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Columbus Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Columbus Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.4 
Organization 4.1 
Spectators 4.2
Number of comments: 335 [displaying comments 281 to 291]
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M. S. from Charleston, WV
(10/28/2003)
"Good Boston Qualifier" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 This was my second time running Columbus. I got my BQ this year (3:05:20). I felt the expo was pretty lacking this year - not very well organized, and not much to choose from. The course is nice, but has some boring stretches along High Street in particular. It's definitely not 'flat', as you'll run into some hills the last 8-10 miles. I love the downhill finish, though. One suggestion for the organizers would be to get some crowd support through the Ohio State campus. There was virtually none this year or last year. | |
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K. B. from Syracuse, NY
(10/27/2003)
"Average" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Ok, this was a fair marathon. The course is pretty flat (people comlaining about hills must be from Kansas), there were a lot of water stops, and the city of Columbus is very nice. However there are some problems: The marathon has outgrown the course during the first five miles or so. We were running on little side streets, and it was very crowded. The five miles on High Street are the most boring miles I have ever run in a marathon, a turn or two would have been super. The water stops were erratic, sometimes on both sides of the street, other times just on the right. Porta-johns at the start line were a joke, maybe 40 johns for six thousand runners. Finally, I know people are saying there were 100,000 spectators, but I don't think so. Spectators were few and far between, except at the finish. Even Ohio State University's crowd support was sparse, I figured it would be kind of crazy on campus. I'm glad I got to visit Columbus, but I wouldn't run the marathon again. | |
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w. e. from Indiana
(10/24/2003)
"Friendly from Indiana" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 In Columbus, they spell hilly 'f-l-a-t'. I was not prepared for the ups and downs of this course. But past that, the race was well run. The expo was well attended. The weather was beautiful. And, the people were great. I'm a race talker, and I would give the runners at Columbus 5-stars for being the friendliest marathon participants that I have ever seen. I met so many nice runners that I ended up spelling hilly as 'I don't care'. If you like people, you'll love Columbus. | |
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S. R. from Arlington, VA
(10/24/2003)
"Not quite as fast or flat as advertised" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I have run in several marathons. This one was not quite as fast or flat as advertised. There were some gradual hills in the middle miles, especially from miles 17-19, which seemed to go on forever. Also, there were not enough port-a-johns at the start. That being said, it was a well organized race, with a pretty course, good support from spectators, and nice post-race amenities. There were plenty of water stops. The post-race massage was well staffed for a race of this size (4,600 runners). | |
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G. M. from Fairfield, OH
(10/23/2003)
"How Much Longer Can It Continue" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 Organization has continued to deteriorate over the 4 years I've participated. Practically no portable johns beyond the starting line. No styling to shirt logo. 'Poster' almost laughable. Finisher's medal a rectangular lead weight. Course is nicely laid out. Finish area greatly improved over last year. Marathon runners care more about quality than price. A few dollars don't compare to the months invested. | |
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J. L. from Columbus, OH, USA
(10/23/2003)
"This marathon went off rather smoothly" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This was my 2nd year running Columbus (4:32) and the organization seemed to improve this year. Fan support is strong in certain areas. The course itself is not that bad but since all the marketing material stresses 'flat & fast', out-of-towners or first-timers will get a rude awaking at mile 16-17, 19 and at mile 25. The finisher's medal was a vast improvement from last year. I am not much for after-race goodies/food/massages, just have water ready and a medal and I am happy. This was fun. | |
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bob lyon from cincinnati, oh
(10/22/2003)
"Excellent marathon!" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I have run this marathon 8 times. The course is essentialy flat with a moderate climb at about mile 16 and another short climb at about mile 25. The rest is either flat or downhill. The nicest part of this course is that the last 6 miles is almost all flat, with a few downhills coming at the right time. In fact, the race finishes with about a 0.4 mile downhill to the finish. I have my marathon PR here and have qualified numerous times for Boston here. The race used to be in November so the weather was much more unpredictable than it is now in October. The 2002 Columbus Marathon was held in near perfect conditions (about 40 degrees, no sun, no wind). This year it became warmer throughout the race and finished at about 60 degrees. Organization is excellent; aid stations just about every mile with water and Gatorade. One funny thing is that the order of drinks kept changing between aid stations: first station it was water first and Gatorade second, next station it was Gatorade first then water second. Seems a standard should be followed here. Great support, great area, the Governor of Ohio comes out on his lawn every year to cheer us on, it really is a nice one. Actually had the chance to talk with some elites just before the start. There are many close-by hotels and excellent restaurants. Fans, especially at the finish, are excellent and loud. | |
