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Marathon Details - Philadelphia Marathon

North America Marathons > USA > PA > Philadelphia > Philadelphia Marathon

Philadelphia Marathon

AACR Philadelphia Marathon & Half Marathon, 8K

Philadelphia, PA USA

November 24, 2024

http://www.philadelphiamarathon.com

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Address:	1515 Arch Street, 10th Floor Philadelphia, PA 19102
Phone Number:	215-683-2122
Email:	Email the organizers

Runner Reviews (749)

Course 4.3

Organization 3.6

Spectators 3.8

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Number of comments: 749 [displaying comments 1 to 11]

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 .. 75 > ]

B. B. from New Jersey (11/23/2021) "This is not a flat course anymore." (about: 2021) 50+ previous marathons \| 6+ Philadelphia Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Course changes this year added a lot of ups and down to the course after ten miles. Should have been warned when for the first time the race shirt did not have the race course on the back. The course has changed over the years from the fast and flat course of late 1990s to a relatively hilly first half marathon and flat and fast last half the last decade or more. I was running with friends who had never done this race and was telling them what to expect. I spent a lot of time apologizing later. It still has the wonderful mostly gentle downhill over the last 5 so still a fair course and will do it again. Crowd support on the course seemed the best in over a decade and race is very well managed and support was superior. Still a great marathon.
M. W. from Clearwater, FL (12/2/2019) "Fast course; portapottie situation needs improvemt" (about: 2019) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Philadelphia Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 The weather was miserable this year (rain in low 40s) but the course is fast, great course support and spectators despite the weather. However, for reasons I don't understand there were more portapotties OUTSIDE of secured area (you have to pass security to get to the corrals) than inside. The bathroom lines insides secured area were enormous; it was quicker to go outside the secured area and be re-screened provided that you'd already done your gear check. All comments below regarding the portapotties are accurate--this needs serious improvement. Many runners were 'going' on the side of the road early on in the race. Everything else was great and I ended up with a PR.
M. F. from New York State (12/1/2019) "Great crowd support but awful port a potties" (about: 2019) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Philadelphia Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 Pros: Great finisher medal. Awesome crowd support. Huge expo. Cons: The city smells like urine. We had to step around countless homeless people just to get to the expo. Port a potties were set up on uneven surfaces so they rocked violently when you were in them. It was like trying to go to the bathroom on the sinking Titanic. In addition, the first potty I went in, someone pooped on the seat. Gross.
E. B. from Waterford, NY (11/26/2019) "Will run again" (about: 2019) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Philadelphia Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Stayed at the Loews Hotel (enjoyed very much). Busy with the Seattle Seahawks there but made it fun. Pros 1. Packet pickup: very easy. Great race shirt 2. Shuttle buses to the start 3. Course was perfect. Was able to see alittle bit of everything that Philly has to offer. Pretty much flat course. Weather was brutal (rain/wind/snow/cold) but the crowd support was incredible. 4. Water/aid stations were nicely placed 5. Finishers medal was awesome. Didn't stick around for postrace as I was soaked and freezing. 6. Tons of volunteers and very well organized. Cons 1. Expo was solid but not much selection for race gear. Should of bought online before. 2. It was dark and tough to see but I thought the starting area was alittle hectic. Bathroom line was a mile long. Ended up going between 2 tents. Overall: great weekend/great race. Will be back
M. P. from New York, NY (11/25/2019) "Not enough bathrooms" (about: 2019) 11-50 previous marathons \| 2 Philadelphia Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 Arrived at the race area at 6:20 and joined an enormous queue for the bathroom. The people around me were Philly marathon veterans and said there was the same lack of facilities last year. I made it to the front of the queue after 35 minutes and only just made it into the corral before the start. No warm up for a race in 38 degrees isn't great. There was lots of space for more potties, why weren't they there? Especially if this is a repeated problem?
