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Buffalo Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Buffalo Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.1 
Organization 3.8 
Spectators 3.3
Number of comments: 315 [displaying comments 121 to 131]
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N. F. from Maryland
(4/20/2009)
"Perfect weather!" (about: 2008)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Buffalo Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I am from the Buffalo area, but now live in Southern Maryland. I ran the Buffalo Half in '07 and the Buffalo Full in '08. I did both of these races with my father and we have loved it both times. I know that Buffalo doesn't seem like a good city to tour, but the weather is perfect and the course is scenic and flat. The finish line area is spacious and easy to watch other finishers. I am also signed up to run this race in '09 and I am very excited about it. | |
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K. M. from Chicago
(1/29/2009)
"Positive experience in Buffalo" (about: 2008)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Buffalo Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I had a very positive experience. I ran the half-marathon last year. Buffalo always puts on a great post-race party (pizza and beer, etc.) and the organization seemed good to me. Hotel was close to the start and the people of Buffalo are fantastic, as always. Was it perfect? Of course not, but it was great. I would be running the full in 2009 but I have a friend's wedding that weekend, so Buffalo in 2010 it is! | |
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J. E. from Greece, New York
(1/27/2009)
"Not Enough...." (about: 2008)
4-5 previous marathons
| 2 Buffalo Marathons
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 2 My experience.... Not enough t-shirts, not enough porta-potties at the start (not by a long shot), not enough room for all of the runners for the first 4 miles (full and half run together on park paths), not enough spectators, not enough supplies at the finish, not enough vendors at the expo to make it worthwhile, and not enough (not ANY!!!) response from the race director concerning problems. Not enough incentive for me to run this again after competing it twice.... I will not be running this in 2009. | |
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L. W. from Boston MA
(12/12/2008)
"Poorly Organized" (about: 2008)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Buffalo Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 This could have been such a nice marathon... beautiful lakefront territory and good, old, western, New York attitude, but it was so badly organized. I made several attempts to get a hold of the organizer before the race date and he blew me off. We never received our pre-race t-shirts, and they had run out of men's t-shirts on the race day, even though my husband signed up literally four months in advance. These small details make a difference. We were disappointed all around. | |
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Curtis Rushing from Toronto
(9/25/2008)
"Poor Registration and No Shirt" (about: 2008)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 Buffalo Marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 Just wanted to echo the comments of several others. I too arrived at the race (after pre-registering well in advance) to be told that the t-shirts were all gone. My number was taken and I was told it would be mailed. I've still got no shirt, and several attempts to contact people haven't helped. Sounds petty, but part of the marathon experience for me is getting a shirt. I will not be running Buffalo again. | |
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Ann Onymous from Rochester, NY
(7/18/2008)
"Bad organization - NO RESPONSE to email" (about: 2008)
2 previous marathons
| 2 Buffalo Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 2 Half marathon is a nicely flat course but through a decayed area of Buffalo - easy to get a good finish time. BUT... I had a very similar experience to MM's from below, with the exception that at the expo, I was promised a shirt by mail - which I have yet to receive. I too have sent two e-mails to the race director, politely asking for my shirt - with ZERO RESPONSE... not even the courtesy of a "sorry." At the expo, they (the lady volunteers) offered and took my race number and added it to a list that had quite a few other numbers on it for post-race mailing of shirts. That was after they tried to sell me on taking a medium because they "ran large." I tried it on and that wasn't so. I was there to pick up my shirt and bag (which I did receive - you didn't miss much except for spaghetti dinner discount coupon). Well, before the end of the expo on Saturday. I tried to be courteous in signing up ahead, knowing that helps in planning shirts, etc. I signed up for a large shirt; to me, this is an implied contract - I sign up ahead AND PAY MONEY and I get a race and a large shirt (unless I show up last-minute). A t-shirt is not that big a deal (well, on second thought it is - I trained long and hard all winter for this race; it would be nice to have something to show for it, like the women in my group who got shirts). How this has been handled is an issue reflective of the race management - poor. And while I'm on my soap box.... Maybe have a few more than the dozen or so porta-johns for the 2,300 racers at the start area - I've not seen as much public urination in my life (well maybe except for the Boilermaker in Utica - but that doesn't start in a downtown city area). I tried to drive as much of the course as possible the night before... good luck to me. The course directions were filled with omissions, errors and mixed up sentences - kind of like the website, which had old information from the year before stating this was a new course this year (2008). I too saw several people run into the posts (at the end of the harbor condo area) designed to keep cars off the park paths. Fortunately, I was familiar with them from the year before. | |
