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Indianapolis Monumental Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Indianapolis Monumental Marathon Information & Reviews

Course Rating Course 4.6 
 
Oranization Rating Organization 4.5 
 
Spectator Rating Spectators 3.8 
 
 
Number of comments: 214 [displaying comments 131 to 141]
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Mike Else from Fort Wayne IN (11/8/2010)
"well organized, good traffic control, very fast" (about: 2010)

11-50 previous marathons | 1 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon
COURSE: 4  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 2


If you are looking for a great BQ race, this is it: very flat, and very fast. There's not such great crowd support, but the course makes up for it.

 

T. P. from Lee's Summit, MO (11/8/2010)
"True to its Word: Flat and Fast" (about: 2010)

11-50 previous marathons | 1 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 4  FANS: 3


Packet pickup - easy. Don't know when the IMM will move to the disposable timing device, but hopefully soon. Expo was small but had everything you needed, if you needed anything.

Weather - perfect. Bit breezy, but no complaints here. Course was awesome. Flat and fast. I always appreciate the volunteers - couldn't be a race without them. Do work on the water stops - the half-full, tiny Dixie cups of Gatorade were not sufficient. Water cups were plentiful though. Gel stops were also plentiful and appreciated. Of the 17 marathons I have done, this ranks in the top 3 overall.

 

N. K. from Doylestown, PA (11/8/2010)
"Truly a great place to set your pace." (about: 2010)

11-50 previous marathons | 1 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 4


I was hoping to qualify for Boston at 3:10 but came in at 3:17, which was still a 14-minute PR. This course is extremely fast, and there are no hills. The race was well organized with clear mile markers and excellent water stops.

Considering it's Indiana, the course was pretty scenic. It took you through some great places, and the fall foliage was great! The food at the end of the course was abundant and the medical staff is strong. If you get hurt during the race, you'll be well taken care of!

 

S. K. from Indiana (11/8/2010)
"This race keeps getting better!" (about: 2010)

6-10 previous marathons | 3 Indianapolis Monumental Marathons
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 4


I've run this race since the inaugural event. Every year it keeps getting more and more awesome. The course is flat and fast and really shows off the best of what Indianapolis has to offer. It was very well organized and the 1-minute timing glitch that popped up for some racers was taken care of quickly. Lots of aid stations well placed along the route. The number of spectators throughout the course is increasing every year, but there are some places where they are a little sparse. However, those who came out to cheer the runners on were really encouraging this year. Finisher's hats this year were a nice and unexpected touch!

 

R. P. from Atlanta, GA (11/8/2010)
"A nice fall race" (about: 2010)

11-50 previous marathons | 1 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon
COURSE: 4  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 3


This is a nice fall race and worth running to pick up Indiana or to run if you live in the region.

Pros:
1). Good organization:  All of the key details were covered. The course was well marked with large mile markers. Multiple water stops also had gels, bananas and other extras. There were ample course monitors and police. The post-race area included a tent with chairs and hot food (chili).

2). Good music: For a race this size the organizers recruited a large number of musicians. My favorites were the multiple drum lines from area high school bands and the sorority girls singing Disney songs (I have two little girls and thus knew all of them).

3). PR Conditions: The field is not too large and the course is flat. The crowd was small enough so I could easily get on pace and large enough to find others running my pace.

4). Perks:  Runners received a medal and a hat at the finish. The race poster had all of the runners names printed in micro-type as the background. The pasta dinner was at the top floor of a downtown hotel and had a nice view.

Cons:
There were no real cons, but I did note a couple of areas for improvement.

1). Pacers: From what I saw the pacers were running too fast. I started behind one group that was running about 20 seconds ahead of pace for the first 4 miles. This is not unique to this race. It's a problem Ive seen at many marathons and one the organizers can't really control.

2). Tiny Gatorade cups: The Gatorade cups were a bit small. It'd be nice to have larger cups with more liquid, especially at later stops. The water cups were fine.

3). Bags for finish line food: There were a lot of little items in the post-race food and my hands were already full with the mylar blanket, my hat, and the race hat. It'd be nice to either provide small sacks or to pre-bag a selection of the food for runners to make it easier to carry everything after the race.

Observations:
I read about irate motorists in last years posts and they were here this year. I heard plenty of honking. My favorite was the woman who rolled down her window and yelled, "I have somewhere I need to be. Why don't you run someplace else?"

