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New York City Marathon Runner Comments
Back to New York City Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.7 
Organization 4.3 
Spectators 4.9
Number of comments: 604 [displaying comments 231 to 241]
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J. P. from USA
(11/23/2007)
"World's Greatest Marathon" (about: 2007)
50+ previous marathons
| 2 New York City Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I've raced over 60 marathons and ultras on 3 continents. This year, 2007, was my 2nd NYC (1996) and I was blown away again. No one touches the race for organization, course or spectators. Amazing. | |
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S. S. from Vancouver, BC
(11/21/2007)
"NY Marathon Tips" (about: 2007)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 New York City Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 This is a "must do" race for all marathoners. New York is an amazing city and running through the five boroughs is a perfect way to feel the energy this city offers. People have to realize that a race of this magnitude and stature will have a few glitches, but if you are smart you can avoid them all: - Take the ferry to the start. It is a very easy process. It's warm! You dont have to wake up at an insane hour. I took the 6:45 train to Whitehall and the 7:30 ferry to Staten Island. - Layer yourself and "donate" your clothes at the start. Don't do the baggage check in. Not only does this save you from fighting line-ups at the start, but it allows you to exit the finish within minutes instead of an hour! All I had with me was my MTA pass... and my medal! - Go to the expo at 10:00 when it opens; otherwise be prepared for mayhem. - Leave yourself time before or after the race and make sure you explore the shops, museums, restaurants, parks and neighborhoods. What an unbelievable experience. NY rocks! | |
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P. F. from Washington Township, New Jersey
(11/20/2007)
"I had a blast!" (about: 2007)
1 previous marathon
| 1 New York City Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was one of the best experiences of my life. This was my first marathon, and I anticipated a slow race. But oh was I wrong! It was as if the crowds, the DJs and the entire city of New York were pulling me right through this invigorating experience! I actually finished 10 minutes faster than I expected! | |
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Kathy Carolan-Watanabe from Santa Clara, CA
(11/20/2007)
"Do it once just to say you did it!" (about: 2007)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 New York City Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 I traveled from CA for the NYCM. Got in my first time applying to the lottery. I'm originally from NY, and saw the V-N bridge being built as a child, so I was very excited to run this marathon. Trained very hard, got in my long runs, but was disappointed at the end result. On day of race, I got to start via a friend's running club's bus with a bathroom on board. Waited around in the Green Area. Started in Corral 27 - it took 35 minutes. to cross the start. I panicked when I saw the other corrals starting ahead of us and felt I was all the way at the end. Ran to catch up, which caused me to run faster than I should have (my goal was 4:30). Got stuck behind the 5:30 runners at Mile 8. Dodged people for what seemed to be the rest of the race. The good parts: The course, the crowds, volunteers and City of New York. My name was on my shirt and I felt like Katie Holmes with everyone calling my name (I even finished 45 minutes ahead of her). After crossing the finish and collecting food, medal and blanket, the crowd truly made one feel claustrophobic. Anarchy ensued and people broke down part of the fence due to the absurdity of the set-up. I walked to Truck 69 and found my family/friends on 84th and CPW. It seemed like an eternity to get there. Everyone has said NYCM is not a PR course - do it for the experience. I've done it for the experience. Now to find a much smaller race. In the meantime, I hope the organizers will try to get the faster runners in front of the slower runners at the start and ensure the finishers keep moving and don't get bottle-necked. | |
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S. T. from Milwaukee, WI
(11/17/2007)
"Mind Games Waiting to Start" (about: 2007)
3 previous marathons
