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Sep 20, 2024

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 231 to 241]

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c. h. from georgetown, tx (2/24/2006) "forget the whiners this is a PR course" (about: 2006) 11-50 previous marathons \| 4-5 Austin Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 Agreed the race had some growing pains this year. Parking was a disaster due to road closures and I suspect inadequate volunteers due to the weather. Austin has never been known for its spectators but I was pleasantly surprised by the number that showed up. This is also not traditionally a scenic marathon. It is a fast marathon and the new course is faster than ever. You want scenic? Do Big Sur. You want crowds? Do NY. You wanna PR? Come to Austin next year.
Joe Ketarkus from Madison, WI (2/23/2006) "Good except traffic" (about: 2006) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Austin Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 Weather was cold, but that's just bad luck. I had no problems with the ice, but I heard one guy fall HARD behind me - they could probably have thrown a little salt out there - it was in the 1st 0.33 miles. On the way to the start there was bumper-to-bumper traffic for I don't know how far. I, along with many others who weren't driving themselves, got out of the car and walked/jogged to the start - I made it with only about 10 minutes to spare despite the delayed start. But... I got in a fast porta-potty line and made it to my area of the start pack with about 4 minutes left so at least I didn't have to shiver long. I have no complaints at all about the race itself or the route for the full marathon. I thought it sucked for the half folks that they didn't get to run through downtown or really near anything very scenic. The chili at the finish was very tasty and just what I needed since it was sooo cold. I had trouble finding my family after finishing and they had trouble parking at the finish so they didn't get to see me cross. I posted a big PR and had a great time of it. Overall I really enjoyed the race and loved Austin as a city. I recommend this race.
j. v. from dallas, texas (2/23/2006) "Good medal, hot food, great finisher's shirt!" (about: 2006) 11-50 previous marathons \| 2 Austin Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 New course, huge problems with traffic. Reminded me of PF Chang's in many ways with the traffic snafu. Remember to come early... I mean early. Not a big race, but all the big race traffic problems. Neither the start or finish is at a hotel so everybody has to drive and it will be a huge mess if you aren't planning on being there over an hour early. Very lousy day for spectators, but they were there! Well not like in previous years, but come on, 28 degrees and freezing fog. Having any spectators was a miracle. Beautiful new route, but even more sadistic than the old routes. A net downhill marathon with all the hills in the end??? The half was still all downhill. HOT FOOD at the finish! Great bag-check. Shortest porta-potties lines at the start of any larger race that I have been to. On the course there were lines at the porta-potties, but there were still probably two every two miles on the route. You always need more, but they did a good job. Marginal race shirt, but great finisher's shirt and good finisher's medallion. And hot food is always appreciated and quick recovery of your checked gear is essential when you get a freaky cold day at Austin. Another fine event, just come early and watch for the deer! Okay I hear that the slow runners may have not had the food that single digit per mile runners had. I had great hot food, sorry that they missed it. It was a cold day and it is hard to change plans at the last minute when it is 30 degrees colder than normal and everybody takes hot food and you run fairly slowly. Always take care of yourself with your gear bag - that's all that I can say. I mean this is a marathon, not a luxury tour of the city.
Diane Daniels from Dallas, TX (2/23/2006) "Austin Rocks!" (about: 2006) 6-10 previous marathons \| 3 Austin Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Best PR time yet! Although a slightly warmer start would've been preferred, the cold temps. contributed heavily to my success. The new course was also a nice improvement. I'm not a fan of "out & backs," but it was good that it was located at the end of the marathon because you could see & hear the finishers across the lake which provided a huge mental boost knowing the end was near! The volunteers who worked this event deserve a HUGE THANKS just for showing up (in spite of the 28-degree start!) The runners certainly appreciated it! The chili served at the finisher's tent was a HUGE improvement from 2004's offerings of scrambled eggs. (THANK YOU RACE ORGANIZERS!) Crowd support has been better in past years, but the weather surely kept many at home. The only negative I have to say is it would've been nice to have sliced oranges and bananas or little tiny Oreo cookies provided for the runners towards the latter rest stops (anywhere from mile 16 on). I only came upon one rest stop (mile 23?) that had sliced oranges but sooner would've been better than later. Austin 2003 was my very first marathon and therefore holds a special significance for me. I'll be back to run next year and hopefully for many more years to come!
