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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 441 to 451]
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f. s. from nyc
(1/24/2007)
"Adding the half subtracts from the marathon" (about: 2006)
4-5 previous marathons
| 2 Philadelphia Marathons
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 5 In 2006 the race added a half marathon. Good for them: more runners, more money. But it damaged a once-good race. The two races start at the same time. The first 10 miles are now jammed on mostly tight city streets, with entrants in the two races. Jostling. Elbowing. Kicking. All unintentional among participants, but the logical result of combined races. And the food is all gone since the half marathoners finish earlier. A shame. Two years earlier, without the half, it was fantastic. Those who rank this as a fast BQ marathon, like Runner's World, should revisit that. You'll lose a lot with all the jostling. The bag-check was nonexistent. The AMEX bonus services are only if you register really, really early - the first 1,000, if you read the extra fine print. Nice shirt. Great scenery. Wonderful city. A diminished marathon. | |
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J. L. from Brooklyn, NY
(1/17/2007)
"Great course. Bad organization." (about: 2006)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Philadelphia Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 4 I loved the course. Very scenic and flat. The crowds were great. However, I wish I could have enjoyed it more knowing that my bag would be there when I got back to the finish. The expo was poorly designed and rather small. The mile markers were off, and very confusing. How am I supposed to know to follow the red or blue sign? Also, had to get my own blanket, my own medal, and had to ask fellow runners where the bags were dumped. No food to be found at the finish either. Although I saw a lot of specators enjoying themselves. I think for the price, and given the main sponsor of the event, I was expecting a top-notch event. If the race directors at least posted something on the website or even on MarathonGuide that they are addressing the issues and problems that occured, I might be willing to do the race again. I just don't feel the race directors cared enough about the race. For now, I'll stick to the New York City Marathon. | |
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S. C. from Columbia, Maryland
(1/9/2007)
"And this is supposed to qualify me for Boston?" (about: 2006)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Philadelphia Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 Philly was my 5th marathon and I could not have been more excited. After a GREAT PDR in September (do that race!), I was looking forward to the flat course and good views. I chose to run with a pacer, but also wore my GPS. I realize that CLIF supplies the pacers, but mine was just plain terrible. He did not keep an accurate pace (8:47) at ALL. He would weave through the congested inner-city course and pull out an 8:10 then a 9:20. My GPS did not lose signal and the mile markers were quite off, perhaps accounting for his inaccurate pace. Having the half and full start together caused ridiculous congestion and painful weaving in the first six miles. Also, after the split, the mile markers made no sense. If you need water every mile, too bad, there was simply not enough course support throughout the race and I never saw medical support. (I didn't need it, but others certainly did). Oh yes, and there was NO food in the finisher's tent except apples. I found this interesting as I witnessed perhaps two dozen spectators in the finisher's tents with bagels, pretzels, and sports drink.... The spectators at Manayunk ROCKED and made a very painful race for me better, but I won't run this again unless they split the race distances up and provide more support. | |
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Peter Speight from Cambridge, MA
(1/1/2007)
"First-time jitters" (about: 2006)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Philadelphia Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 The good: -The course is relatively flat with the only hills being in the first 12 miles. A great tour of the city! -Finisher's medal and technical shirt. -The people in Manayunk were great, as were the frat houses around mile 7. The bad: -The porta-potty situation at the start of the race. Simply not enough toilets. Also only one toilet per mile left a lot of people running for the bushes. -The bag check. I had my girlfriend hold onto my bag, but I heard it was pretty horrible from a few other runners. -Opening of the course. The course was supposed to be closed to traffic, but between the University of Pennsylvania and the zoo there were police officers who where holding up runners to let some of the traffic through - simply brutal for a marathon that is trying to become one of the major marathons in the United States. I had no problems with it, as I was running at a decent clip, but for some of the slower runners (>4:00) it would be a problem. The ugly: Nothing, other than perhaps the way I looked when I crossed the line at 3:33. :) Overall a great experience. I would recommend the marathon, but I hope they fix a few of the organizational issues. Definitely thinking of doing another one now to lower my time. | |
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C. K. from Chicago, IL
(12/29/2006)
