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Sep 19, 2024

Georgia Marathon Runner Comments

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Course 4.1

Organization 3.1

Spectators 4.0

Number of comments: 459 [displaying comments 371 to 381]

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E. H. from Jacksonville, FL (3/26/2007) "Good freshman showing; could use improvement" (about: 2007) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Georgia Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 Decent overall for an inaugural event. It's easy to nitpick everything they did wrong, but I'll start with the positive points: The Good: 1) Good expo, but late in the afternoon on Saturday the line for the 1/2 marathon pick-up was literally out the door and around the block. At least a 45-minute wait. Ouch. Thankfully there was no wait for marathon pick-up. 2) Surprisingly good crowd support. 3) Nice to see parts of Atlanta I otherwise would never see. The Bad: 4) Porto-pots were nowhere to be found at the start. Lots of folks relieving themselves on buildings though. After the race I found where a few were hidden - how about giving an overview of the start area in the race packet showing where the amenities are. 5) How about locating the gel stations before the water stations, not after. The directions even say to take them with liquid. 6) Missing water stations. At least one station (around mile 5-6) was missing, even though there was a sign on the course saying it was ahead. The Ugly: 7) MARTA - lots of folks missed the start because the public transportation was overwhelmed and couldn't handle the number of people. As much as they'll try steering you to MARTA, drive and pay to park. Traffic didn't appear too bad. 8) No PowerAde. Only the stop at Mile 3 had it. Worst part was signage for all of the stations on the course even said "PowerAde," but none was there, not even at the finish. PowerAde is made by Coca-Cola, who is headquartered in Atlanta. You'd think the race organizers would be able to get their hands on some PowerAde. 9) Tough hills. If you are not used to hills, either start training for them or find another marathon to run. This flat-lander from Florida will not be returning to the mountains of Atlanta.
B. A. from Atlanta, Georgai (3/26/2007) "Very HILLY and NO PowerAde!" (about: 2007) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Georgia Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 I had heard that this was a very hard course so I was expecting the worst. Harder than I even expected. The first half was hilly but enjoyable. The second half was GRUELING! I have never seen so many long, gradual and continuous hills. It was really ridiculous. I will say it was a beautiful course, but whoever planned this course must have been driving in a car! It was unusually warm too. All the race organizers had to do was pull up the weather and prepare for it. Absolutely NO PowerAde along the course and two of the stops had NO WATER either. NO excuse. Too bad the organizers could not have come up with a better "running" course and followed up on organization. Atlanta is a great place to run!
N. G. from Atlanta, GA (3/26/2007) "The FANS ROCKED!!!!" (about: 2006) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Georgia Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 Pre-Race: - The expo was great, though they ran out of "goodie" bags and certain size t-shirts around 4 p.m. on Saturday. During the RACE: - The fans were fantastic; they were so energized and pumped up the runners. Thank you fans! - Needed PowerAde or sports drinks. It was advertised on the race map; where did it all go? Post-RACE: - They needed to have food with SUGAR! Green bananas, water, white bagels, small mini-muffins, pretzels, and yogurt tubes were not the best options. People need sugar! Having the VIP tents all in the open with the wonderful "real food" with Moe's burritos was like a darn tease. - I would probably do the race again because the course was great, and the fans were awesome. I might recruit a friend to be at the finish line with real food.
S. G. from Atlanta, GA (3/26/2007) "Poor organization. Great spectators!" (about: 2007) 2 previous marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 4 Water (the Holy Grail) of a marathon was hard to come by. I couldn't even get water until the 8-mile mark due to missing or inadequate water stations. The expo was a disaster. I had to wait in line for an hour to get my number. I also spent 30 minutes looking for a parking spot in downtown Atlanta and still had to pay $5 for it. Why can't they just mail numbers to participants who really don't care about an expo. Do they think I'm going to buy something because they forced me to go to the expo? Pre-race instructions were non-existent. Some people said they got e-mails but I got nada except my reciept from Active.com. MARTA (the Atlanta subway) was unprepared for the number of people counting on it to get to the race. Many people didn't arrive until 20 minutes after the start due to MARTA issues. If you do this race in the future, drive yourself or take a taxi. Don't get stuck in the MARTA trap. The course is challenging with most of the hills coming between 12 and 26 miles. You do get to see the best parts of Atlanta but I'd prefer the hills to come early. Tip to ING: hire the Atlanta Track Club to run your race - they know how to put on a race and you don't! What was great about the event: The Mizuno t-shirts, the great spectators rooting for you even if you are dragging in after 4 hours, the other participants, and of course THE VOLUNTEERS who showed up early and stayed late and handled all the important stuff that just isn't glamorous!
