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Indianapolis Monumental Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Indianapolis Monumental Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.6 
Organization 4.5 
Spectators 3.8
Number of comments: 214 [displaying comments 141 to 151]
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D. B. from Chicago Suburbs
(11/7/2010)
"Great Medium-Sized Race!" (about: 2010)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 The course is scenic, mostly flat, and a lot of fun. A couple of hills here and there (big-ish one at 15 miles, crazy off-ramp downhill at 30K) keep you on your toes, so to speak. Spectators are very enthusiastic, but sparse. I think I went from 17-20 miles without a single spectator. Water stations are very plentiful, but too short, causing a few traffic jams. Parts of the course run in a closed lane on active highways, so be aware. There are numerous places where a police officer is holding traffic. Some crossings got a little close. Gear check is OK, but some sort of tag for the bags would be nice - masking tape works, but not very well. Getting a handshake, and a "thank-you" from the RD at the finish was a nice treat. Nice shirt, nice medal, and a nice race hat at the finish - decent swag, indeed. Entry and hotel cost me less than entry in Chicago, so there is a lot of value. Plus, proceeds go to support Indianapolis public school programs. Looking for a fun, late-fall race? Here you go. | |
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David Reinhart from Dallas, TX
(11/6/2010)
"Very Nice Course, Great Organization" (about: 2010)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Note to race director: Thank you so much for having race-day packet pick-up. Us out-of-town 50-Staters cannot always get there early enough the day before. Please continue this tradition. | |
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L. W. from St. Louis, MO
(11/6/2010)
"Well run race with a beautiful flat course." (about: 2010)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I ran the 2010 marathon and had a wonderful experience. I don't consider the expo a big part of any race, but this one left a lot to be desired - very crowded and difficult to find parking (location was good though, as it's right downtown where the marathon starts). I don't understand why more marathons don't mail you your number and chip. Nice that participants had the option to pick up their bib the morning of the race. Race day was cold (30 degrees at the start), but overall, good weather for a marathon. Start was very smooth and runners tended to lineup according to their pace. The halfers started with the fulls so the first 7 miles were crowded but manageable. Spectator support was decent and there were some bands and DJ's on the course. Most of the course was very scenic and was nice having very little wind. There were some minor hills at miles 16-20 but nothing too challenging. The finishing area was well organized with lots of choices of refreshments. Finishers received a hat and nice medal. The first-aid tent had HOT chicken broth which was awesome. The recovery tent was slightly heated, which was nice with soup and soda. I stayed at the Hilton (which is only 2-3 blocks from the start and finish); if you can, stay downtown so you can sleep in a bit and head directly back after the race. I commend the organizers on a great marathon and would definitely consider returning. | |
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S. S. from Lincoln, NE
(11/6/2010)
"Premier heartland marathon" (about: 2010)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This is a great race, and I suspect it will only get better. Flat and fast course. Not the most scenic place in the world, but not bad. Attention to detail is second to none. Runners group at the start according to pace, and there were well marked turns, neon green mile markers, tons of aid stations and volunteers, a heated finish tent with chili, and lots of medical staff everywhere. Minuses: very, very few. I'd like to see the finish re-done. Its a little anti-climactic running past the monument and capitol, and then running around the back of the capitol and finishing on some side street. Also, the spectators were well below what you would see at Chicago or something like that. That being said, I was very impressed with this marathon and expect it to quickly become a premier race. Highly recommended! | |
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T. C. from Indianapolis, Indiana
(10/23/2010)
"Great" (about: 2009)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Really a great course and great organization. | |
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R. T. from Fishers, IN
(6/1/2010)