D. S. from San Antonio, TX (2/23/2006) "A decent race" (about: 2006) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Austin Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 This was my first time running Austin. I did run both Dallas White Rock and Houston marathons immediately prior to Austin. Although a good event, Austin was definitely the smallest event, but you can tell the people who organize it are doing a lot to make it a contender. The expo was so-so; no great deals to be had. It was pretty small, but had all race-day essentials. Packet pick-up was flawless and the volunteers working the expo were the best I've seen. Race-day was a very mixed bag. First to the weather - ice and freezing temps made both the roads and running conditions less than ideal. Although you can't fault the race organizers for inclement weather, the post-race issues might have been mitigated with a bit more contingency planning (more on that in a minute). Austin has a rather unconventional layout. First off, the start line and finish lines (for both Half and Full) are ath 3 separate locations. For out of towners like me, it's confusing as hell. I took a shuttle bus from the half-marathon finish to the start line, and caught a shuttle back to the half-finish from the full-finish. The volunteers at the expo seemed a bit confused by the shuttle issues, but were able to figure it out and explain it to me. The decision to start the race at the Freescale building was a bad one. The traffic was extremely bad and it wasn't solely due to weather. The roads just aren't built to accommodate that level of traffic. Also, the starting line road itself was only a 2-lane.... That coupled with the fact that they didn't have a separate start for the half meant an extremely congested and dangerous first couple of miles. I saw one lady literally knocked down within the first half mile and I guarantee many of us lost a few minutes due to the impassable congestion. Personally, I loved the course. I really have no complaints - Austin is a lovely city, the elevation was downhill, the city did a great job putting gravel on the icy roads, crowd support was good given the race size and weather, and the volunteers did a fine job handing out fluids, etc. Austin seems to have a great running community. I had a few problems post race, some brought on by my own stupidity so I'll try to be fair in my comments. I failed to bring a full set of warm, dry clothes to change into because I figured that there would be indoor facilities for food, etc. (as in Dallas and Houston). Unfortunately, there were no buildings for runners to get into. The decision to end the race at a park would have been sound if the weather was decent; a solid backup plan (for a mid-February) event should have been in place. Even a tent with some heaters would have been appreciated. Also, I was really upset that despite the fact they had plenty of port-o-johns, they were all positioned outside the runners' area, forcing you to bypass food and leave the runners' area. if you really needed to hit the restroom immediately. Food selection was minimal, but sufficient. I was able to grab a couple of cookies on my dash to the toilet. As another person stated, the food tents were pretty much "open air" thereby exposing runners to the cold even further. Had I known about the lack of facilities at the end, I would definitely have brought a full change of clothes. Due to the freezing weather, wet clothes, and lack of fuel, my body slipped into hypothermia and I ended up in the medical tent (received great treatment by the way - KUDOS!). The event occurs in mid February and the weather forecast had predicted freezing temps for at least four days priorthe organizers really should have a contingency plan if they really want the race to end in a park with no buildings. Like the Dallas White Rock, my gun time and chip time were listed as the same; at least Austin emailed me and asked me for the correct information (which I had). Hopefully they'll give me back the 1.5 minutes! All of that said, I still think Austin was a terrific event, and I'd definitely run it again. Sure it's not the biggest race in the state, but it's a fine, fast course in a beautiful city. A few things definitely need to be tweaked, but the people who put this together should be commended.
k. e. from San Diego, CA (2/22/2006) "never so cold" (about: 2006) 11-50 previous marathons \| 2 Austin Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 For those thinking of doing this marathon, be warned that the weather in Austin is completely unpredictable. Three days before the race it was 80. The morning of the race it was 28 and the roads were covered with black ice. Also, be warned that getting to the new start on time can be difficult. I don't suggest driving. We were stuck in standstill traffic for over an hour within 3 miles of the start line. I had to get out of the car and hoof it. Even though there was a last-minute decision to move the start time back a half-hour, few of us knew it. That said, the new race course is fast. The first half is rather boring, but from there on into town it picks up. The run around the capitol is nice, but the out-and-back along Town Lake in sight of the finish line is nothing short of cruel. I have to credit the volunteers and handful of spectators who braved the cold to be on the course. I can't say much for the bands, as only a few actually showed up. The medal is really beautiful... love the ribbon, but the short-sleeve finisher's shirt seemed like a joke under the circumstances. It was nice to have my name printed on the bib number. It was not nice to learn that the timing company missed recording my start time and that of half the field. All in all, had it not been for the cold and the timing fiasco, I would have really enjoyed this race.