C. S. from Middlefield, CT (3/26/2007) "Tough course, especially without electrolyte" (about: 2007) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Georgia Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 The trip to Atlanta (from Connecticut) for this marathon was my Christmas present this year. It was worth the trip for a good, tough, honest race, but I probably won't be back again. This is a REAL marathon... not smoothed out and straightened up to be the fastest one out there. The hills are constant, if never longer than 400 yards or so. Very few level spots. The scenery OK... it wasn't "spectacular," as they proclaim in the race promo material. It's a suburban race, mostly, with a mile or two of urban running thrown in. What I really liked was the uphill finish. You gain 200 feet over the last three miles, just when it hurts the most. I passed a bunch of hurting folks at that point. The expo was one of the best I've ever seen. Tons of great displays and as someone mentioned already... food samples everywhere. There was a long, long line for packet pick-up for the 1/2 marathoners, though. I have only two real complaints about the race, and they've been touched on before. First, there was only one PowerAde-stocked aid station. There were signs at most stops that said, "PowerAde station ahead" - but there was only water. It was a little rough in the heat. The aid station at mile six did not exist (they were supposed to be every other mile). So early in the race there was a four-mile gap with no support. The second problem I had was with the last seven miles of the marathon course being shared with the half-marathoners. I'm not a road hog. I like to run with other folks. But for the last seven miles I was forced to run most of the course on the wrong side of the cones. Why did you have only half the road closed? The running lane was shoulder-to-shoulder with people walking 10-15 minute miles, while the early marathoners are trying to navigate around them going almost three times faster. And the volunteers (following instructions of course) are screaming at me to get back inside the cones? You MUST close the entire road next year once the 1/2 and the full marathons come together after the course leaves Freedom Parkway. Another funny thing... once on Peachtree for the last two miles or so, there was a separate lane for the 1/2 and for the full. The 1/2's were on the right and the full's on the left. Then about 200 yards from the finish, it became apparent that the 1/2 marathon finish chute was on the left, and the full marathon chute on the right! So you had to cross through a sea of people to get to the correct side. All these issues seem like they should be easy to remedy. I'd recommend this race if you want a challenging course to really sink your teeth into. More likely than not, next year will feature a finely polished product without the first-timer slip-ups.
B. Z. from Atlanta, GA (3/26/2007) "Hills, Potholes and Who Stole the Powerade?" (about: 2007) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Georgia Marathon COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 Some things are out of the control of the organizers, like the record high temperatures, the humidity and the off the charts pollen count but& how do you screw up aid stations? On a day that has been forecast for weeks to be in the 80's, how can the organizers not make the safety of the runners job #1? We needed fluids and electrolytes, not dehydration! Mile 2 (water), mile 4 (water), mile 6 (a sign but NOTHING to drink), mile 8 or was it almost 9 (water). The most important fluid replenishing is at the beginning of the race. Get behind and you never catch up! Unconscionable! The elevation map and course description did not match the course and the scale did not give an accurate picture of what the runners would encounter. I quote the race course guide for spectators "Mile 25 - It is in this mile, that runners will get their first look at the finish line and the large Coca-Cola sign. From here, the race is downhill." Downhill? You have to be joking! The website needs a lot of work on organization. For instance, try to find the full marathon course map. Now try to find the elevation map. Unlike the Alpharetta Marathon three weeks ago, this one is worth salvaging. Rework the course and fix the aid stations and go from there. Oh, Mayor Franklin, when the world comes to the streets of Atlanta - fix the potholes first!
J. B. from Akron, Ohio (3/26/2007) "Beautiful course. No PowerAde, few water stations." (about: 2007) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Georgia Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 I am from Ohio, and had grown up in the Atlanta area. I still have family living there so I took the opportunity to use this marathon as a way to visit my friends and family. The course of the marathon is beautiful. The port-o-potties were plentiful; however I have to say where it went wrong was with the lack of enough water stations and virtually no PowerAde. Coming from the north the heat and lack of fluids really distracted from what could have been a great race. I think all those port-o-pots weren't needed since there was nothing in us to come out. Also, handing out used cups is just disgusting! I will do it again next year in hopes that this will all be corrected because it has the potential to be a great race, but beware of HILLS!!!