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M. F. from Buffalo, NY
(7/14/2008)
"1st marathon... next one will be somewhere else!" (about: 2008)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Buffalo Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 While this was my first marathon, I've run other, shorter races... so it's not like i have no reference at all. Having the course go over a 3-foot wide footpath within the first 2 miles (which doubles back and is also about the 3.5-mile mark) is about the dumbest thing EVER!!! You know what's harder then having over a thousand people "racing" in such a small area? Having them going two directions in that small area! Also, the course either closed earlier than advertised, or they opened it up to traffic earlier then advertised. My other major gripe is that volunteers quit early. I'm slow (4:30 marathon time), but there were still people behind me. When I finished, I drank a Gatorade, grabbed an apple, and walked back to the 26-mile mark to wait to cheer for my nephew. By the time I got back there (conservatively the 4:45 mark), there was NO volunteer directing racers for the last turn to the finish line!!!! (For those who ran, it would be the right turn OFF the roundabout right at the end.) Being the nice guy I am, I stood there and directed racers. Because no one else was there, and the volunteer ditched, I stayed there well after my nephew had finished (and did not get to actually SEE him finish!!! THAT SUCKS!!!) Spectators were great... there just was not an abundance of them. I had no issue with picking up my shirt and goody bag (the day before the race), and I could care less about the expo and/or post-race party. | |
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M. M. from Rochester, NY
(7/8/2008)
"No Shirt, No Goody-Bag, No Award" (about: 2008)
11-50 previous marathons
| 3 Buffalo Marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 Pre-registered a month before the race. At packet pickup was told they ran out of shirts. No shirt, and couldn't get goody-bag. My wife finished 3rd in her age group in the 13.1-mile race, and 6 weeks later, still no award. Emailed race director twice, but no reply. | |
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J. J. from Ithaca, NY
(6/25/2008)
"Flat, pleasant variety, historical, friendly" (about: 2008)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Buffalo Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I lived in Buffalo for a month in 1984 and have been to the area numerous times. A century ago it was once one of the greatest, richest cities in the US. No more, but remnants of this are all around apparent - if you (know where to) look. The city is now relatively dead - industrially for sure, and downtown on the weekend is a ghost town! It's sad. The course goes through a good variety of neighborhoods: changes in ambiance, lots of great architecture, and in much the first half, along the waterfront. Course is flat - the approach to the bridge by the Cheerios plant is about the greatest altitude change. Fortunately, that comes in the first half. :-) Footing is mostly good. Logistics were as easy as it gets; no stress. And lots of friendly people - running, accompanying, volunteering/helping out. Kudos! I had a wonderful experience (can't you tell?). Met and conversed with many friendly people. Despite running about 25 minutes slow, I was feeling mostly good about being there. I was towards the front as well, so I didn't have some of the problems others write of, but then, my expectations or demands were different. For example, I did not attend the post-race party and had no food - I brought my own food (anyway). But I can see that a good marathon SHOULD really have a variety of tasty, wholesome calories near the finish line, and a more festive atmosphere is hard to replicate on a city street. The Hartford, Connecticut marathon is better in that respect - the food for sure, in my experience. I had no problem with race registration the day before or with directions during the race. Course was well marked. Buffalo, the city of light, city of no illusions: I had a great day, even if I couldn't say that for my performance. But that's a good sign, eh? | |
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Justin Zink from Freedom, New York
(6/9/2008)
"very pleased" (about: 2008)
4-5 previous marathons
| 4-5 Buffalo Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I'm not sure why everyone is complaining. This was my fourth time running Buffalo, and I am happy. Granted, I broke the four-hour mark. I did not have a problem getting my blanket at the end, and as for food, I was in no mood. Also, the other runners are always so talkative and supportive - who needs spectators? (Although, I am a person who runs for myself and not to get the praise of others, so I might be a little more uninterested in crowd size than other people.) In conclusion, it may not be perfect, but hey, what in this world is? And there are not many other places with volunteers who are so willing to jump in front of vehicles to stop them from going out on the course. |
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