C. K. from Michigan (11/24/2019) "Great city and course, organization needs work" (about: 2019) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Philadelphia Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 Pros: The course is nice with just a few small hills and shows off lots of different areas of Philadelphia. The spectators were great. Lots of gatorade/water stops. But the best of all was seeing Meb on course encouraging runners midway through the course and at the finish. He is a class act!! The weather turned out pretty well - 40s at the start with a tiny bit of drizzle, and then started to drizzle again maybe 3 hours into the marathon. Corral start seemed to work well. Nice expo, easy to navigate with a great kids area. Very cool medal and nice long sleeved tech shirt. Thank you to the lovely volunteer at the shuttles getting frozen runners on buses as quickly as she could. You made my day! In fact, lots of super nice volunteers - thank you to all of you! Cons: 25 portapotties at start for 15,000 runners. A joke? Perhaps, but not a funny one. I stood in line for 45 minutes and then gave up. I have never seen such a long potty line. Not surprisingly, there were lines for all of the portapotties on course. Not cool. There was also quite a bit of confusion about where things were (e.g. volunteers didn't know where shuttle buses were). The end of the race was a mess. Short food line with not many choices that immediately spit runners out into a huge crowd of spectators. It was really hard to navigate at the end of a long cold race. For the kids race the day before, the (sparse) shuttles at the convention center, dropped us off on the side of the start area, with no instructions regarding where to go. It turns out, we were trapped because the 8K was starting and there was no way to cross without walking a mile or more. Lots of confused families trying to figure out what to do without much success and no signage or volunteers to direct traffic. Likewise, no one at convention center on Saturday knew where to direct kids race participants. Lots to like about this race, but the portapotty mess definitely soured my mood going into the race in the morning. If the organizers can fix one thing for next year, I think that's what it needs to be.
S. M. from Morristown, NJ (11/23/2018) "Great event...we'll organized" (about: 2018) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Philadelphia Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Ran Philadelphia Marathon '18. My 12th marathon, first Philadelphia. I loved this race. Great crowds. Well organized. Fast flat course. Volunteers were wonderful. Perfect weather in 40's. I BQ'd even though I was disappointed with time. I went out too fast and didn't fuel properly at end of race. I will definitely run this race in '19! Congrats to race director for phenomenal event.
D. P. from NY (11/20/2018) "Awesome Big City Marathon Feel without the Hassle" (about: 2018) 50+ previous marathons \| 3 Philadelphia Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my 3rd time running the Philadelphia Marathon. Philadelphia always outdoes itself and exceeds expectations. Organization A++. Course A++. Ease of getting to the marathon, through security and getting back after A++. For 2019 they added on shuttle buses to and from the race. Wow - compare the 1 mile fast bus ride to Boston's 30min ride. There were FREE athlete heating tents at the start! Compare to paying a few hundred dollars for a VIP tent at the NYC marathon. For those that like medals - good luck finding a cooler more awesome medal than this year's with the dinging Liberty Bell! Hydration stations - NEVER seen more on a course - felt like they were every 2 miles. I am not a big eater at the end but saw more food options only once before and that one charged for it. Tech shirt - YES - not some junk. DID I MENTION DES LINDEN AND MEB at the EXPO meeting and taking pictures with ALL runners FOR FREE? Anyone that posts a disparaging comment about the Philadelphia Marathon is not to be trusted - maybe a disgruntled director from a competing course after seeing race perfection. Oh and I am not a big expo guy but wow - seriously cool things being given to runners at the Philadelphia Expo!
B. B. from Ontario Canada (11/19/2018) "Start time too early" (about: 2018) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Philadelphia Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Great race course, well organized , volunteers were terrific! Not completely flat but close. The only negative for me was the start time - much too early for a fall marathon!
R. S. from Holbrook, New York (3/2/2018) "Fun for My First Marathon" (about: 2017) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Philadelphia Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Philadelphia 2017 was my first Marathon that I have run so it is hard for me to compare to any other. With that said, This was a fun experience for me. I thought the Expo was organized well, and easy to move around. A good place to buy those last minute Marathon needs. Due to the heavy rains the morning of the Marathon, I thought the organizers did a good job letting people stay dry in the tents while waiting for the start. The course itself was fun, mostly flat with some inclines that were manageable. I enjoyed the first half better than the second half. Running through the city streets past the historic sites was very enjoyable. However, passing the Art Museum (Rocky Steps) and then completing a 10K to Manayunk and looping right back to the art museum and finish line for another 10K was not as enjoyable. Of course the strong 35 mph wind gusts while running towards Manayunk that slowed my pace down may give me a biased opinion on that. The crowd support was positive but I wish there would have been a bit more for a Marathon of this size. It was the crowd support in Manayunk that kept me going and I wish that kind of support would have been through out the race. The after party was fun, but wish they would have given at least a free beer instead of charging. I didn't feel like going to the truck right away for my bags as that was a lot further away.

