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Marine Corps Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Marine Corps Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.5 
Organization 3.9 
Spectators 4.6
Number of comments: 937 [displaying comments 491 to 501]
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M. M. from Chicago
(10/31/2006)
"Scenic course, poor organization" (about: 2006)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Marine Corps Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 The course was beautiful, but everything but the course itself was stressful and disappointing. The armory is just too small to hold the expo. The Metro system was not prepared for the sheer volume of people needing to get to 2 stops for the starting line. I had to walk nearly a mile, with very little signage to get to the starting line. I think that in many parts of the course, it was too narrow. Although the staggered starts helped with crowds, it was very, very frustratingly slow for the first 3 miles, and the pace groups then increased speed drastically to make up lost time, which did not work well for me. I was surprised that when an entire road was blocked off, spectators were allowed to take up half the road, limiting runners to the other half. Why not keep spectators off the road completely and open up space for runners? Finally, the finish line was just a disaster. After finishing the race, we had to stand in corrals to wait for marines to give us our medals. There was nowhere to go, but to follow the crowd through the food tent and out to mass chaos. In order to get to the gear check, we had to fight crowds on the narrow bridge where runners met up with supporters. I would suggest not allowing spectators in the immediate finish area. Aside from crowding the course itself, the fans were great, especially heading into the tunnel at mile 20. But the race could stand some changes in the before- and after-race areas. It's possible tht DC just can't handle such a large race and maybe with smaller numbers it would work out better. | |
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J. S. from Chicago Illinois
(10/31/2006)
"Need to improve logistics" (about: 2006)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Marine Corps Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 5 It seems like the Corp, the organizers and the Metro could not get coordinate together. Sounds familiar. Metro: remove the turnstyles! Thank god there were no medical emergencies. Fix the end of the race. Why were there trucks blocking foot traffic over the bridge to Crystal City? The gear trucks - are you kidding me? The personnel did well in assisting us once we found them. Very few people connected with the event knew where they were and there was no signage directing us. On a positive note: a special thanks to the men and women of THE UNITED STATES MARINE CORP. You unselfishly defend our country. We as runners should place medals around YOUR necks. We complain about these annoyances but you risk everything dear to us for us. HOORAH. | |
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S. S. from Washington, DC
(10/31/2006)
"Size has diminished quality" (about: 2006)
11-50 previous marathons
| 3 Marine Corps Marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 I ran this race in 1998, 1999, and again in 2006. The marines and volunteers do a great job, considering the number of people to manage, but the sheer number of runners has led to changes that made this year's race a little disappointing. First, the best part of the course - downtown - has been shortened considerably. You no longer go around the White House or the capitol. The DC "sights" are now just a couple of miles. Also, the worst parts of the course - Haines Point, 14th Street Bridge, and the Pentagon parking lot are all strung together at the END. YUCK. Finally, they have GOT to fix the "finish festival." I finished at 4:14 - in other words, maximum runner density - and it wasn't just unpleasant, it was dangerous. The "festival" was on a two-lane bridge that everyone HAD to cross in order to leave the race. We were packed in, unable to move forward or back, for about 10 minutes. There were families with little kids trying to cross, in addition to exhausted runners. If the crowd had "surged," someone could easily have been trampled or killed. I think if they are going to keep the race this size, they should give up the Iwo Jima Memorial and move the race finish to the Pentagon. | |
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S. D. from Boston
(10/31/2006)
"Beautiful course, poorly organized" (about: 2006)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Marine Corps Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 The course is absolutely beautiful for the most part and the marines were incredibly friendly and supportive. But I wouldn't run the race again unless some substantial changes were made. The expo was a complete nightmare and from talking with other runners it didn't matter what time you were there. I've run Chicago and Boston and have never even had to wait more than 10 minutes for a packet pickup, at the MCM I waited over an hour just to get inside. Charge everyone five more dollars and rent out a convention center. The shirt was awful - a mustard-yellow turtleneck - and then there were virtually no women's shirts at the souvenir area. The ones that were there were XXL. The course was beautiful, if not a bit crowded. But there were some dangerous areas - potholes, orange peels, sudden narrowing of the road. Keep your head up and pay attention. I was disappointed in the crowds that, while present, were pretty much just standing there. Only a couple points were loud. Running the last two miles on empty highways with no crowds was torture. The Iwo Jima finish was beautiful but the finish area was the worst thing I could imagine. The glory of finishing was completely erased by being forced to stop immediately and stand in more lines - for medals, for blankets, for food whether you wanted it or not. It took me an hour to even get to my bag and I never did find my friend to meet up because the meet-up area was missing over half the letters in the alphabet and was crammed onto a two-lane bridge. Then off to an obscene wait for the metro. The MCM needs to look to Boston, New York, and Chicago to see how the handle the large crowds. I loved the course but remember standing in line more than anything else. | |
