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Philadelphia Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Philadelphia Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.3 
Organization 3.6 
Spectators 3.8
Number of comments: 749 [displaying comments 291 to 301]
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H. H. from New Jersey, USA
(11/24/2008)
"Fast Course but Very Poorly Organized" (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 3 Philadelphia Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 I ran this race before they added the half-marathon, and it was great. It had a fast course, was not too crowded, had nice spectators, was conveniently located near downtown, etc. The expo was always a mess - not well organized. You shouldn't have to walk past all of the vendors to get your packet. When they added the half-marathon, it became much more crowded and difficult to run your pace in the beginning. A couple of the mile-markers/clocks were in the wrong locations. The area where the half finished was very congested. I don't know if I'll go back, unless I start hearing that they have figured things out. | |
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J. B. from Philadelphia, PA
(11/24/2008)
"Great experience overall... BUT..." (about: 2008)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Philadelphia Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 Three porta-potties every few miles for 18,000 people means lines that will eat roughly 20 minutes off of your time. The organizers really need to plan that better - add more johns or CHANGE the start time/date of the half-marathoners. | |
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Mark Moran from New York, NY
(11/24/2008)
"A great race, with just a few shortcomings" (about: 2008)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Philadelphia Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Comments from previous years had me apprehensive about running yesterday, but it was an outstanding race on a very good course in a nice city, and I will be back several times. Pros: Organizers heard the crowding complaints and responded with a three-wave system that worked brilliantly. I never slowed down due to crowds. The baggage drop-off/pick-up was well organized and easy. The course is great; the hills were modest (the two worst, at 9 and 14, were not even as harsh as the Pulaski Bridge in NYC; the downhill on the second was difficult, comparable to the 59th St Bridge). Crowd support was decent, all you needed it to be, as the scenery is lovely and provided inspiration on its own. The timing system was fine; it only missed one 5K split for me. Cons: Water stops. I could stop here since this was far and away the biggest problem. The first two had no cups poured when I went by. A few near the end had dangerous patches of ice on the road. A late November marathon has to be better prepared for this. Walkers. I welcome walkers in the marathon. But not in the second wave, walking 3 abreast in the middle of the road. I saw 6-8 examples of this, the most obnoxious behavior I have ever seen. Walk, but FROM THE REAR!! I saw many first-timers in the half-marathon who thought it was OK to dart across the road at a 90-degree angle to say hello to friends, or whose friends darted out on to the roadway. I very nearly crashed into one young woman who did this; I outweighed her by 80 pounds and it would have been a very ugly end to her day. No porta-potties at the start. We had to line up in corrals 20 minutes before we started, with no place to take a last-minute leak. In NYC, they have porta-potties right up to the bridge, and you can always go right on the bridge, since its only understanding fellow runners up there; in Philly, spectators line the sides of the corral. As a result the first three porta-potty stops had long lines just a mile or two into the race. Runners hydrate furiously before a marathon; give them a place to relieve themselves. | |
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B. G. from Fairfield, CT
(11/24/2008)
"Getting better but not good" (about: 2008)
11-50 previous marathons
| 3 Philadelphia Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 Why can't they do the basic things right? Philly has such a nice route for the race. One the best big-city runs. But, they can't figure out how to put out mile markers. Several were just missing and many more were wrong. Guess they just put them where the truck dropped them off! The finishing area was a disaster. Bottlenecks brought movement to a halt just after the finish line. Things (like pictures) were placed to block flow. We had no access to any post-race activities except a food tent with long lines for limited items. You had to grab things off of the table because volunteers were chatting with each other. One nice touch was the soft pretzels with mustard... very Philadelphia. I know they are proud that it is run by the city but... do the planners run? Maybe it's time to bring in the pros. This continues to be an event with great potential in search of direction. The early start was nice, but spectators went from a few to almost none. Maybe I will try again in a couple of years. | |
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S. K. from New York
(11/24/2008)
"Don't be fooled; it's not flat" (about: 2008)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Philadelphia Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 This is a fantastic marathon course. It winds its way through very historic neighborhoods and along the Schuykill and Delaware Rivers. The course is not flat. You run down to the rivers, along them, and back up to city center. Also, you run up to Manayunk near the 20 mile mark, before turning back down to the river, and you finish with a climb back to the art museum. There are lots of supporters in Manayunk and in the last mile, which makes the climbs pass rather quickly. For a big-city marathon, however, the finisher's area was a disaster. They were unable to keep spectators out of the area, I couldn't make my way to a heat blanket when I needed one most, and I nearly passed the medals table all together without receiving one. In addition, there did not appear to be any medical support for those who needed more than the paper cup of water. Fix the finish! | |
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D.C. Runner from D.C.
