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☰
Baltimore Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Baltimore Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 3.9 
Organization 4.0 
Spectators 4.1
Number of comments: 443 [displaying comments 181 to 191]
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J. B. from Owings Mills, MD
(10/15/2007)
"Great Course; Great Support!" (about: 2007)
4-5 previous marathons
| 2 Baltimore Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This was my second Baltimore Marathon (I also ran in 2005). I have run 4 marathons, and Baltimore has been my favorite so far. The expo is organized - easy in and easy out. Plenty of parking very close to the start/finish area. Also, public transportation is available. I really love the course. The hills are a challenge, but there is more than enough spectator support to push you through them. After running the hills, the last 4 miles were a breeze! Plenty of water/Gatorade stops. Fruit and gels were plentiful on the course as well. Post-race stuff is also well organized. My son ran the half marathon, and I was able to meet up with him with no problems. Baltimore also offers many restaurants close to the finish for a nice celebration afterward. This is definitely a race that I would do again. | |
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Richard Patitucci from Philadelphia Pa.
(10/14/2007)
"Awesome, Awesome, Awesome" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 Baltimore Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I ran this race last year (2006) and I loved the course, so being only 90 miles away I decided to do it again. The 2006 Under Armour shirt was very nice, but the quality was not as high as in 2007. The medal was also nice in 2006 but it just got so much nicer that it blew me away. I am a medal freak; be careful - it's contagious. The course could not possibly be better. Thanks, guys. This is triple A marathon. | |
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J. C. from Jersey City, NJ
(10/14/2007)
"Nice Organization but Tough Course" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Baltimore Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 My first time running this race: Pros: 1) Great organization with the bag check-in and plenty of water/Gatorade stops. 2) Excellent job by the helpful volunteers at the start and finish and everywhere in between (thank you!). 3) Though crowd support was somewhat spotty (it is an early 8 a.m. start, so that's understandable), I really liked routing the 1/2 point of the marathon past the half-marathoners and spectators waiting for their race to start - a nice touch! 4) Nice post-race set-up and great food freebies! Cons: 1) Tough course - as previous posting said, the hills just kept "coming and coming." 2) My biggest gripe - lack of clocks!! Come on, spend a few extra bucks to have a few more clocks out there. To go 5 miles at some point without knowing your splits is really annoying! 3) The relayer runners understand that the race needs them to be an inclusive event, but what a distraction to have them zip in and around you - I almost got tripped up by them a couple of times. Overall, I enjoyed my experience with this race. | |
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J. K. from West Virginia
(10/14/2007)
"Well-run, warm conditions" (about: 2007)
6-10 previous marathons
| 2 Baltimore Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 This was my second Baltimore - in both, the high temp was in the mid-60's, which slowed my finishing times a bit. I joked with one of the pacers at about mile 19, who obviously wasn't going to finish in the time on the back of his shirt. He was lamenting the warm conditions, even from the 8 AM start. In my experience, the warm weather plus moderate hills makes it unlikely to PR at Baltimore. Nonetheless, a very well-run event, enjoyable course, nice shirt and medal. My only minor complaints: 1) after having plenty of room to run, at mile 16 the half-marathoners merge in and cause crowding much like that at the start of the race. The bright spot is that, unlike most marathons, I found I could pass many of the half-ers in the last 6 miles, which was a psychological boost. 2) Note to spectators: Fans are not as encouraging as in other bigger marathons. My wife, who has been to many of my other marathons, was standing in the spectator crowd and says she was surprised at the lack of enthusiasm - much less cheering than she was accustomed to. Also, she was unable to see me during the entire second-half of the race. She was advised by the locals that crossing the city to get to mile 18 was not safe! | |
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M. E. from Gaithersburg, MD
(10/14/2007)
"Great time!" (about: 2007)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Baltimore Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 This was a great time, with perfect weather, great aid stations, and great crowds. I did this race to complete the "Maryland Double," since I did the Frederick Marathon this past May. There are some hills from 16-22 but the downhill finish makes up for it, in my opinion. My only complaint would be that when the marathon joins up with the half, it was at about mile 15 or 16 and we merged with the slowest half runners (I was running about a 9:40 mile, so if you're faster, this wouldn't be a factor). So I was weaving through those people, which tired me out a bit. I would recommend this to anyone. Don't be scared off by the hills; they're all doable and spread out. | |
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A. V. from Newark, Delaware
(10/14/2007)
"Great course, organized well, had lots of fun!" (about: 2007)