| 1 New York City Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 First time running NYC and really looked forward to it. Overall I recommend you run it at least once for the experience of the big city, but don't expect a PR. Great: -Course (tougher than it seems/looks) -Fans - tons of support start to finish -Plenty of port-a-johns -Plenty of water & Gatorade on the course Big Misses: -Killing 3+ hours before the start. Nothing to do in the athlete's villages leaves the mind to wander and confidence to fade. Why arrive so early before the start? Certainly the runners can be bussed in with an hour to spare, but 4 hours or more? And the corrals were a joke. I qualified to run NYC and had a preferred start, but that meant nothing as they moved us from the corrals to the start. Many people took off running to the start for better starting position. For the wait time alone, I would not run NYC again. -Expo & Marathon Monday Store. Extremely limited marathon souvenirs (shirts, jackets, hats, etc.). Nearly picked clean of sizes and selections. I would highly recommend skipping the Marathon Monday store. -Post-finish line totally inexcusable. When you finish a marathon, you're understandably tired and weak. No place to stop and rest. Walking a mile to UPS truck #65 to pick up your gear bag is unacceptable. Then there's the post-race food (a bag containing an apple, PowerBar and water) and the terribly long walk to the chip removal. All this walking is in a northerly direction, but you have to double back for the family meeting area and/or exit the park. Maybe wouldn't be as bad if you were exiting the park to the north. | |
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Robert Marino from California
(11/15/2007)
"Everybody wants to run the Big Apple." (about: 2007)
6-10 previous marathons
| 2 New York City Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 This year in order to get to the starting line the runners were diverted to the Staten Island ferry and I really enjoyed the ride by the Statue of Liberty. The starting area was way too crowded when turning in your race bag. Many foreign runners and I got a kick out of all the announcements in different languages. It was funny seeing lots of the NYPD smoking around the starting area. The course hasn't changed much with half the race going through 'No Sleep Till' Brooklyn. The fans are the best coming out to the course banging on their pots and pans. Lots of water and Gatorade, and the medal is awesome. The finish line area needs work with big congestion in Central Park trying to get your race bag and exiting. But, what do you expect when the world shows up to run. | |
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David Weiss from Middleburg Heights, OH (near Cleveland)
(11/15/2007)
"Incredible, Incredible...Did i mention Incredible?" (about: 2007)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 New York City Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 This was my 9th marathon, and what an incredible one! First the good: 1. The Fans....I have never seen anything like it! Thousands, upon thousands of fans of all races, religions, creeds, professions, ages, and nationalities...all cheering for all of us as if we were relatives...Amazing!!!!! I lost count of how many people i high fived along the course...I felt like i was floating through the first 9-10 miles, and along 1st ave. in Manhattan 2. The course....The course going through all 5 boroughs, and with all of its sights, sounds...finishing in central park; the view of Manhattan on a perfect blue skied sunny day going over the verazanno bridge, one of a kind! 3. The other runners....The diversity of the runners, incredible; from the 4 people dressed as yoda, chewbacca, darth and laya; the guy dressed as a carrot, the guy with his head painted like the American flag, the tributes to loved ones on the shirts of runners, the many runners i spoke to during the course, fantastic! 4. My good luck!!! I ran into a guy on the subway in from Queens (i stayed with a buddy of mine there for the weekend); he happened to be running his 11th NYC, and also is a reservist stationed at Ft. Wadsworth at the start line; BIG props to Mike!!!!Thanks for everything! He gave me pointers (like taking the city bus to the start line for cheap, the small hill right before the finish line), and let 3 other runners and myself chill in the Ft. building with quiet, warmth, and private bathroom, as well as great conversation before the race..What a great guy! 5. I thought for a race of this size, the organization was excellent, and i didn't have any difficulty with getting to the start line, getting my race packet, etc...i liked being able to send my split times by email to family back home in real time 6. The volunteers: The aid stations were awesome; and always fully stocked; the cops, firemen, etc. helping, the race personnel i thought were present and helpful 7. The medal, i thought was excellent 8. The weather; cloudless 58 degree sunny day at the beginning of November....absolutely perfect! The bad: (trust me, the good WAY outweighs the bad) 1. The congestion on the course with so many runners 2. The wave start; sitting at the start line for 45 min standing before a race waiting to start was not cool at all; and was adrenaline and energy sapping 3. Some of the price gouging....the 20 bucks they were charging for that short bus ride, for example 4. The finish line...this was the worst part of the the entire event.....it took an entire hour from when i finished 'til i actually got out of there; being herded at the end was TERRIBLE! I actually really started to feel claustrophobic, and really just wanted to sit down and rest for a bit and was not able to because of the congestion Overall, what an incredible experience.....and it was also cool hanging out in NYC on Monday after the race and seeing so many people walking around Manhattan wearing and displaying their race medals, thought that was nice. Truly I feel like words cant describe how cool an experience this race was! | |