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C. R. from Chicago
(10/31/2006)
"The run itself was nice..." (about: 2006)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Marine Corps Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 ...but everything surrounding it was a mess. The 40+-minute wait to get into the expo, the horrid crowds on the metro, the total lack of directional signage (to bag check, to runner reunite), the turmoil on the bridge... ...and the lack of visible pace groups that made it impossible to line up by pace - causing the worst congestion for the first three miles, along with other bottlenecks along the course. Beautiful day, nice route, good fan support, but too many annoyances to consider running it ever again. I've run Chicago multiple times, so I know a huge race can run smoothly. | |
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T. W. from Peoria, Illinois
(10/31/2006)
"Great course, but way too many runners!" (about: 2006)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Marine Corps Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 First time for the Marine Corps Marathon. Loved the course, but the run has too many people. Very crowded start that did not open up for the first five miles or so. The finish line also had spectators mixing with the runners, creating a long, massive line to food and water. The expo also took a long time to enter because of the number of runners and security issues to get into the armory. | |
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l. p. from Washington DC
(10/31/2006)
"Wonderful as always!" (about: 2006)
3 previous marathons
| 3 Marine Corps Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I haven't run the MCM since 2000, when I took a break to have children, but I found it wonderful as always. The weather was beautiful, albeit a little windy, and the course, although different from the one in 2000, was great. The end was a mess, as I was forced to stop suddenly in the line for the medal/food tent and my body was asking for me to keep walking for a little bit. But other than that, this marathon did not disappoint me. | |
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M. T. from North Carolina
(10/31/2006)
"Super Event" (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Marine Corps Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I cannot begin to say how impressed I am by the whole event. The marines are terrific - very helpful and conscientious. My wife and I were concerned by the HUGE lines when we arrived at the expo, but we moved through very steadily and had our race packets within an hour. On Sunday morning, we rode the shuttle bus from Crystal City and enjoyed the pre-start events and moved to the starting area easily. The race itself is beautiful beyond words, the scenery, the smooth flat course (I don't know what some posters mean by "hilly"), and the inspirational support of all those spectators! Yes, there are crowds, and yes some kinks need to be worked out at the finish, but overall this is a great event and I recommend it highly for first-timers: smooth course, lots of support, plenty of PowerAde and other goodies along the way, and clearly marked miles. Great job by the marines. | |
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E. M. from Wisconsin
(10/31/2006)
"Great race. Post-race organization was terrible." (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Marine Corps Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 This is a fantastic course with unbelievable support. The marines were great and the views spectacular. However, the finish area was chaotic, bordering on dangerous. Putting the runner reunion area on a relatively narrow, block-long bridge over a highway was a bad idea. Hopefully, this will be fixed next year. | |
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D. R. from New Hampshire
(10/31/2006)
"Great race, spirit and marines... crushing crowds" (about: 2006)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Marine Corps Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 5 The venue and race course is the best, and the spectators were so supportive (one marriage proposal and a couple I love you's!). The marines were supportive and polite... great reflection on these fine young men and women. The worst hill was early. Weather was perfect... but windy in spots. A couple water stops were too narrow. My negative comment on the organization refers to the long lines at the expo and in the finish line area and finish festival. The link-up area, coin pick-up and UPS baggage areas were impossibly clogged.... Those areas need to be much more accessible. Some runners simply gave up because they couldn't stand around after the race. Seemed to be a lack of knowledgable race staff at the end too. |
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