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Steamtown Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Steamtown Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.7 
Organization 4.9 
Spectators 4.7
Number of comments: 610 [displaying comments 481 to 491]
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D. T. from PA
(10/23/2006)
"What a wonderful, beautiful marathon!" (about: 2006)
1 previous marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I've only been involved in two marathons (relays and full marathon)prior to Steamtown but this was the best! The course was beautiful. The organization was efficient. The fans were awesome too. There were spots where there were cheerleaders and cross country teams cheering for us and they were motivating. The amount of fluids on the course was plentiful. The tech shirt is great in fact I love it. The prerace talk on the marathon was helpful and I think first timers should attend. I PR'd on this course as well as my husband. The emails from Jim Cummings were amusing, detailed and extremely helpful. I loved the yellow leaved trees that lined the portion of the rail to trails. Pennsylvania IS beautiful! I believe the Steamtown to be a class act! | |
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A. P. from Sinking Spring, Pa
(10/22/2006)
"Great place to qualify for Boston" (about: 2006)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Steamtown Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The organization of this race and the people of the towns you pass though make this race great. Yes, it's downhill or flat for the first 18 miles or so. By mile 23, the hills feel like mountains and hurt. This was my first road marathon and I did qualify for Boston without a second to spare (3:10:59). My advice is run really fast for the first 15 miles and bank some time for the last, slow, three miles. I don't know if I will go back to Steamtown, I qualified and I don't much care for road races - the overall experience of this race is incredible. | |
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T. G. from Newark, Delaware
(10/19/2006)
"Super Marathon" (about: 2006)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Steamtown Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This is a great race. The organization is outstanding, and the course is wonderful. You got to love a 900-foot decrease in altitude between the start and finish. Just watch out for the short, steep drop at about the half-mile point. There are a few modest inclines along the way as well, but nothing bad; the most tiring is at mile 25, but the cheering town folks keep you going. In fact the fans all along the course are super-duper. They even printed everyone's name in the newspaper the day before the race, so occasionally I even heard folks cheering me by name. Nice touch. The e-mails before and after the race from the organizers are funny and encouraging as well. One of the nicest aspects of this race is that they not only bus you out to the start in Forest City, but they house you in nice warm high school gyms prior to the start. You can relax, stretch or even sleep in comfort prior to running. Then they make sure that all your warm-up clothes get transported to the finish line by UPS. They have a great post-race party on the evening of the race with food, drink and excellent music at the Hilton in Scranton. In many respects this marathon is a smaller version of Boston and they work just as hard to make it enjoyable for everyone. I'll be back. | |
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J. C. from Long Island, NY
(10/18/2006)
"Great organization - Overrated course" (about: 2006)
First Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 My wife and I ran the 2006 edition of ST Marathon. It was her 3rd marathon run, and my 1st. She was looking for a BQ of 3:40 and I was looking to just finish in about 5 hours. We both bought into the hype that this course is fast and all sorts of records can be set. PRs and BQs can be run; but the advice given by race directors at the expo was well-meaning, but faulty in our opinion. We followed their advice, but my wife did not BQ, although she did set a new PR, while I DNF'd at 18 miles. The race directors highly recommend that all runners should try to maintain the same pace per mile in order to have reserves left for the signifcant hills at the end of the race on Electric Street and the one leading up to Cooper's Restaurant. They do not recommend 'banking' time on the wonderful effortless downhills in the first 6 - 7 miles. My wife followed the advice precisely, but the fact is the uphills at the end are very tough and understated in all the race materials; no matter what your abilities are. Maintaining the same pace you had at mile 5, will simply not be possible on the hills at the end. In our opinion, you must 'bank' some time on the easy 1st half of the course while striking a balance between burning out before the hills at the end. A lot of emphasis is placed on the downhills of this race, but be aware there are inclines throughout with challening UPhills at the end. We heard many surprised runners commenting on the numerous and unexpected inclines and uphills post-race. The rails to trails and wood chip area are OK. We had high expectations about them, but were a little disappointed in the running surface. The wood chips were fairly loose and unsupportive. However, veteran trail runners will likely enjoy those areas. The race is extremely well organized and planned for. From expo and chip pick-up to morning bus ride, porta-potties, and aid stations, everything is smoothly done to minimize distractions and problems for the runners. You can tell the organizers are runners themselves and they really care about putting on a great event. The towns of Forest City and Carbondale have nice spectator support as well as Scranton. Staying in one of the hotels near the finish line and bus pick-up is a big plus to make race morning stress-free. We were at the Radisson. A very nice place and different. It's a converted railroad station. It's a bit noisy though as sounds tend to echo there with all the open spaces. Not the most runner friendly hotel either as their food/drink shops did open until 6:30am on race morning. Too late. The Hilton is probably the best bet and has a Starbucks that opens at 4am. Overall, ST is an excellently organized race, with a course that should be respected with UPhill preparation. Highly recommend, if you can, drive the last few miles of the course beforehand to really understand what you will be facing at the end. Beware of the unique temperature changes too at this race. The start was in the mid to high 40s, and 4 hours later was in the low 70s in downtown Scranton. | |
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M. F. from Wayne, NJ
(10/18/2006)