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 .. 75 > ]



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B. B. from New Jersey (11/23/2021) "This is not a flat course anymore." (about: 2021) 50+ previous marathons \| 6+ Philadelphia Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Course changes this year added a lot of ups and down to the course after ten miles. Should have been warned when for the first time the race shirt did not have the race course on the back. The course has changed over the years from the fast and flat course of late 1990s to a relatively hilly first half marathon and flat and fast last half the last decade or more. I was running with friends who had never done this race and was telling them what to expect. I spent a lot of time apologizing later. It still has the wonderful mostly gentle downhill over the last 5 so still a fair course and will do it again. Crowd support on the course seemed the best in over a decade and race is very well managed and support was superior. Still a great marathon.
M. W. from Clearwater, FL (12/2/2019) "Fast course; portapottie situation needs improvemt" (about: 2019) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Philadelphia Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 The weather was miserable this year (rain in low 40s) but the course is fast, great course support and spectators despite the weather. However, for reasons I don't understand there were more portapotties OUTSIDE of secured area (you have to pass security to get to the corrals) than inside. The bathroom lines insides secured area were enormous; it was quicker to go outside the secured area and be re-screened provided that you'd already done your gear check. All comments below regarding the portapotties are accurate--this needs serious improvement. Many runners were 'going' on the side of the road early on in the race. Everything else was great and I ended up with a PR.
M. F. from New York State (12/1/2019) "Great crowd support but awful port a potties" (about: 2019) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Philadelphia Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 Pros: Great finisher medal. Awesome crowd support. Huge expo. Cons: The city smells like urine. We had to step around countless homeless people just to get to the expo. Port a potties were set up on uneven surfaces so they rocked violently when you were in them. It was like trying to go to the bathroom on the sinking Titanic. In addition, the first potty I went in, someone pooped on the seat. Gross.
E. B. from Waterford, NY (11/26/2019) "Will run again" (about: 2019) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Philadelphia Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Stayed at the Loews Hotel (enjoyed very much). Busy with the Seattle Seahawks there but made it fun. Pros 1. Packet pickup: very easy. Great race shirt 2. Shuttle buses to the start 3. Course was perfect. Was able to see alittle bit of everything that Philly has to offer. Pretty much flat course. Weather was brutal (rain/wind/snow/cold) but the crowd support was incredible. 4. Water/aid stations were nicely placed 5. Finishers medal was awesome. Didn't stick around for postrace as I was soaked and freezing. 6. Tons of volunteers and very well organized. Cons 1. Expo was solid but not much selection for race gear. Should of bought online before. 2. It was dark and tough to see but I thought the starting area was alittle hectic. Bathroom line was a mile long. Ended up going between 2 tents. Overall: great weekend/great race. Will be back
M. P. from New York, NY (11/25/2019) "Not enough bathrooms" (about: 2019) 11-50 previous marathons \| 2 Philadelphia Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 Arrived at the race area at 6:20 and joined an enormous queue for the bathroom. The people around me were Philly marathon veterans and said there was the same lack of facilities last year. I made it to the front of the queue after 35 minutes and only just made it into the corral before the start. No warm up for a race in 38 degrees isn't great. There was lots of space for more potties, why weren't they there? Especially if this is a repeated problem?
C. K. from Michigan (11/24/2019) "Great city and course, organization needs work" (about: 2019) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Philadelphia Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 Pros: The course is nice with just a few small hills and shows off lots of different areas of Philadelphia. The spectators were great. Lots of gatorade/water stops. But the best of all was seeing Meb on course encouraging runners midway through the course and at the finish. He is a class act!! The weather turned out pretty well - 40s at the start with a tiny bit of drizzle, and then started to drizzle again maybe 3 hours into the marathon. Corral start seemed to work well. Nice expo, easy to navigate with a great kids area. Very cool medal and nice long sleeved tech shirt. Thank you to the lovely volunteer at the shuttles getting frozen runners on buses as quickly as she could. You made my day! In fact, lots of super nice volunteers - thank you to all of you! Cons: 25 portapotties at start for 15,000 runners. A