2 previous marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Wow, what a awesome city to run a marathon in! I just want to recognize the Baltimore City Police first because without them we wouldn't have a safe course to run on. Police were stationed at every turn/street the entire way providing lots of encouragement. Thank you to the National Park Service and the rangers for allowing us to run through Fort Mchenry National Park & Shrine, that was definitely a highlight for me. I think the race was organized very well. I was near the front during the first half but at the very end the second half thanks to the hills but every single water & food station especially near mile 25 was neatly filled and with volunteers happily cheering you on. The finish area was near empty when we arrived but with lots of water, fruit, chips. Every station (roughly every 2 miles) had at least a half dozen or more porto-potties with a few places (Ft Mchenry) having bathrooms. I've never seen a race with so many places to do your thing. The course was great, I was able to see alot of Baltimore I had never seen before other than the Inner Harbor, etc. The first 3 miles or so was a gradual uphill climb but downhill and then flat until about mile 16. Miles 16-20 is where the steep hills were but rewarded with a nice food/water station along the lake. Flat until about mile 23 and then downhill the rest of the way! Course highlights included Ft. Mchenry, Inner Harbor, Lake Montebello, SO many church steeples, unbelievable crowd support even if it were just the police officers or neighborhood kids in some areas. Lots of free parking, arrived around 7am - no traffic tie ups and left without any problems. The stadium location is the perfect place to have and handle an event of this size. Having the stadium bathrooms open was great which also made the port-potty wait time less than 15 minutes. The expo was OKAY, I didn't like having to go from one end to pick up the race packet & hike to the other far end to get the shirt but I guess it's their way to make sure you pass by all the booths. The weather was perfect! It was sunny and 46F at the start and 64F by 1pm. Winds were calm but slowly picked up to about 13-14 mph along the way. This was by far the best experience I've had running any race including past marathons. You couldn't ask for a better medal, love the crab! Thank you Baltimore! | |
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C. L. from Maryland, USA
(10/14/2007)
"Great race in a great city w/ fabulous spectators" (about: 2007)
3 previous marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 I ran the half marathon; it was my 11th half marathon and probably the most challenging. I knew there would be hills and I do run some hills in my training. But these just kept coming one right after another. Not a PR course, but still worth doing! The race goes through a lot of different neighborhoods and every one of them had people out cheering for us, kids wanting high-fives, etc. Plenty of well stocked aid stations, with a fish stop giving out Swedish Fish, and gummy bear stop later on. There is plenty of food and entertainment at the finish area and the last bit of the course has you running through the gates of Camden Yards. | |
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C. H. from New York
(10/14/2007)
"Ouch." (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Baltimore Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 I don't really think it's okay to call people "wimps" who find this course challenging. When you're running hills from miles 16-20, I think it's fair to say: this is a difficult course. The weather was great, the water stations were fine, and there weren't many spectators other than the ones who were waiting for their relay team to pass off the timing chip, as a result. I'd say this is a pretty average marathon at best - and one that is extremely difficult. I wouldn't recommend this for any first-timers. | |
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m. b. from The Swamp, DC
(10/13/2007)
"Recommended... but it's not easy" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Baltimore Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 Very well organized run. Interesting expo at Ravens Stadium. Tough course... not the hardest but the hills in the second half seemed to never end. More water was needed. Markings on the course were excellent... cones, I believe, along the entire course. And Baltimore PD did an excellent job with intersection control. The finish behind Camden Yards was also nice. I didn't stick around but the post-race activities looked like a good time. | |
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J. S. from Baltimore
(8/6/2007)
"Too many folks seem to worry about the hills!" (about: 2007)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Baltimore Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Just a simple note: I did this run back in '05 after completing a 15-week training schedule that included runs over various hills (some rolling, some steep). When prepared for this marathon, there is no shock.... There will be some hills, but nothing outrageous. I would think VT and other hilly marathons have steeper or more significant climbs. Again, if you don't just run a treadmill or a flat road, you will be just fine. And factor in a couple slower miles into your pace.... It seems that the runners who complain about these hills are the ones who want to set a PR and won't slow down their pace. This is not a race to get your PR, but the hills are not that bad. Train for it and you'll be just fine. |
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