"Great Race on a Fast Course" (about: 2009)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I enjoyed everything about this race, ran a huge P.R. and comfortably BQ'd. The course is as flat as advertised, fast and scenic. The race video on the website doesn't do the course justice as it is much more scenic than it appears on the video. The race starts and ends downtown and takes in some of Indianapolis' best sites with a nice mix of the city and its neighborhoods. The change of scenery - from the big, downtown buildings, to wide, tree-lined, historic streets with crowd support scattered throughout the course - really helped break it up and helped the miles fly by. There were plenty of water stops staffed with enthusiastic volunteers. Others have lodged minor complaints with the water stops, gel, etc., but I had no problems getting or finding water, PowerAde or gels when and where offered. In only its second year, I was surprised at the number of spectators who were out cheering us on. The finisher's medal was the nicest I have received. It is high-quality, heavy and the full and half finishers get different-colored ribbons and medals, which I thought was a nice touch. It is even more significant because I ran my first BQ for it. The expo was nice and, for a marathon of this size, exceeded my expectations. The runners also got a nice tech shirt. The pasta dinner was good, affordable and offered two great speakers. One was a running coach and veteran marathoner of 100+ marathons, who was leading one of the pace groups. The other was Hal Higdon. I went early to hear Hal, but the coach, who was the first speaker, was every bit as good and provided some great tips too. The Indianapolis Monumental Marathon is a well organized and run event. I have run other big races, e.g., Marine Corps and Chicago. The IMM is not as big, but every bit as good. It is a great choice for a fall marathon and a good place to B.Q. I enjoyed it and think you would too. | |
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t. p. from akron,ohio
(12/31/2009)
"Where's my shirt?" (about: 2009)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 Even though I pre-registered, when I went to packet pick-up on race day, they were out of shirts and said no more would be made. I always assumed that pre-registering guaranteed you a shirt unless otherwise noted. I'm having a quilt made of marathon shirts and this was a monumental race (my eighth in 43 days and 40th overall). | |
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S. S. from Chicago, IL
(11/21/2009)
"Flat and fast; but was it long?" (about: 2009)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Overall well-organized race. Flat with good scenery. I have two minor (and fixable) complaints: 1) Was it 26.2? My Garmin showed it at 26.66. By looking at the mile markers as against my Garmin as I ran, miles 8, 9 or 10 seemed to be long. As a comparison, my Garmin calculated 26.54 for Chicago in 2008 for a much more crowded race in which I couldn't run straight lines around many more corners than Indy. Indy should have been much closer to 26.2. This added length would have been an emotional issue had I been racing for a Boston qualifier. 2) Length of water stops: Yes, there were plenty of them. The problem was the distance to pick up a drink seemed shorter than usual, which created logjams and lots of collisions as runners jostled for drinks. This was a consistent problem - it wasn't just a couple of stops. Advice: space your volunteers out more at each stop and these will go more smoothly. | |
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J. C. from Indianapolis, Indiana
(11/15/2009)
"Overall great - but REALLY unhappy motorists!" (about: 2009)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 The course is really flat, there were plenty of water stops with very friendly volunteers manning them, and the spectators were wonderful. My only complaint was that, throughout the course, I listened to angry motorists who had been stopped by the course and were shouting unhappily at the police officers. Those who weren't shouting had looks of disgust on their faces as the runners went by. These cars seemed stuck - there was no way for them to turn around. Did they sit there for hours? Wasn't there any way to divert them from the course BEFORE they got stuck? When you're needing a bit of encouragement during a long, long race, it's hard to listen to and see so many unhappy people. | |
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D. S. from Cox's Creek, Kentucky
(11/14/2009)
"Good first-marathon experience; wish I did better!" (about: 2009)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Indianapolis Monumental Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 For my first marathon, I decided to try one where I grew up, in the Indy area. The familiar spots would help to spur me on to the finish, I thought. The expo was great. Going into the cooler running months, I wish that the tech shirt was long-sleeve, but it was nice. The course was well laid out, and not too difficult, except for some strong headwinds in the second half. Lot of water stations, but I had trouble locating PowerAde and gels, and missed the first gel station. Perhaps some banners for these items would make locating them easier. Although I ended up with severe foot pain and added another 50 minutes on my second half of the run, I still finished, and enjoyed the event. Plenty of fruit and fluids at the finish, and the medal impressed my young daughters. I will definitely be back, and am hooked into marathoning!! Great event! |
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