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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 601 to 611]
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C. S. from Overland Park, KS
(11/2/2005)
"Great Course, but start and finish need help" (about: 2005)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Marine Corps Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 This was my first MCM and probably will not be the last. We hit the expo Friday and had we not purchased offical merchandise would have been in and out in a matter of minutes. Pluses: 1) Getting to the start via the Metro was a breeze. 2) The course took you by ALL the monuments and the museums on the mall. Great way to see DC. 3) Fans were supportive and plentiful. 4) Water stops were abundant and easy to get in and out of. Minuses 1) Baggage drop table was based on bib number, but the signage was on the table and could not be seen because of the crowds. They need to put the signs up higher. 2) Start was based on bib number and not pace. This led to a huge bottleneck at the start. They need a corral system based on pace/time. 3) The post finish area definitely needs to redeisgned. In order to get to the food and drink you had to maneuver thru a wall of non-runners waiting for their people to finish. As one person stated earlier, it did indeed take 10-15 minutes to get to the food. Add to the problem, non-runners were in line getting food and drink for themselves. Overall a great race, and one I would recommend as well as run again. | |
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E. G. from Florida
(11/2/2005)
"Organization needs improvement" (about: 2005)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Marine Corps Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 5 Course and spectators are great. Marine staff are awesome. But the organization need a lot of improvements. Wheelchair team needs to start much ealier than anyone else. The chaos caused by that had been reported by others and it made it difficult for those wheelers and runners. Race-day instruction need be much more detailed (e.g., where the family should go at reunion). The UPS trucks are too far from the starting line. I had to run from the starting line back to the UPS trucks to hand in the package and that took a lot of energy and caused anxiety. I saw many runners run back to the trucks. There should be more medical station. There should be staff at the finish line to hand a bottle of water to finishers. | |
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E. C. from US
(11/1/2005)
"Too crowded and confusing two-part start" (about: 2005)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Marine Corps Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 5 If you're assigned in the slower wave, it's a killer. There were people walking by mile 2, and there was no way to get around them. Plus no one tells you before that you will be assigned to one of two groups (the first wave (fast) or the second wave (slow)) until after you've signed up. My running friend and I put the same expected finishing time and he got put in the first group and I got put in the second. They wouldn't let me move to the first group, but they would let him move to the second group. We ran in this second wave, but we never got even close to our pace. This ended up costing me a late check-out fee at my hotel. Also, they didn't have an official start for the second group. They just had some kind of rolling start. But they didn't inform the runners of this. The splits didn't match the second wave either. All in all it felt like the only concern was for the first wave. I've never experienced anything but support for all runners at other marathons, so I was a bit shocked. | |
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C. S. from Springfield, Illinois, USA
(11/1/2005)
"Thank you Marines" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Marine Corps Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Yes, the expo was crowded; yes, the course was jammed for parts of the first 8 miles or so; no they didn't set up the corrals by runners time. So what? This is the peoples' marathon, and the support of the people, THE MARINES, and the volunteers was top shelf. Chicago and Disney have more congestion, with less emotion and history. I recommend this for those who want a big, fun marathon, but remember, this is a pretty hard course, especially the last few miles. QUESTION: Everything I've read says about 20,000 starters. What happened to the other 10,000 registered runners? | |
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l. r. from Texas
(11/1/2005)
"If you can only do one, this is the one" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Marine Corps Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Wow, what a race! Where else do Navy Seals parachute down to the starting line while the national anthem plays? Where else can you tour the nation's capitol, hitting all the highlights, in a morning? Where else do sharp dressed, efficient Marines tend to your running needs? It is an impressive show. I would go so far as to say if you can only run one marathon in your life, this is the one. The crack organization, the pageantry, the energy, the scenery, the range of paces, it is fabulous. Could be a PR course, the crowds aren't that bad nor are the hills, and it is inspiring, but there is something to be said for slowing down and enjoying every moment of this race, too. Two fixes for next time: let the wheelchairs start first, and figure out how to keep the spectators away from the finishers longer. Organization broke down at the finish, after the chips were removed. It was too crowded then. | |
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F. R. from Hampton, VA
(11/1/2005)
"Outstanding" (about: 2005)
1 previous marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Loved the Marines, and loved the course. Weather was fantastic. There is nothing like having a marathon finisher's medal hung around your neck by a young Marine Lt. saying, "Job well done, ma'am." Make sure you carry a throw-away water bottle for the first couple of water stops. It was too crowded to stop. Not the fault of the Marines, just a consequence of the number of runners. | |
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T. T. from Dallas, TX
(11/1/2005)
"Great Race; Work on Organization" (about: 2005)
