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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 221 to 231]
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J. K. from Austin Texas
(4/25/2006)
"fire the chip timer" (about: 2006)
2 previous marathons
| 2 Austin Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 If Freesale stays with the company doing the timing, I'm out for 2007. I personally contacted Run Far four times without a single response even after two months. The owner of the company is very unprofessional. I'm still waiting for the company to apologize or at least respond to emails. Parking was terrible. I drove by 1,000 empty parking lots so I could get to the very back of the facility, which took 15 minutes after we got in the parking lot. I love the city and race director, but if he doesn't start fixing his problems, this race has reached its potential and it's time for me to find another one. | |
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G. B. from Tulsa, Oklahoma
(4/6/2006)
"OK Marathon, not the BIG Deal I was told about." (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Austin Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 Ran this just for fun, I wasn't worried about qualifying for Boston this time. Lucky for me! Totally disorganized start messed up an otherwise okay marathon: late start; horrible traffic at start; very narrow starting gate; starting line timing mats not working. Several friends got to the start late because of the horrible traffic, and it WAS NOT just due to the ice. We have bad ice here in OK and they knew to leave early, but all cars and buses were funneled into one parking lot. Also I thought about trying to qualify, but knew I was borderline at this point, and decided to wait for later this year when in better condition. I would have been really upset about the lack of a chip time if I was trying to qualify, as many people were not counted when they crossed the line. But the support along the route was decent. Spectators were out despite the cold. I like a cold/cool start, so the weather was fine. Net downhill course, very rolling, which can hammer the quads/calves if not ready for them, with a monster incline on the Viaduct at mile 24. Not a particularly scenic course. Done it once, don't see a reason to do it again. | |
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Jimmy Freeman from Los Angeles, CA
(3/10/2006)
"WILD CARD WEATHER! The FREEZE-Scale Marathon!" (about: 2006)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Austin Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I came to this race as a coach, and as in ALL point-to-point marathons, ultimately ended up seeing every inch of the 26.2 miles and then some (32 miles to finish the day). If you want to run FAST, this race is for you. I have THREE ratings for FAST marathon courses... 1. PR - FAST *Fast enough for your fastest marathon time ever. 2. BQ - FASTER *FASTER than PR FAST - fast enough to shave necessary minutes to get you to your Boston goal. 3. OTQ - FASTEST *Olympic Trials Qualifier FAST, where the perfect downhill course and typically good weather combine to have you BLAZE to your "OTQ dream." If my math is accurate, there are approximately 240 people who qualify for the US Olympic Trials in the marathon every 4 years. That's about 120 guys & 120 girls. Thirty guys and girls a YEAR, which is only slightly more than one per weekend, on average. This year (2006), no fewer than 25 Americans qualified for the US Olympic Trials in 2008 (16-guys, 9-girls). U-S-A!! U-S-A!!! Woooohoooo!!! That is more than 1/3 of the typical totals in a year in ONE DAY at ONE RACE! Austin even sponsors people who are trying to get to the trials. As for the comments about organization and traffic, to me, they were ALL due to the freak weather. There were around 10 MAJOR accidents on the freeways on the 26-mile drive to the start on the busses. Black ice AND Texas don't mix well. I was impressed that race organizers dropped KITTY LITTER(?) over all slippery overpasses and other long stretches of road. I took ONE hard fall on the sidewalk within the first half mile, and stayed on the roads the rest o' the way. This race is a GREAT "last ditch effort at Boston." I plan to come again! | |
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C. L. from Fort Worth
(3/8/2006)
"I WISHED I HAD RUN THIS ONE 1ST" (about: 2006)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Austin Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 This was my third marathon in three months so I was a little worn - but after running the race I wish I had run it 1st; I would have had a great PR. Austin is a beautiful city - and running thru the UT campus and around the Dome was exceptional. Had a wonderful time and never really got cold except when I finished - waiting in line for chili. Thanks, Diana Wightman, for providing me with a replacement medal for the one I gave to my friend - I ran the race in memory of a his mother, who lost her fight with cancer. | |
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W. S. from Texas
(3/3/2006)
"Most poorly organized marathon ever!" (about: 2006)
50+ previous marathons
| 6+ Austin Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 While the course itself was fast, the organization of traffic into the parking areas was terrible. Very poorly organized! I paid early and my registration was lost so I had to re-enter at the expo. Supposed to start at 0700 and did not start until after 0730, and this delay was not due to the cold weather but due to poor organization. This marathon has gone from my favorite when Motorola was the sponsor to my least favorite since Freescale has taken it over. | |
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D. R. from Southern Illinois
(2/28/2006)
"I loved it!" (about: 2006)
11-50 previous marathons
| 3 Austin Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I'm surprised by all of the comments about the parking and traffic at the start. Ice is a great big deal in Austin, and traffic took a hit no doubt. Take a look at the historical data on weather in February folks. It was 80 a week earlier. This weather was VERY UNUSUAL and I for one thought the race went very well in spite of it. I loved the start being at Freescale. There was plenty of parking and it was very easy to catch a bus back to the start. With all of the news coverage about the bad weather conditions, I'm surprised so many people were stuck in traffic at the last minute. They pushed the start time back a half-hour to help us all get there. Thanks Austin for a fast course and a lot of PRs. I enjoyed it and I'll be back. | |
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R. H. from Northern California
(2/25/2006)
"Well Done - Handled Contingencies Just Fine" (about: 2006)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Austin Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Yes, it was cold, but the organizers took appropriate steps (sand on road). Lots of porta-potties. Easy to get to start - if you followed the suggestion of taking the bus (I did: walked to a bus, got on without a line, then walked right into the Freescale building to keep warm). Nice volunteers at expo, at the start, along course and afterwards - they cleared up the chip times very quickly and accurately. Lots of pacers who stayed the course and were on-time. Nice medal. I liked the course also - PR definitely. Don't be fooled by the Course Elevation chart - it was essentially flat! Just enough variation to keep your legs from turning to cement. | |
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J. S. from Argyle, Texas
(2/25/2006)
"Better finish under 5 hours" (about: 2006)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Austin Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 My second marathon. The course itself wasn't bad; only two mid to late climbs. Big problem: The course was not exclusive to runners; the police were letting traffic through the gaps and sometimes paused the runners. It made intersections more stressful. My running partner was injured so we finished near the end. The gel station was gone by the time we got to it. There were only unripe and hard bananas at the finish and some water that was being packed up. One bonus though: the finisher t-shirt was a nice running shirt. | |
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H. W. from North Bethesda, MD
(2/24/2006)
"Got a PR with much aggravation & worry" (about: 2006)
2 previous marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 Everything was set up for me to do poorly in this race - the temp, being stuck in traffic going to the start line, and the thought of the volunteers not coming out. But, I'm still smiling over my PR. Lucky for me, I trained in 30-40 degree weather, but I was mentally expecting 60 degrees. The volunteers and supporters were great. These are people used to warm weather who bundled up and came out to help. I love Austin and I left there smiling. | |
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J. P. from Tempe, AZ
(2/24/2006)
"Fans were great despite the cold" (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Austin Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Unfortunately the weather was no good this year, but I was very impressed with the fan support despite the cold and freezing rain. Water/PowerAde stops were excellent, the bands (playing in gloves) were great, and I was especially impressed with the fans who would hang out on overpasses just to warn runners of the ice. Only complaint about the race was the last few miles. The out-and-back was not a good finish, but I would definitely recommend the race. |
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