(11/24/2008)
"It's a marathon, not a vacation..." (about: 2008)
6-10 previous marathons
| 3 Philadelphia Marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Like any race, there are things that go well and things that don't go so well. Some of the complaints I've read have surprised me. This was my third Philly Marathon and, although there were some differences this year (not all of which were beneficial), Philly always makes every effort to make the experience a positive one for everyone. This marathon has been growing steady for some years now. There may be some growing pains that come with the territory. I'm a marathoner because I enjoy running. I love this race because it's not as crowded as bigger races, I can usually guarantee that it won't be too hot, and because Philly is a GREAT TOWN!!! Here are some complaints I've read that I think are ridiculous.... 1. Unexpected hill? Are you serious? Buck up, dig in, and deal with it. Running is a challenge no matter what the circumstances and a race is something you do to keep it interesting, inspiring, and exciting. They don't host events to make it easy for you. 2. Parking at the expo. People need to really check themselves on this. Philly is a big city with big-city situations, like parking. If you drive to the expo and don't expect difficulty finding a spot, you're extremely naive. Park farther away and take public trans or walk a few blocks. Don't complain about parking. What a dull thing to complain about.... 3. Adding the half-marathon ruined the event... REALLY?? Are you saying that you're the only one who trains hard for a distance event? While 26.2 is longer than 13.1, 13.1 is still a challenging distance for many. You can't share a race with others? If you can run the NYC Marathon, then you can deal with 10,000 half-marathoners. They DID have a wave start, so anyone who didn't notice this should pay closer attention to the information presented at the expo. I ran the marathon and I welcomed the halfers to the course. Everyone has a story. There were some people doing the half that went through extraordinary circumstances to achieve their goal. I can't believe for a second that their presence truly inconvenienced you. If it did, maybe you should run by yourself from now on. In general, people need to buck up and enjoy themselves, or don't participate in races. THANK YOU TO PHILADELPHIA FOR A GREAT MARATHON!!!! | |
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m. m. from New Jersey
(11/24/2008)
"nice event, but could be better organized..." (about: 2008)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Philadelphia Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 I ran Philly yesterday as my second marathon. I enjoyed the course, and found the few rolling hills to be a nice challenge (I am from the NJ flat-lands). I liked the out-and-back segment along Kelly Drive - it's nice to see runners going the other way! I found the congestion and disorganization level kind of stressful at times. Before the race, there weren't enough signs pointing out the direction to gear check or even the starting corrals. Although the race guide suggested starting gear check at 5 a.m., we arrived at 5:50 a.m. and they didn't seem ready for business. The wave start and corrals seemed to work pretty well. Thanks for implementing that this year. It's never perfect, but it sounded like an improvement over previous years! During the race, there were points where the water stations appeared in narrow roadways and caused choke points in the traffic, which slowed everyone down whether you were going for water or not. At times, the people at water stops weren't really handing out cups, which led to a lot of crowding of runners grabbing from the table. The cold weather was a logistical issue, but I guess that is hard to fully prepare for. Many of the water stations had slippery ice patches, and runners went down. At mile 15, I got handed a cup where the water was so frozen that I couldn't drink from it! The post-race food was pretty bleak. As I entered the tent, I was feeling wobbly and had that "NEED FOOD NOW!" feeling. But the lines were moving really slowly, and the first thing I was handed was a container of OJ frozen so solid that I couldn't consume it. :-( There was another poor guy leaning dizzily against the table trying to get some calories out of his half-frozen OJ before attempting to get any other food. The volunteers should be pre-making bags of pretzel plus OJ plus whatever to hand quickly to people rather than the long, backed-up "buffet line." Last, there were two sets of "letters" for the family meeting area. I can't tell you how many people were standing at one of the Letter M places, talking by cellphone to a missing loved one who ended up being at the other Letter M meeting spot. You should have JUST ONE MEETING SPOT! :-) | |
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M. J. from NJ
(11/24/2008)
"Drop the half or have later start" (about: 2008)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Philadelphia Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 Philly was my 4th marathon and I really enjoyed the course and crowd. I've experienced the crowds at the Marine Corp Marathon and Boston and I was impressed with the enthusiasm in Philadelphia. I live in the mountains of Northwest Jersey, so no complaints about the "hills" on this course. My biggest disappointment was the start. There were just too many people between the full and half, which caused "bottle-necking" for the 1st few miles. I can't figure out why they just can't delay the start of the half by 30 minutes or so. Also, it would be nice to see a few more port-a-johns along the way. I never went because there was always a line at each water stop. Overall I had a great experience, but not sure if I'd pay for registration, food and lodging again if the start remains the same. | |
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J. V. from NJ
(11/24/2008)
"Not flat at all. Very hilly course." (about: 2008)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Philadelphia Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Although this was a decently run marathon, I had many issues with it overall. First, the course is very hilly. Many comments and reviews lead you to believe that this is a flat course, but it is not. Second: Porta-potties are few and far between. Essentially runners are left with not choice but to go anywhere they find a bush or ally. I ran close to my personal best and felt the size of the marathon made it simple from a logistics perspective. The fans were good and the water stations were well stocked. They may want to think of spreading snow salt at the water stations, as the frozen water on the road caused several falls. That gives you an idea of how cold it was. | |
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J. S. from Washington, D.C.
(11/24/2008)
"Great event..." (about: 2008)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Philadelphia Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I ran the Philly Marathon for the first time yesterday, and while I thought the fan participation was fantastic - even on random sections of Kelly Drive (the frat guys around mile 24 were particularly good) - the course certainly could use a little tweaking. I don't mind running the first half with the half marathoners, but to have the half and full split at around mile 13.07 was as demoralizing as it gets. The out-and-back through Manayunk was great for fan support, but as it seemingly is with every "loop," it can certainly be disheartening to see folks running past the mile 22 marker when one is still at mile 18. The water stations on Kelly Drive were absolutely treacherous with ice, but I suppose that is mostly unavoidable on a day as cold as it was yesterday. The one major organizational issue I had was that pre-race water and snacks looked to be virtually non-existent, and I asked several volunteers where I might find a bottle of water, but nobody had an answer for me. Very minor issue though, and by no means would prevent me from doing this race again. All in all, I really can't complain as I PR'd by a little under 16 minutes. The race as a whole was a good one, and aside from the Dublin Marathon, I can't think of a better race to run purely from a "fun" standpoint. The relatively flat course is great for folks looking to run a fast race, and the city of Philadelphia is as aesthetically pleasing a locale as there is for a marathon. |
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