"Good marathon, but not as fast as advertised" (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Steamtown Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I'm a little amused by the comments about how good the course is. It wasn't quite as fast as I hoped. I spoke with a friend who ran it two years ago; I ran it this year, and we both came to the same conclusion: The first half is remarkably fast. The second half, well... ... First of all, I didn't care much for the wood-chip trails. While they were nice and soft, I would've preferred the pavement. Running shoes bounce off of pavement, but they sink into wood chips. I had to work a bit harder than I wanted to on the trails just to keep up pace. The same pace seemed so much easier on the roads. The hills at 23, 24, and 26 were tough. 24 was the worst - long and steep. They're not at a very good location. On the upside is the race's organization. It's the best I've ever been to. You'd think a point-to-point race would be a logistical nightmare, but everything was done beautifully, especially the finish line area. The spectators were awesome. In every little town there were hundreds of enthusiastic fans. It made running fun. I'd probably do this again, as it's only two hours from where I live, although the course might give me hesitation. | |
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j. e. from buffalo, new york
(10/18/2006)
"well organized and a must for all marathoners" (about: 2006)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Steamtown Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my third marathon, and although it was my worst time of the three, this was by far the best event! Everything was well organized and the people - runners, volunteers, and marathon staff - were the friendliest bunch I have met. Although it was hard to slow down enough on the immense declines for the first eight miles - yes, eight straight miles - it's best to train hard on hills, as quads seemed not to be part of my body towards the end. This marathon should be scheduled by anyone who has the marathon bug! | |
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K. B. from Connecticut
(10/17/2006)
"Doesn't get any better than Steamtown" (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 2 Steamtown Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This year was the second time I've run Steamtown (ran in 2004, too), and the experience was as stellar as the first! I can't really add any value to the other accolades (who needs to?). I can say that they improved on near perfection by adding cola to the food table at the end (in my opinion the best post-race drink). I've only one comment on the course. I notice that after the half, a number of people passed me, only to have me catch and pass them before mile 20. My guess is that they come off the downhill section and then try to maintain their first half pace. This pace is too fast, and they burn out. This course is not meant to be run with even splits. You have to enjoy the decline, bank those fast miles, and then have the discipline to run a sustainable pace for the second half. | |
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David Stansbury from Harrisburg, PA
(10/16/2006)
"Simply Outstanding" (about: 2006)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Steamtown Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 First of all, the organization of this event is first-class from the pre-race emails, expo, Forest City high school, to the scores of volunteers on the course. Everyone seemed to know exactly what to do and how to do it. Course: The course itself was very enjoyable. Listen to the course presentation at the expo. Stay conservative for the first 7 miles or so of declines. It will save your quads for the hills at the end. They said that the middle part was pretty flat, but I thought that it had more rolling hills than anything, which actually provides good variety for your legs. The trails were beautiful and a nice change from the road. I did not like the wood chip section at all as it made my knees feel like they were going to explode. But that was just a short part of the course. The hills at the end can be daunting because they are at the end, but I just put my head down until I reached the top. Spectators don't line the course like in the bigger marathons, but they were still standing by the road and clapping by the time the mid-packers like me went by. With training that included a lot of hills and speed work, a great course and nice weather, I was able to PR by 10 minutes and finally achieved my goal of a sub 4-hour marathon. I gave it all I had up that last hill! I couldn't have been happier at the finish if I qualified for Boston. Thanks again to the race directors for a nearly flawless event. And thanks again to Bruce from Brooklyn for pushing me to the end. Good luck in Boston. | |
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M. L. from Chicago, IL
(10/14/2006)
"Great, Small-Town-Feel Marathon" (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Steamtown Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 While the bigger races get upwards of 30,000+ participants, this race has a genuine small-town feel to it due to the smaller field and the picturesque towns that the course winds through. Crowd support for a marathon of this size is impressive, and it is clear that, come marathon weekend, this is "the event" in town. The only caveat I have for people who want to run this race is to be advised that the elevation chart provided by the race organizers shows only "net" changes in elevation; there are some (small, but not insignificant) hills even before the last two miles. Also, I want to say "thank you" to the kind spectator who, without hesitating, got out of her chair and stood before me at mile 24 when I cramped up on one of the few hills in this course. That kind of concern for others is unexpected, but typical of the support that runners get in this race. Overall, this marathon is well-organized, well-supported, and well worth your time and travel. At a time when marathon running continues to grow, it is getting harder and harder to find worthwhile races that can give you what this marathon has to offer. It's small, but excellent. | |
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Stephen Brown from Robinson, Kansas
(10/14/2006)
"Undisputed Queen of Marathons!" (about: 2006)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Steamtown Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Wow, what a race! They aspire to be the "Best Midsize Marathon" and they have achieved it in my opinion. The organization was superb, the course was beautiful, and there were cheering crowds the entire way. I brought my iPod (yes, I know it's against the rules), but never used it because of the throngs of cheering crowds literally every step of the way! Where do they find so many enthusiastic people? The people of Scranton and the communities through which this race runs obviously take great ownership and pride in this race. On a technical note to future runners, resist the temptation to open up the jets during the long declines in the first half of the course. I was planning to pace myself at 8:30-minute miles, but found myself doing 7-minute miles for quite a few mile splits. Although I set a PB, this was a rookie mistake and I could have done a lot better if I had saved more for the finish. There were a lot of boinked walkers towards the end who should not have been. Overall, best race on all fronts I've done anywhere. Mega kudos to organizers, volunteers and fans!! |
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