J. W. from Atlanta, Ga. (3/26/2007) "Very good for an inaugual event" (about: 2007) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Georgia Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 This is a marathon that is destined for great things. The course is beautiful and challenging, with good neighborhood crowd support. The lack of PowerAde on the course is inexcusable - especially in the home of Coca-Cola - but that's bound to be corrected. Very good expo, good start and finish areas, and a cool-looking medal and technical shirt.
M. R. from Orlando, Florida (3/26/2007) "Where was the Powerade?????" (about: 2007) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Georgia Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 To the Organizers of the ING Atlanta Marathon: First the good: Nice scenic course - Hilly but that is expected in Atlanta Nice Expo - well laid out - a varity of vendors Good Tech shirt - Nice email communication before event Nice Volunteers - I am sorry you had to put up with the complaining runners but you were kind, gentle and appologetic Neat fake balloons over the start line lighting up the night sky- Great people along the course coming out of their homes to cheer the runners on But know the reason you will NEVER see me again in Atlanta - NO POWERADE - and unfortunately I will be telling others in my running circle here in Orlando is that you forgot to pay the Powerade invoice or the delivery man showed up today with the Powerade drink - or the organizers thought this was a personal endurance event for 15,000 people so 'Let them drink only water' (Instead of 'Let them eat cake.'- or the first runner selfishly drank it all - BUT someone messed up - over something that could have been solved - as I am sure you knew before the race started that there was no Powerade on the course and yet did nothing about it leaving the runners and the volunteers in a state of confusion. It is hard to believe that in Atlanta the home of Coca-Cola it would be impossible to get Powerade delivered onto the Marathon course. With the weather so hot - you cannot control that: The course so hilly - it is Atlanta so you can expect - you cannot control that: That there would be NO and I do mean NO Powerade on the course is hard to believe - this you could control: This evening I checked my materials to see if I was delirious yesterday and did see that there was listed 18 water and Powerade stations on your maps and printed material has Powerade listed as a sponsor - yet no Powerade could be found on the course. If I had known that there was not going to be any Powerade I would have brought my own to drink as I cannot, nor can most runners run 26.2 miles, without electrolyte replenishment. As I ran by stores I wished I had brought a few dollars so I could go in and buy a bottle of Gatorade (as I will Never use Powerade again), but who thinks they will need to bring money to buy their own drinks on a marathon course. I, along with other runners in the Marathon, rely on electrolyte replenishment to prevent leg cramps and based on what I was seeing over the last three miles - severe limping, excessive walking and thowing up - a large number of runner did not finish the marathon they set out to complete. I had to walk, as I had severe calf cramps for the first time in my running experience - was it the heat - was it the hills - or was it NO Powerade - well the first two I expected when I signed up and trained for or when I was watching the weather reports over the last 7 days - I have run in the heat in Orlando - but I always drink electrolytes on runs greater that 12 miles. The volunteers at the water stations dealt with a lot of angry upset runners, including me, I wish I could apologize to all of them personally as it was not their fault, they were put in a terrible position by the organizers. I am sure you are getting a lot of emails on this issue today - BUT this was controllable and runners who train for this for up to six months - and travel to Atlanta pay for hotels and airfare - should have Powerade, if so advertised. For first time marathoners - this could keep them from ever trying another distance event as they were exposed to poor organization on something that is SO SIMPLE. For runners like me I will just never be back to the ING Atlanta Marathon as I will spend my time preparing for and entering races that respect the runners who have worked hard to train for an event of 26.2 miles. This race has so much potential for such a simple oversight. Maybe you should talk to Pepsi and get Gatorade to sponsor the event - I think that you can find Pepsi in Atlanta. In addition there was a missing water station between miles 4 to 6 - signs stated a Publix Water station and a Powerade Station was coming up but it was never found.
P. M. from Atlanta, GA (3/26/2007) "Great Course but NO POWERADE!" (about: 2007) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Georgia Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 As an Atlantan, I was proud of the course. It was tough yet very beautiful. The city and its neighborhoods looked great. With no PowerAde, it was very difficult. It's the first big race of any length I've run that was without sports drink. With Coca-Cola based in ATL, I expected more. NONE is unacceptable. Real shame....

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