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N. B. from Los Angeles, California
(10/22/2003)
"Great Course, Poorly Organized" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 4 Just as advertised, flat, fast and fun. This could be a great smaller major-city race with it?s fantastic course and great fan support. It's too bad that it's so poorly organized. (1) There is no postcard or any kind of confirmation of entry, so you're left to cross your fingers and hope nothing got messed up until you find out the day before if they have your name. (2) They advertise as a $50 marathon, then tack on a several dollar 'processing fee' (for no apparent reason) which isn't a big deal, just really low-rent. (3) The aid station information was completely inaccurate. They said there was going to only be 18 aid stations throughout the course - this caused me to spend tons of time trying to plan out when I could walk and take gels. It turned out there were around 24. It would have been nice to know ahead of time so I didn't waste a bunch of time worrying how I was going to stay hydrated. This also caused me to stop and walk too early at one point because I thought there wouldn't be another aid station for another 2 miles. (4) The results were completely messed up. On race day, my name didn't appear in the database AT ALL - so my supporters at home couldn't track my progress. Similarly, I was left off the 'Final Race Results' list completely on race day (and, incidentally, left out of the listings in the local paper the next morning). The next day, my name finally showed up with a time of 4:12:59. Then the next day the finish times were fine, but the splits were all messed up - they had the same split times for 90% of the runners (which made for some interesting results, like people who finished in 3:30 somehow took 5 hours to get to mile 20). Then today (3 days after race) the split times are corrected again but there are new finish times (now I somehow finished even sooner with a 4:11:52 - thanks for the faster time, but it'd be nice to know how fast I actually ran - incidentally my stop watch said 4:13:06 - I'm tending to trust it more then the chip now). Even the official big, yellow time clocks at the end were messed up. They had three of them and the one in the middle was a second off from the other two. (5) The absolute worst thing, though, was they RAN OUT OF FINISHER MEDALS! My dad and I both ran - my dad came in after about 6 hours and they didn't have any medals left. I presented him with mine, but I couldn't believe they would make such an egregious mistake. Their excuse was that they had a whole bunch of last minute registrants the day before. Why does this not happen at other major races? Could it be that they plan ahead and order many more medals than they think they'll need? I flew from L.A. to Ohio to run with my dad, and what should have been a beautiful experience was made a little less so because of carelessness. Still the city, weather, course and fans can?t be beat. This has the potential to be a first-class marathon, if they get some competent organizers. | |
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S. W. from Columbus, Ohio
(10/21/2003)
"Great spectators and very well organized!" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 If you've ever been to central Ohio you know there's not much to look at. The course travels through a couple of nice neighborhoods but the 5-mile High Street stretch was as boring as it gets with construction and few spectators. All that aside though, the finish area was awesome and the crowds were great. If the construction is done by next year, I'd recommend this marathon to anyone! | |
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A. D. from Columbus, OH
(10/21/2003)
"Flat, fast, and fun is pretty much accurate" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 This course is flat. At mile 21 there is a modest downhill section on Lane Avenue followed by a gentle uphill on Woody Hayes. They don't come much flatter than Columbus. The course is scenic, with the first 10 miles going out and back through the upper class neighborhood of Bexley. Then there is a 5K loop through German Village, followed by a 5-mile stretch north on High St. before you enter Upper Arlington. Finally you run past Ohio Stadium and through the OSU campus before heading back down Neil Ave towards the finish. A very pretty course this time of year. The roads were all very well paved and mostly closed to traffic. The spectators were tremendous. There may have been 100,000 fans watching the race. The cloverleaf design makes it very spectator friendly. The downtown area had the biggest crowds. This is a good race for somebody looking to run a Boston qualifying time. The course is flat and fast and the crowds will keep you going. |
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