest of the finishers in the food area. We didn't mind the basic out-and-back structure of the course, nor the urban/suburban nature of the scenery. That was fine if not the most exciting thing to see (mind you, the mountains in the background were nice to see). The course is not completely flat, however; from miles 17-25 there is first a gradual decline and then a gradual incline, with a mid-sized hill thrown in. As flat-landers, this didn't in fact bother us, but it was noticeable. Overall, this is a marathon worth returning to from our perspective and we plan to be back in 2011. The volunteers and organizer really made us feel like stars, even though we finished well down the field. It is fun to run in such circumstances.
D. B. from North Vancouver, Bc Canada (11/13/2010) "boring course; great organization and support" (about: 2010) 1 previous marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I did the 1/2 marathon and it wasn't just one, but two out-and-back courses! I prefer loops or point-to-point running, but the promise of shirt, medal, sweatshirt and sundae swayed me to enter. We stayed at the Spring Hill Marriott: very nice hotel, wonderful service, great marathon rate. The shuttle service ran like Swiss clockwork and our driver was very enthusiastic. The music on the course made for a great pick-me-up. I couldn't vote because I enjoyed so many. My one complaint on the finish area: I was going to go to the beer garden and asked if I could return to the food/finish area. I had a friend running the marathon and I wanted to return to see her finish. I was told that I could return, as I had a finisher's medal around my neck. However, when I tried to reenter, I was stopped as I didn't have a VIP pass! Perhaps a miscommunication with volunteers?
J. P. from Chico, California (11/13/2010) "Great Marathon, Well Organized" (about: 2010) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Two Cities Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 In looking for a fall marathon, I saw all of the great comments here at MarathonGuide about this race, so I decided to try it. I was not disappointed. Well organized, and the shuttle buses between the hotels and the start/finish area were great. Not big buses that they waited until full before moving, but rather vans that once one or two people were on them would take you! And with about a dozen vans, there was never a wait. One big problem with most marathon is the long wait at the porta-potty before the start. Not here. There were more porta-potties at the start line than I could really count (at least a 150 - minimum). Nice-looking, long-sleeve tech shirt; running hat; finisher's hooded sweaty; and a nice-looking medal. Full breakfast, ice cream sundae, beer. Lots of water/Gatorade stations. VIP treatment. All of this without an overpriced entry fee. Seems like a race that was put on by runners for runners. The only negative was probably the long out-and-back on Friant Road at the end of the run (miles 17-25). A boring stretch of tilted road with an incline on the way back. But other than that, a great event. Definitely would recommend it.
Eddie Hahn from Crestline, CA (11/12/2010) "Top-Notch Logistics." (about: 2010) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Two Cities Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 The race organizers don't miss much. There was even an option to pick up my race packet the morning of - an extreme rarity in a marathon. I am hard-pressed to remember one of my 126 marathons that offered more "swag": Long-sleeve technical shirt, a hat and a hooded finisher's sweater. A full breakfast, ice cream sundae and a beer garden. Plenty of electrolyte replacement and water every mile. A relative flat course with only one significant hill around mile 21. The contained starting and finishing corrals and chutes really "spotlight" the runners. Though it's run in fall, the course is not particularly scenic: typical, urban, big-city surroundings.

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 > ]



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k. h. from los angeles (11/2/2015) "Decent course, and very well organized" (about: 2015) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Two Cities Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I think this is a very well organized race. From reading the previous comments, they have made a lot of improvement and split the starting time of the 3 races. No traffic problem as previously described. The Clovis half is more fun and flatter than the Fresno half. Clovis half runs thru the old town bike trail and old town Clovis. There were more shades and only few bumps going in and out the tunnels. The Fresno half has a long stretch of uphill around mile 21. It is an out and back downhill and then uphill. I wish it was the other way around. The last couple miles were flat and finish line area was not far from the startline in a nice park. Very abundant post race food and hot breakfast. One of the best post race food give out I ever been in. The finisher jackets were very nicely made. Overall it is a 5 stars organized race. I can't say the course is bad and I know runners PRed in this race so it is doable. Fresno is not much a travel destination, so you wont travel across the country to run in this race. There are many more faster courses or better scenery races around. So u would expect to see a lot runners are locals or nearby town runners. Very small size for the full but tons of half runners. Can't complain, it is still a very well organized race!