6-10 previous marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 5 It was great to be able to run this 30th anniversary race. The course, crowd enthusiasm and support was great! Best commemorative shirt; one of the best medals. This year the weather was perfect. Needs improvement: Expo and pre/post-race organization. Expo was held in an old, rundown gym. Far away from hotels and restaurants; had safety concerns in the neighborhood. Packet distribution was good. Brooks Official Merchandise Store was in disarray; took 45 minutes (and a line around the gym) to pay for items; ran out of many items. Post-race was chaotic. Runners and spectators were mixed together from chip removal on; no separation between spectators and finishers. Difficult to move through crowd, grass/mud, etc. No place for runners to wind down, rest, stretch, etc. Guides did not know what was there and where! Spectators were in the "goodies" before the runners. Brooks ran out of red finisher shirts by the 4-hour mark! Kids were being carried by runners across the finish line! Pre-race was also not well organized; runners were advised to be there 2 hours prior but no one knew were to send them! Two equipment drop-off points, 1/2 a mile from the each other; no one knew where! Race numbers not checked; family was in the corrals before start. Very easy to run for free! Suggest that the wheelchairs be allowed to start before runners; started after the 1st wave; before the 2nd. Metro/subway overwhelmed; but can't really do anything about that! Take some lessons from Chicago and New York on expo and pre/post-race organization and this could be one of the best in the US! | |
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A. K. from Virginia
(11/1/2005)
"Great race - would run this one again..." (about: 2005)
6-10 previous marathons
| 2 Marine Corps Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I had a great time at the 2005 MCM and I would definitely do this race again. I can admit that I was a bit nervous about the 30,000-runner limit (versus 20,000 in previous years) but everything seemed to go smoothly. I took the metro to the starting line (highly recommended) and got there in plenty of time (despite some minor metro delays). Someone recommended purchasing metro fare cards and/or Smartcards a few days in advance and I was very pleased that I did. It saved some time and I avoided the long lines. (BUT, be prepared future/potential MCM runners, the metro stations around the starting area get crowded, so just be patient. You'll get there.) I started in the first wave and did not have any problems getting to my corral area nor getting to a port-o-jon. Many of the bathrooms at the far end of the row did not have a line... (hint for next year's runners!). I would have preferred stricter corral enforcement as they have at other larger marathons but I was still able to get across the starting line quickly. I can imagine that it was tougher for some more mid- to rear-pack runners though.... Often slower runners get in the way and make the early packed miles even tougher to navigate. MCM has a relatively easy course (I had a PR of nine minutes) and there are only a couple of real hills to mention. We had beautiful weather this year and I hope MCM organizers keep the marathon in late October. I thought that the overall course support, water/aid stations and fan support was good. At the end of the race I would have liked quicker access to the food/water tent, although it wasn't too bad. Another suggestion for race organizers is to exclude family/friends from the finish area until runners could get their post-race refreshments/medical support/whatever. There ended up being too many people in this area and from what I understand it only got worse as the afternoon went on. Overall, I love being able to run a large quality marathon so close to home. I just might be back for number 3 next fall!! | |
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M. S. from Washington, DC
(11/1/2005)
"If you run only one marathon, run this one" (about: 2005)
2 previous marathons
| 2 Marine Corps Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I've run this marathon twice, in 2005 and 1995, and have run two 1/2 marathons. The views, the Marines, the monuments, the spectators, the volunteers.... All incredible. The firing of the Howitzer to start the run is awesome. I liked the old course better, less winding through Crystal City late in the race. Yes it's crowded at the start, but the two-wave system worked well. The current course narrows too quickly from four lanes to two which really bottled things up around the 1/2-mile mark. The expo wasn't as bad as I expected with no line to get in at all at noon on Saturday. Lots of vendors but I didn't stay long at the expo. Lots of encouragement from the Marines and spectators. The hill at the finish is tough but by then you don't care. The finish area was too crowded this year and a better way to disperse the runners as they finish needs to be found. But, all in all, an amazing experience. | |
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C. S. from Dallas, TX
(11/1/2005)
"Great course, some organizational issues." (about: 2005)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Marine Corps Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 Positives: scenic, historic course; good fan support; incredible spirit on the course; the Marines do a great job. Negatives: start was very congested; the corral/seeding system was useless, nobody seemed to pay much attention to it (we were ten miles in before we could run our own pace, not dictated by the crowd, and this could be alleviated by NOT having two triple lanes of runners merging together half a mile into the race or by properly enforcing a corral system to spread out the runners); the finish area was a cluster, a more ordered progression would help, get your medal, pose for your picture get your food, etc., nobody seemed to know where to go, and there were no bags for food. I guess it is a sign of what kind of race this was that all my complaints were minor in nature. All in all, it was a very good race and with some very minor changes, could be a really great race. The spirit on the course was infectious; it was inspiring to see people running for their sons, fathers, brothers, husbands, wives, sisters and daughters. Hoo-hah! |
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