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N. F. from London, UK
(11/14/2007)
"Simply the best" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 6+ New York City Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I've run 7 NYC Marathons in a row now - and it's simply the best there is. With 38,000 runners there are bound to be logistical/org problems, BUT this year they seemed to be more severe than in other years. The blue starting area in Fort Wadsworth was a mess - total gridlock. But once underway, it was as every year: the greatest running event on the planet!! | |
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B. E. from Brooklyn, NY
(11/12/2007)
"Great Crowds, Poor Organization" (about: 2007)
4-5 previous marathons
| 4-5 New York City Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 5 This was my fifth NYCM and this year's version was by far the worst organized of them all. The Baggage Check for the Blue and Orange Bibs resembled that of a mass protest rally. It's amazing no one got trampled on at Baggage Check. I mean how can a race organization as big and experienced as NYRR even think that a combined Baggage Check for the Blue and Orange Bibs in a narrow area that is fenced in with only one narrow exit/entrance would be suitable? It took me about 50 minutes just to check my bag after suffering a few dozen pokes to the ribs from the crowds. Add the missing chip times on a large number of runners and the 50 minute or so wave start screw up of the green start and it was really a poorly organized race. Someone mentioned about how Chicago was poorly organized, believe me if NYCM had the same weather conditions, it would have been just as bad if not worse! If NYRR is going to continually squeeze every dime out of the runners such as charging $20 for a 2.5 mile bus ride that the city charges $2 for and charging $9 just to apply for the lottery, at least put some of that money back into the race experience for the runners. Are things such as having some post race refreshments other than a packaged bagel, apple and a powerbar too much to ask? How about lining up the Baggage trucks on both sides of the street as well as in north and south directions to greatly reduce the time and distance needed just to retrieve your bag? They also mentioned that they had done away with the Family Reunion Area yet I saw signs at the finish directing people there? How were people supposed to take advantage of that when the website stated it no longer existed? As a local runner doing many NYRR races, They've increased their prices on everything from membership fees, race entry fees, half marathon lottery fees, etc. while decreasing services to the average runner. It's great that they deem it so important to spend millions of dollars for elite and professional athletes for NYCM and their other races but very little is done for the 99% of the runners whose money enables this to happen. The crowds are great every year and the course is challenging and that is why I run this race every year. It's really a race for the senses. I agree that the second half of the race is actually tougher than the first half so running even or negative splits will be tough. Yeah, it will be crowded. It always will be so anyone that is fearful of crowds or is in fear of losing some time should know what they are getting into. It really is a great race due to the entire city supporting this race. It's just a shame that the organizers really don't do their part to make the experience even more memorable by listening to the runners' needs before and after the race. | |
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G. C. from USA
(11/12/2007)
"Chance of a Lifetime!" (about: 2007)
2 previous marathons
| 1 New York City Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This marathon was all I expected it to be. Yes, it DID have a few glitches, but to not expect any is unrealistic. Plentiful water stations; always well manned, kids of all ages were working them! Great fan support. I was well over 5 hours completing the course and I was shocked to see so many people STILL out there cheering us on. The course was tougher than I anticipated. I had trained for hills, but what got me the most was the ever constant (or seemingly so) gentle incline throughout the course. I have only two 'complaints': the baggage pick up area, which has been much discussed here , so I won't reiterate it and the Expo. I flew into NYC late Friday night and so I didn't get to the expo until early Saturday afternoon (the last day.) I was disheartened to find that the only size shirts available during bib pick up were L & XL. Being a small female, the L literally fits around me twice. In other marathons, you preselect your shirt size when registering. The only way I could have gotten a S shirt would have been to get to the expo on opening day, Thursday, which was not logistically possible for me. Otherwise, this was a great race.I definitely recommend it. |
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