B. H. from Austin, TX (2/22/2006) "Organization couldn't have been worse" (about: 2006) 4-5 previous marathons \| 2 Austin Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 The traffic and organization was horrible. Yes, it was cold. It was not the weather's fault. It took 2 hours to drive the last 6 miles to the race. They had to delay the start 30 minutes because people couldn't get there! I planned enough time to arrive just after 6:00 a.m. for a 7:00 start. Even when people got into the parking lot, they didn;t know where they were supposed to go. Of course traffic backed up. Again, the traffic mess was NOT the weather's fault. It was the organizer's fault!!! I was stuck in traffic and didn't get there until 8:00 (yes, the race had already started) and there were LOTS of cars still on the road trying to get there!!! People were abandoning their cars on the side of the road and running two to three miles to the starting line! (Why would you shut down the right lane to get to a parking lot on the right side of the road?) Finally, to top it all off, the chip reader was "set up wrong" so about half of the field (according to the email sent out the next morning) didn't have a good start time. They were given a start time equal to the gun time. With so many arriving well after the "start, "these times aren't even close to accurate.
J. B. from Centennial, Colorado (2/22/2006) "My First Marathon, Cold but Happy" (about: 2006) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Austin Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 All the runners and fans were so supportive and the volunteers always had a smile to help. The course was easy until you get downtown then the hills get real tough. Unforunately the traffic jam was so bad getting to the race I had to run three extra miles to the starting line and had to start with a group with an estimated time over an hour behind what I had estimated, thereby wasting a lot of energy passing slower runners. In the future I'd like to see the runners assigned a place at the starting line based on their estimated time and start the half marathoners a few minutes later. I loved it, but get there real early.
K. W. from San Antonio, Texas (2/22/2006) "2006: poor organization, thin crowds, no support" (about: 2006) 4-5 previous marathons \| 2 Austin Marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 2 This was my 4th marathon. I loved Austin before, but this was awful. Ice not cleared (and it could have been), several runners fell and it was not their fault, stops toward the end only had PowerAde, bananas were frozen (they should have been wrapped in newspaper), very little food at the finish and generally very little concern for us runners finishin in over 5 hours.
L. S. from Dallas, Texas (2/22/2006) "Overall, experience was good" (about: 2006) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Austin Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 This was my first time at the Austin Marathon. I have heard wonderful things about it. Probably had I chosen to run the marathon and not the half, I would have fewer negative comments! First, the positives. Porta-potties abounded! It seemed there were two every mile or two. Folks still headed for the bushes, but I've been on courses where you couldn't find one, period. And, there were plenty of water/PowerAde stations. And, THEY HAD WATER AND POWERADE! Lots of it. The organization seemed to run pretty smoothly. The race was delayed, rumor was, because many of the volunteers were late due to the icy road conditions. There was a huge traffic problem trying to get everyone into the parking lot at Freescale. Frankly, I don't think this is the best place for the race start. It is not close to anything, and I understand this is the first year they have started there. No hotels are within walking distance, so everyone either had to drive or shuttle to the start/finish, and shuttle passes were extra. And, I heard that some people waited over an hour for shuttles. I also thought it was a little strange that everyone lined up in the same chute, but it seemed to work ok. I liked it better than that 'wave' start in Phoenix! There wasn't a lot of entertainment on the course, at least the first half that I saw, but there were more people out than I expected braving the weather to cheer us on. And, yes, this type of weather happens in Texas a lot more than you would think! There were two things that really PO'd me, though. When I got to the finish line, my blood sugar was seriously depleted. However, there was NOTHING LEFT but a few pretzels. This is really bad planning, folks. Know how many runners you have, and plan for it. Then make sure that non-runner's don't eat! Also, the organization at the finish wasn't very well marked. There were areas we couldn't walk through, and the advertised "family area" was non-existent.

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