joke? Perhaps, but not a funny one. I stood in line for 45 minutes and then gave up. I have never seen such a long potty line. Not surprisingly, there were lines for all of the portapotties on course. Not cool. There was also quite a bit of confusion about where things were (e.g. volunteers didn't know where shuttle buses were). The end of the race was a mess. Short food line with not many choices that immediately spit runners out into a huge crowd of spectators. It was really hard to navigate at the end of a long cold race. For the kids race the day before, the (sparse) shuttles at the convention center, dropped us off on the side of the start area, with no instructions regarding where to go. It turns out, we were trapped because the 8K was starting and there was no way to cross without walking a mile or more. Lots of confused families trying to figure out what to do without much success and no signage or volunteers to direct traffic. Likewise, no one at convention center on Saturday knew where to direct kids race participants. Lots to like about this race, but the portapotty mess definitely soured my mood going into the race in the morning. If the organizers can fix one thing for next year, I think that's what it needs to be.
S. M. from Morristown, NJ (11/23/2018) "Great event...we'll organized" (about: 2018) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Philadelphia Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Ran Philadelphia Marathon '18. My 12th marathon, first Philadelphia. I loved this race. Great crowds. Well organized. Fast flat course. Volunteers were wonderful. Perfect weather in 40's. I BQ'd even though I was disappointed with time. I went out too fast and didn't fuel properly at end of race. I will definitely run this race in '19! Congrats to race director for phenomenal event.
D. P. from NY (11/20/2018) "Awesome Big City Marathon Feel without the Hassle" (about: 2018) 50+ previous marathons \| 3 Philadelphia Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my 3rd time running the Philadelphia Marathon. Philadelphia always outdoes itself and exceeds expectations. Organization A++. Course A++. Ease of getting to the marathon, through security and getting back after A++. For 2019 they added on shuttle buses to and from the race. Wow - compare the 1 mile fast bus ride to Boston's 30min ride. There were FREE athlete heating tents at the start! Compare to paying a few hundred dollars for a VIP tent at the NYC marathon. For those that like medals - good luck finding a cooler more awesome medal than this year's with the dinging Liberty Bell! Hydration stations - NEVER seen more on a course - felt like they were every 2 miles. I am not a big eater at the end but saw more food options only once before and that one charged for it. Tech shirt - YES - not some junk. DID I MENTION DES LINDEN AND MEB at the EXPO meeting and taking pictures with ALL runners FOR FREE? Anyone that posts a disparaging comment about the Philadelphia Marathon is not to be trusted - maybe a disgruntled director from a competing course after seeing race perfection. Oh and I am not a big expo guy but wow - seriously cool things being given to runners at the Philadelphia Expo!
B. B. from Ontario Canada (11/19/2018) "Start time too early" (about: 2018) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Philadelphia Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Great race course, well organized , volunteers were terrific! Not completely flat but close. The only negative for me was the start time - much too early for a fall marathon!
R. S. from Holbrook, New York (3/2/2018) "Fun for My First Marathon" (about: 2017) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Philadelphia Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Philadelphia 2017 was my first Marathon that I have run so it is hard for me to compare to any other. With that said, This was a fun experience for me. I thought the Expo was organized well, and easy to move around. A good place to buy those last minute Marathon needs. Due to the heavy rains the morning of the Marathon, I thought the organizers did a good job letting people stay dry in the tents while waiting for the start. The course itself was fun, mostly flat with some inclines that were manageable. I enjoyed the first half better than the second half. Running through the city streets past the historic sites was very enjoyable. However, passing the Art Museum (Rocky Steps) and then completing a 10K to Manayunk and looping right back to the art museum and finish line for another 10K was not as enjoyable. Of course the strong 35 mph wind gusts while running towards Manayunk that slowed my pace down may give me a biased opinion on that. The crowd support was positive but I wish there would have been a bit more for a Marathon of this size. It was the crowd support in Manayunk that kept me going and I wish that kind of support would have been through out the race. The after party was fun, but wish they would have given at least a free beer instead of charging. I didn't feel like going to the truck right away for my bags as that was a lot further away.

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Marathon Details - Philadelphia Marathon