J. B. from Silicon Valley, CA (11/3/2014) "well run, good schwag, decent course" (about: 2014) 6-10 previous marathons \| 2 Two Cities Marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 The course has nice parts: the trail between Fresno and Clovis, and the pretty, small town of Clovis itself. The trail did get crowded, as it's shared between full and half marathoners. Organization and support are above average. Hot breakfast and ice cream sundaes at the finish! I felt like the schwag was not as good as in 2011, when it included a heavy sweatshirt. Also, they ran out of size L finish shirts before most full marathoners finished. (The half marathoners got them.) Spectator support is good along the trail and in Clovis, but there's an out and back from mile 16 to 24 where it's just you and the aid stations.
R. C. from Boston (11/3/2014) "Had a blast running this marathon!" (about: 2014) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Two Cities Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 For a small marathon (387 total), this was really well run and thoroughly enjoyable. Previous years comments complained about having to mix back in with slower half marathon runners on the narrow paved trail section, but this must have been solved by changing the start times of the various events. The marathon started 45 minutes before the Clovis Half, which for me running 7:30 pace meant I didn't meet up with the bulk of them (running the opposite direction from me) until after the out and back section at 10-11 miles. No real issues there except for one water station when the half marathoners didn't pay much attention to runners coming the opposite direction. A little yelling solved this problem! The Fresno half marathoners were not a problem at all as the course was on a four lane street split so that one half was for marathoners and one half for half marathoners. We got a nice running hat, a tech tee, an awesome medal, and a finishers long sleeve hoodie t-shirt. The food afterwards was top notch - sundaes, eggs, potatos, sausage, bananas, plenty of water. They also gave out free massages, although it was an hour wait when I finished so I skipped it. Not a lot of spectators, but those that were there were very supportive.
A. H. from Fresno, California (11/23/2012) "Growing pains" (about: 2012) 11-50 previous marathons \| 3 Two Cities Marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I've run this a few times, in previous iterations there was a half that essentially took off in a different direction from the full. This year a second half was added, unfortunately they were sent out in the same direction as the full marathon (not a problem at first since people did a good job lining up according to pace), HOWEVER their turn around came before the turn around for the full. This meant that those running the full did a few more miles after the half marathon turn around, then made their turn around only to run smack into slower half marathon runners just before the point where the course narrows! Shortly thereafter, there was another short out-and-back for the full, but not the half, so we then re-entered the course with even slower half runners. Other than that, it's still a great, reasonably-priced event, the weather's almost always perfect, the hooded sweatshirt and hot breakfast at the finish are if anything getting better, every year there are a few more spectators. All of the good comments below are true, this really is an excellent example of a friendly local race put on by runners for runners. In its current form, it would make an outstanding first marathon experience or a great alternative to big corporate events, but as a fast course for those looking to BQ or PR, I have reservations.
j. c. from bako, califus (bakersfield) (11/6/2012) "much improvement from the 1st year but." (about: 2012) 50+ previous marathons \| 2 Two Cities Marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I like the new course and the organization much improved. I am ok running without too many spectators. i went to try to break 2:50 minutes but i got discourage after mile 4 when I come almost to a full stop on a wall of people running the half marathon. It takes too much energy to weave and go though hundreds of runners who are walking. on mile 8 or 9 i was tripped right entering the tunnel and stumble almost hitting my face on the ground. then after getting up and started to regain my balance , I was hit right on my face by a lady walking and waving to her friends and she got very upset. the bike path is too small to have so many people walk and run it is just unsafe and reduces the chances of improving better times. at least make a 3 feet lane for faster or elite runners. good luck
B. P. from CA (11/14/2011) "Great organization and weather" (about: 2011) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Two Cities Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 First off, organization of this race is top notch relative to other small marathons. The Aid stations were well stocked, goodies were excellent, and there was a very nice expo for the bib pickup area. The only gripe for the expo was that the baseball stadium where they had it was in a sketchy neighborhood, and there weren't clear signs for where to park. The weather couldn't have been better. There was a threat of a rain storm the day before, but it was done before the start. Better yet, there wasn't any annoying wind to deal with. The course was ok, but nothing exciting. Lot's of straightaways, which I actually like, but a significant section of the course is on a bike path that runs diagonal through town. This means there were several short tunnels under roads we had to run through with slight dips and inclines right before and after. They weren't as bad as some bike paths I've been on, but they did break up your pace. The bigger issue was the ~3 mile incline after the 20 mile turnaround point. It's not steep, and you really can't call it a hill, but right at the time your legs are getting really tired the last thing you want is a long steady incline for three miles. It probably slowed everyone's finishing time by at least a minute to deal with it. It might be a good idea for the race director to consider adjusting the course, like adding more distance in Clovis (it is called Two Cities) to avoid that long incline. The Finish area food and goodies were great. There was a FULL breakfast waiting for us at the finish, which I've never seen before. The Finisher medal was nice, although they neglected to put the year directly on it (just on the ribbon part). I really liked getting the finisher sweatshirt at the end as well. Mine had a sewing issue on the shoulders, but that's easily fixable. It was neat going shopping and eating after the race in Fresno and seeing the sweatshirts everywhere. The Tech shirt given at the expo was also nice and unique looking. The crowd support for the race was pretty good for a small marathon. The bike path section was pretty quiet, but because of the cross traffic of the marathon course, there was plenty of cheering going on. The marathon added your name on the bib, which meant complete strangers knew my name and cheered for me. Really nice to have that. The biggest crowds were actually on the last section from miles 17 to the finish. Overall a well run race on a 'flattish' course. I'd like them to consider adjusting the route to avoid that incline (especially when they advertise flat and fast), but in reality it's a minor quibble.
