calendar icon Sep 20, 2024

Bryan/College Station Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Bryan/College Station Marathon Information & Reviews

Course Rating Course 4.8 
 
Oranization Rating Organization 4.9 
 
Spectator Rating Spectators 4.7 
 
 
Number of comments: 1274 [displaying comments 231 to 241]
More Comments: [ < 1 .. 22 23 24 25 26 .. 128 > ]

 

M. S. from Corpus Christi, Texas (12/12/2017)
"Great race organized very well!" (about: 2017)

1 previous marathon | 1 Bryan/College Station Marathon
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 5


First time competing in a race of this distance and volume, was overall a fantastic experience! Planning to come back next year!

 

J. B. from Dallas, TX (1/3/2017)
"Great Great Great!!" (about: 2016)

11-50 previous marathons | 2 Bryan/College Station Marathons
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 4


Loved this race again - my 2nd BCS. Course is flat although a number of turns through the neighborhoods. Very limited spectators - but those that were there were very supportive. Finisher jacket is very nice - but even the small size is too big for small women - needs some XSmall next time! Shirt design was okay - but not as good as prior years. Awards were knit hats with the logo - not so great for most women. Easy parking, great finish, great medal. Hotels are very nearby - but not walking distance to start/finish. Loved having the GONG at the finish for BQrs!!

 

T. G. from Durham, NC (12/18/2016)
"Great small town race" (about: 2016)

4-5 previous marathons | 1 Bryan/College Station Marathon
COURSE: 4  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 2


The marathon was very well organized. I also enjoyed the course, which left the more interesting bits like A&M and downtown CS for last. Aid station were every 1.5 miles, with both water and Gatorade at all of them.

I really liked the nice finisher medal and jacket.

Race day parking at the mall was very convenient. It's sufficient to arrive with 5 minutes to spare, as there is far more than enough parking. There was also no traffic on the way to the mall, so all very stress-free.

However, realize that this is a small marathon, with ~650 runners. There were pretty few spectators along the way. If crowd support is important to you, this is not the race to go to.

 

D. M. from College Station, Texas (12/14/2016)
"Great organizers and better race" (about: 2016)

4-5 previous marathons | 2 Bryan/College Station Marathons
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 4


Awesome course through city and college with enough road stoppage of vehicles.
Organizers are efficient, well organized, and friendly above all else.
Spectators are great but only show up after 8am

 

B. e. from Texas (12/14/2016)
"Professional organization, but family atmosphere" (about: 2016)

4-5 previous marathons | 3 Bryan/College Station Marathons
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 4


If you want a race that is very well organized, easily accessible, clear communication and fun this is for you. It runs so smoothly and you can tell it is organized by actual runners with lots of race experience. It is wonderful to see a community support this race, lots of fans and children all standing in their front yard cheering people on.

 

J. J. from Salado, Texas (12/12/2016)
"Amazing, as usual!" (about: 2016)

11-50 previous marathons | 4-5 Bryan/College Station Marathons
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 5


This is the 6th running of this race and I've done all 6 races, three at easy distance (full and half). This is easily the best road race I've ever run (and I've done over 20. The organization is phenomenal, everyone is incredibly polite and helpful, the race day support is unmatched and the hospitality of the staff, volunteers and incredibly supportive community are all top notch. And the swag is really good. I love the jacket from this year. The medals are always nice and the tech shirts are well designed and comfortable.

I plan to keep running this race as long as I can. It truly is a great experience.

 

E. N. from Minneapolis, MN (12/12/2016)
"Great organizers, average everything else" (about: 2016)

11-50 previous marathons | 1 Bryan/College Station Marathon
COURSE: 3  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 2


The organization and parking for this race was top-notch. The communication leading up was also real good.

Where this marathon lacks, and I'm comparing it to only about 20 other ones I've ran, is the course and spectators. I realize it was a bit of a cold (low to mid 50's) for Texas and it drizzled for a few sections of it but the fan support was scarce besides the water stops. I have to say those were good as they were every 1.5 miles or so. I believe Texas A&M students already had finals so there were very few students out and the campus itself was dead. The course ran thru some seedy parts of town and running in one lane the entire time really does a number on your hips with that gradual slant. Get the marathon off the busy highways and into more of the neighborhoods or the less busy highways. Some of the cars had no regard for the runners.

Overall, a well organized race with a wonderful medal and both a finisher jacket AND a technical shirt. Great value for that but lacking in the actual marathon part.

 

J. K. from Montgomery, TX (12/12/2016)
"Continues to be the best in Texas!" (about: 2016)

4-5 previous marathons | 4-5 Bryan/College Station Marathons
COURSE: 4  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 5


A race put together by runners and benefiting a most worthy cause-what more could you ask for?

My only complaint this year was that there seemed to be more debris in the road than in the past. My feet got more beat up yesterday than they did a month ago running R2R at the Grand Canyon.

From the abundance of port-a-potties at the start (and spread throughout the course), to the great aid stations and exuberant spectators, this is a must-do race for Texas runners.

 

L. B. from Baton Rouge, LA (12/12/2016)
"Well-organized event that's a bang for your buck!" (about: 2016)

First Marathon
COURSE: 4  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 5


I was really impressed with what I got for my registration fee - the finisher's jacket is a great memento of my first 26.2. The water/Gatorade stops are frequent (roughly every mile), with abundant fuel stations as well. Having Gu provided multiple times was amazing so that I was never out of fuel, and several of the stops had fruit and candy, which were a great burst of sugar (not to mention a nice switch from the weird consistency of Gu). I registered fairly late in the process and still felt my fee was reasonable/on-par with other races, and I got a lot in return. I thought the whole race was very well organized, and its a great idea to start close to the mall, so that parking is abundant and off of the course.

 

S. A. from Texas (12/12/2016)
"No hand cleaner in loos,ran out of finisherjackets" (about: 2016)

11-50 previous marathons | 2 Bryan/College Station Marathons
COURSE: 4  ORGANIZATION: 3  FANS: 4


See title. Generally a good flat little race, but seems like they market it to 'everyone' and really intend that only serious runners do it. Not enough pace groups for the slower runners in the half (think they were almost all for under two hours). Plenty of toilets, but they didn't have handles on the inside (gross) and nowhere to wash hands (GROSS). Lots of bicycles (spectators?) on course and sometimes unclear which side of cones runners were supposed to be on. Cars cut through course occasionally, but were usually polite. Post race food was OK (tarts were worth doing the race for, the rest was just OK). Hope the food handlers had access to a hand washing station... Race 'lost' a box of finisher jackets, so even though they knew my size months in advance they didn't have any smalls left! That's just frustrating. Their 'weather expert' wasn't accurate either, as 'zero or almost no rain' meant it drizzled the whole race. I think they heard how badly the other local races have gone this fall and decided they didn't have to try this year. Shame, as it's been great the last few years. It's nice that it's a charity but that doesn't mean they should cut corners for the racers.

PS- ONE of the cops was OUTSTANDING. Thank you to him in particular!

 

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