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☰
Austin Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Austin Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.0 
Organization 4.0 
Spectators 4.1
Number of comments: 421 [displaying comments 201 to 211]
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steve boone from Humble, TX
(2/19/2007)
"Excellent new course" (about: 2007)
50+ previous marathons
| 6+ Austin Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 The new course, while it is more difficult one than before, made the marathon more challenging and more scenic. Aid stations were plentiful, parking was easy, the volunteers were enthusiastic, and changing the course from a point-to-point to a loop course eliminated the slow bus ride back to the start. It has been fun to see the marathon grow and improve over the last 16 years. I look forward to running it again in 2008. | |
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D. M. from Claremore, OK
(2/19/2007)
"Scenic, but extremely hilly" (about: 2007)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Austin Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Nice course, in terms of the scenery, but the hills were over the top -- no pun intended. Solid crowd support and very nice wrap-up event. Only constructive feedback would be the water stations. They were pretty light in terms of size, given the field of runners. Plus, it would have been helpful for them to be on both sides of the road. All that being said, nice race. Wouldn't intend to PR or BQ given the hills. | |
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K. L. from Houston, TX
(2/19/2007)
"Where's my tee and where do I pee???" (about: 2007)
4-5 previous marathons
| 2 Austin Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 Awesome weather and pretty good sprinkling of locals to cheer us on. I enjoyed the hills and a course that was completely different from my usual runs and races! However, organization was lacking. First of all, many had to get large t-shirts due to their running out of mediums. Not only that, but they were dull (especially considering Austin's creativity). Water stops were very unorganized (unmanned?). Potties on the route had 10-15-minute long lines (I saw several women squat where construction workers were watching - I'm not sure they knew they were being watched, but nobody should have to feel this is necessary!). Then, to finish the half and not get a finisher's shirt (maybe we were wrong to assume, but most of the big marathons provide these now).... Getting around to watch others finish was also cumbersome. AT&T needs some guidance next year. | |
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B. N. from Houston, Texas
(2/19/2007)
"Awesome" (about: 2007)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Austin Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Great race. Cool weather. Awesome fan support. The (new) course is really interesting. The hills are a little hard from miles 7-11, but it was a fun race. | |
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a. b. from USA
(2/19/2007)
"POOR ORGANIZATION" (about: 2007)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Austin Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 It seems like the planners of this marathon/half marathon would look to the larger cities for guidance. When the number of runners involved is as large as Austin, there MUST be more port-a-potties! There were several at the starting point and some at the first couple of miles, but then very few after that. People were having to wait in line for 10-15 minutes (or use the bushes of course!). I was also extremely disappointed that there were no finisher t-shirts for the half marathon. The excuse was that half-marathoners got their t-shirt in the registration packet. So what? Large-scale races give BOTH. I would much rather have the shirt than the medal. | |
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K. R. from Houston, TX
(2/19/2007)
"Spectators were fantastic" (about: 2007)
1 previous marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 The spectators were there all along the route. They were vocal and helped pick me up when I felt down. The kids in particular were great; it was just fantastic to see so many there. The spectators certainly helped keep me going on what I thought was a tough course! | |
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w. s. from midland, texas
(2/19/2007)
"new race" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 4-5 Austin Marathons
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This is not the old Austin Marathon. It may be the hardest marathon I have run - this being #22. This new course is difficult. | |
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A. T. from Austin, TX
(2/19/2007)
"Scenic, but challenging - great spectator support" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Austin Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 In 2007, the course drastically changed. While it was very hilly, it was also very scenic and showcased Austin very well. I would highly recommend this race. The spectator support throughout was great, and given all the changes that were made this year, the race was also still well organized. Plenty of water stops and porta-potties and very nice volunteers. | |
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James Fajt from TX USA
(2/19/2007)
"One of the Best Marathons" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Austin Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 MY VEIW POINT: I have run 10 other marathons. I finish in about 5 hours. COURSE: Spectators on the entire course. Runner names on the bibs, so the spectators would call out runners' names. The course was hilly but not killer. Loop course had a good number of turns and interesting sights. Start and finish are 1/2 a mile part. SUPPORT: VERY good aid/drink stations every mile, VERY well marked, safe course. There were 4,000 marathoners and 6,000 half-marathon. Real mix of fast and slow runners. Abundant food, drink and aid when I finished at 5 hours. LOCATION: Good location - many hotels less than one half mile from the start/finish. Two nice shirts and a heavy finisher's medal. Weather was perfect. Big EXPO with lots of stuff. Numerous live bands on course. ALL IN ALL: AUSTIN DID IT RIGHT!!!!! | |
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J. B. from Dallas, Texas
(2/19/2007)
"Mediocre course; poor organization; great crowd" (about: 2007)
50+ previous marathons
| 3 Austin Marathons
COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 4 You would think that after this many years they could finally figure out how to organize a race. Unfortunately, the folks in Austin continue to treat this like a third-rate event, with poor course design and inadequate staffing at aid stations. Most of the water stops during the first half of the course didn't have anywhere near enough volunteers, especially considering that for the first 10 miles the marathon and half ran together. Worst of all was the number of port-a-potties. Imagine a race with thousands of runners, both a marathon and half running together for 10 miles and only 2 "facilities" at each mile. Lines were 10-deep for the first half of the marathon. Sorry, Austin, but folks shouldn't have to stand in line for 10-15 minutes to use a facility because you decide to cut corners. Then, at mile 20, they had placed 5 units. Where were those 5 in the first half of the course, when the runners actually needed them? As we say in Texas, "This wasn't Austin's first rodeo." Unfortunately, they just can't seem to get it right. There are plenty of other winter and spring marathons and this one should be avoided. Too bad because the crowd support was excellent. Dallas and Houston were much better courses, had better expos and were infinitely better organized. |
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