C. R. from Saskatchewan (11/15/2010) "Well organized marathon" (about: 2010) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Two Cities Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 We picked this race because of the great reviews on this site and because of the flat course. Because we live in a place that has absolutely no hills (inclines are even hard to find!) it is hard to train for hilly courses. The race lived up to its reputation for being well organized. Everything ran as expected: hotel shuttles were great, volunteers on the course were plentiful, and exuberantly friendly and encouraging, and as other have mentioned there were tons and tons of porta-lets. I also really liked the finish line and finish chute: lots of space to move around before encountering the rest of the finishers in the food area. We didn't mind the basic out-and-back structure of the course, nor the urban/suburban nature of the scenery. That was fine if not the most exciting thing to see (mind you, the mountains in the background were nice to see). The course is not completely flat, however; from miles 17-25 there is first a gradual decline and then a gradual incline, with a mid-sized hill thrown in. As flat-landers, this didn't in fact bother us, but it was noticeable. Overall, this is a marathon worth returning to from our perspective and we plan to be back in 2011. The volunteers and organizer really made us feel like stars, even though we finished well down the field. It is fun to run in such circumstances.
D. B. from North Vancouver, Bc Canada (11/13/2010) "boring course; great organization and support" (about: 2010) 1 previous marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I did the 1/2 marathon and it wasn't just one, but two out-and-back courses! I prefer loops or point-to-point running, but the promise of shirt, medal, sweatshirt and sundae swayed me to enter. We stayed at the Spring Hill Marriott: very nice hotel, wonderful service, great marathon rate. The shuttle service ran like Swiss clockwork and our driver was very enthusiastic. The music on the course made for a great pick-me-up. I couldn't vote because I enjoyed so many. My one complaint on the finish area: I was going to go to the beer garden and asked if I could return to the food/finish area. I had a friend running the marathon and I wanted to return to see her finish. I was told that I could return, as I had a finisher's medal around my neck. However, when I tried to reenter, I was stopped as I didn't have a VIP pass! Perhaps a miscommunication with volunteers?
J. P. from Chico, California (11/13/2010) "Great Marathon, Well Organized" (about: 2010) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Two Cities Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 In looking for a fall marathon, I saw all of the great comments here at MarathonGuide about this race, so I decided to try it. I was not disappointed. Well organized, and the shuttle buses between the hotels and the start/finish area were great. Not big buses that they waited until full before moving, but rather vans that once one or two people were on them would take you! And with about a dozen vans, there was never a wait. One big problem with most marathon is the long wait at the porta-potty before the start. Not here. There were more porta-potties at the start line than I could really count (at least a 150 - minimum). Nice-looking, long-sleeve tech shirt; running hat; finisher's hooded sweaty; and a nice-looking medal. Full breakfast, ice cream sundae, beer. Lots of water/Gatorade stations. VIP treatment. All of this without an overpriced entry fee. Seems like a race that was put on by runners for runners. The only negative was probably the long out-and-back on Friant Road at the end of the run (miles 17-25). A boring stretch of tilted road with an incline on the way back. But other than that, a great event. Definitely would recommend it.
Eddie Hahn from Crestline, CA (11/12/2010) "Top-Notch Logistics." (about: 2010) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Two Cities Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 The race organizers don't miss much. There was even an option to pick up my race packet the morning of - an extreme rarity in a marathon. I am hard-pressed to remember one of my 126 marathons that offered more "swag": Long-sleeve technical shirt, a hat and a hooded finisher's sweater. A full breakfast, ice cream sundae and a beer garden. Plenty of electrolyte replacement and water every mile. A relative flat course with only one significant hill around mile 21. The contained starting and finishing corrals and chutes really "spotlight" the runners. Though it's run in fall, the course is not particularly scenic: typical, urban, big-city surroundings.

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Marathon Details - Two Cities Marathon