The course is very pleasant. It's not a scenic wonder, but Indianapolis has more green space and more points of interest than similar cities its size.

 

J. H. from United States (11/8/2010)
"Flat and Fast!" (about: 2010)

3 previous marathons | 1 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 4


This course is as flat as advertised. It's well organized, and for a smaller marathon there is a lot of fan support. Water/Gatorade/porta-potty at every mile, which is always nice. I have a feeling this event is going to grow quickly. The hotels are all very close to the start/finish line too. Being in November, it's nice that the threat of heat is pretty much out of play. Great race.

 

P. S. from Chicago (11/8/2010)
"An ideal small marathon" (about: 2010)

4-5 previous marathons
COURSE: 4  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 3


This is a very well organized marathon that provides a pleasant contrast to the madness of the majors (e.g. Chicago). You can show up 15 minutes before the race, easily find a good position at the start, and do not have to deal with congestion during the run.

The volunteers are friendly, helpful, and plentiful.

The pasta dinner is reasonably priced and offers a solid selection of good food.

Of course, as is always the case with smaller races, spectator support is sparse in some areas, but that is not something on which I place much importance. There was a good crowd downtown at the start, which was impressive because it was in the 20s and still dark.

The course is flat, straight, and ideal for a BQ. Some parts are quite pretty - though others less so.

My only quibbles are that there was not enough Gatorade - several of the aid stations only had water. Additionally, the Gatorade was placed in thimble-sized cups, which made it hard to get enough without a long stop. Also, some of the bands were too loud for my taste. I don't really enjoy being blasted by heavy metal when I'm struggling to stay on my feet in the last 10K.

But these are minor criticisms, and overall, I found this to be a great race. I would definitely do it again and recommend it to anyone who wants to run a pleasant race and is looking for a PR/BQ.

 

G. R. from Atlanta, GA (11/8/2010)
"Well organized and great course to set PR" (about: 2010)

11-50 previous marathons | 1 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon
COURSE: 4  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 3


I enjoyed being able to walk to the start right from my hotel... and the same thing upon finishing. I would highly recommend this race to anyone seeking a very fast course. Nice tech tee and good quality finisher's medal were also provided. Plenty of hydration stations along the course and the volunteers manning them were fantastic.

My only criticism, if any, is about the significant number traffic control snarls in certain areas. The cops did an awesome job, but I have never seen a race with as many active traffic areas as this one. There was one particular area were the traffic was sitting still three lanes-deep and a good mile-long. I felt bad for those people stuck in traffic on a Saturday morning.

 

J. C. from Chicago (11/7/2010)
"Beautiful course; better than average crowd" (about: 2010)

6-10 previous marathons | 1 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 4  FANS: 3


This is the best of Indy for sure. It is a very pretty race course, and it took me by surprise. Many nice looks at the city, downtown, Butler, Meridian Road and the nice homes of Broad Ripple. The crowd was ok - a little better than average - but it was supportive of everyone. I think this race will get better. So great scenery, pretty well organized although it seems a little long according to my Garmin and do think tables should be a little more spaced out.

Overall, I would do this race again - and congrats to Indy on a very fine marathon (one of the better ones).

However, note it has a few rollers - nothing hard at all, but certainly not as flat as, say, Chicago or Phoenix. So yes: flat, but do not expect your Garmin to show an elevation change of 80 (I had about 210 gain and thought there were a few little challenges later in the race that my legs could feel).

 

J. D. from CT (11/7/2010)
"I would run it again!" (about: 2010)

11-50 previous marathons | 1 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon
COURSE: 4  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 3


Not just because I set a P.R. and ran my first sub 3 here yesterday, but I found everything about the race to be a marathoner's marathon!

The only part of the race that was a negative were the conditions of some of the roads downtown. A lot of that is probably due to the fact that there is a huge amount of construction going on because the super bowl is coming to town. From what the locals said, the whole downtown area is getting a facelift. I thought the downtown was great though... it was clean, with plenty of hotels and lots of places to eat.

Race-day logistics were extremely easy, corral assignments were just fine, and the race started on time. The participants were extraordinary too. I'm from the Northeast and love heading to the Midwest.
Nice job!

 

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