"Definitely recommend this one!" (about: 2006)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Philadelphia Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I was looking for a late fall marathon to do, and this one sounded like a good option. I am definitely glad I did it. The weather was close to perfect for the runners (but a little cold for spectators or runners after the race). The starting line was amazing, along the street lined with flags from many different countries. The first half of the race was definitely the better part - we ran throughout the city. The second half was out and back, but it was along the river, so that was pretty. At mile 20 (the turn-around), the crowd was AMAZING!!!!!! I thought I was at the finish for a minute. It was a great motivation for the last 6 miles. I also did the AMEX tent, which was a great bonus. The private tent and bathrooms were key. They even gave my spectator parents wristbands into the tent. The t-shirt was awesome - long-sleeve Dri-Fit with a neat design. Also loved the finish right along the art musuem (where the rocky steps are). Nice size marathon too. Not huge like Chicago, but big enough so you always have someone to run with. | |
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J. J. from NJ
(12/26/2006)
"Good race despite added half" (about: 2006)
4-5 previous marathons
| 3 Philadelphia Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This was my 4th marathon, and 3rd Philly. The finish did lack the proper number of helpers with chips, medals, etc. The food was lacking as well. I really don't know why the half was added this year; it only created confusion and congestion. Being my "home" course, I have no problem with it. My experience last year at Baltimore was far worse. I am still waiting for my results card. | |
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R. T. from New York
(12/17/2006)
"Outstanding Event" (about: 2006)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Philadelphia Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 The previous posters ran another race or at least didn't take advantage of the American Express VIP runner program. It was awesome. Saturday reception with Runner's World editors and the elites. Saturday reserved seating at the pasta party - Sarah Rienertson was beyond inspirational. A special bag check in the Amex tent (which was warm) and had its own porta-potties. Bagels, Gatorade and a place to chill before the start. At the finish they served chicken broth, had amazing food and complementary massages! INCREDIBLE. I PR'd by over 8 minutes and was treated like an elite. By the way, the amenities that Amex offered were so outstanding, the elites ditched their tent and joined us in the came to the Amex tent. Also, the volunteers that American Express hired were really helpful and really nice. American Express totally hooked us up. Its too bad that not more people who took advantage of what Amex offered aren't posting. They probably won't come back after the race got slammed so much. But the irony is that it was the best, most amazing race experience I have ever had. Wish everyone else experience what we did. Thanks Amex - I'm ditching my Visa and Mastercard. You've got me for life. | |
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Eliot W. Collins from Raritan Borough, NJ
(12/8/2006)
"Enjoyable Run Though Historic Philadelphia" (about: 2006)
50+ previous marathons
| 4-5 Philadelphia Marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 This was fourth time running Philadelphia and my 76th marathon overall (plus 26 ultras). As in the past, I had a nice time taking a leisurely tour of Philadelphia. My simple goal was to enjoy the scenery and the company of the other slow runners and to finish with a clock time of exactly 6 hours. My time of 5:59:24 was 36 seconds too early! I look forward to returning to Philadelphia for the 5th time in 2007. | |
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M. S. from Astoria, NY
(12/5/2006)
"Great day for me, but some problems" (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 2 Philadelphia Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 Had a great day; PR'ed - I broke 3 hours despite being sick. Love the course, especially downtown Philly and the finish. I suffered here in 2004, and suffered worse this year, but held together. The organization had trouble: late start, poor gernally, and there was trouble getting people to the line. Also, separate Am-Ex bathrooms? Lame Runner's World presentation, horribly inaccurate mile markers at the beginning of the race, plus the double mis-colored mile markers after the marathon/1/2 split. I got taken care of at the end but only because I was up front. In my haze I could hear the volunteers talking about how they were about to be overwhelmed by runners. I would run Philadelphia again but only for my own reasons - to test myself against this course again. One more thing: the race splits are suspect - mine are wrong, and the same is true for my father-in-law. The final time was OK though. | |
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P. H. from Philadelphia, PA
(12/5/2006)
"Don't expect anything for your entry fee." (about: 2006)
4-5 previous marathons
| 2 Philadelphia Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 Since acquiring Amex as a title sponsor, the price went up and the organization got even worse. I was in the top half of the field, and there was nothing but water available at the finish. Mile marker three was at least 1/10 of a mile wrong (was able to confirm this since a fellow runner had a GPS unit), so if you were counting on that for pacing, that hurt badly. Several other markers seemed pretty skewed too. Having the half-marathon concurrently with the full meant the streets were JAMMED for the first six miles or so, really tough to get into a rhythm. There were supposed to be gels on the course, but they were gone by the time I got there, I guess. Start area was really disorganized and poorly marked. Basically, this race is self-sustaining: no matter how badly they organize it, because there are so many runners in the Philly area, they're still going to get at least 8,000 entries. They don't have to make any attempt to please the runners, and it shows. Here are the positives: I personally really like the course - it's relatively flat and scenic enough for me. And I thought the shirt was pretty nice, too. It would be really nice if their website had a message board like the Baltimore Marathon does, but they probably don't want to facilitate unfiltered comments about the organization. |
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