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Apr 29, 2024

Madison Marathon (Mad City Marathon) Runner Comments

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Course 4.0

Organization 3.6

Spectators 3.8

Number of comments: 222 [displaying comments 31 to 41]

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M. K. from River Falls, WI (6/4/2010) "Unprepared for the heat" (about: 2010) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Madison Marathon (Mad City Marathon) COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 5 I concur with all the comments about the course and half marathoners. But my big complaint is that they weren't prepared for the heat. Here's the email I sent the race organizers after the event. "I ran yesterday's Madison Marathon. Your organization's closing of the course was haphazard and disorganized, and I and other runners could not get information on the situation. Given that this was the second closing due to heat in five years, you should have had better contingency planning for the closing. "I understand that the conditions are out of the control of the organizers, and agree that steps needed to be taken to deal with the heat and humidity. I have run 8 marathons previous to this one, and one other in similar extreme temperature conditions last year (Grandma's Marathon). So I take no issue with the decision to close the course. "Somewhere between 18-20 miles into my run, the red flag came out. I understand and support the decision to do this. I had already been alternating running with walking. "At the water stop at the end of John Nolen Dr. (approximately mile 23?), officials rode up on bicycles and told us to stop running - the race had been canceled and black-flagged, and the course was closed. I asked the volunteers leading the water stop and those at the medical desk at this stop what this meant - would there be transportation back to the start? Would there continue to be support? No one knew. I, and other runners, asked what we should do at that point. None of the officials at the water stop or medical stop knew - so we started walking along the course, towards the finish. "At the next (and last) water stop just before 25 miles, the RED flag was out and a clock was still running. I asked the official what had happened - that we had been told that the race was black-flagged and the course was closed. He said that he had not been informed. When I reached the finish area, I was surprised to find it still open - which is inconsistent with your black flag/course closing guidelines. "I am left wondering if your organization is capable of managing weather emergency for a race of this size. I will not be running this event again. With a previous closure in the past five years, your organization should have developed contingency planning for shutting down the course, including informing both your officials and the runners of the situation - whatever the situation is/was, because I still have no idea."
M. L. from Grayslake, IL (6/4/2010) "Mixed" (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 2 Madison Marathon (Mad City Marathon)s COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 The Good: -Geographically the course was nice -Aid stations were well stocked, although on a hot day it would have been nice if more of them had ice -Finish area was well setup and stocked (a big improvement from the last time I ran this race, 2005) -I liked the finish at the capitol, even though it made for a painful, uphill finish The Bad: -Confusing packet pickup - no bags, no way to verify that the chip was set up correctly, etc. -Weirdly arrangement of porta-potties at the start: on a closed street, they faced in, causing longer lines than necessary -Having the course intersecting with with walkers made the race less enjoyable, as I spent a lot of time dodging them -I finished before the course was closed, but I am not sure what the benefit was, since times were posted anyway; given the race's late date, they need to have a better-communicated, hot-weather plan
J. T. from Madison, WI (6/3/2010) "Could have been better" (about: 2010) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Madison Marathon (Mad City Marathon) COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 This was my first marathon. Overall, it was an incredible experience, but there is room for improvement. First of all, I had read that there would be bananas along the way, and was really wanting one, but never saw them. Second, the fact that pedestrians and bikes were on the route was a bit irritating. Third, I thought the beginning of the course through the arboretum was great. The part after mile 17 was pretty awful: two straight miles, with no shade, right alongside traffic on Sherman was bad, bad, bad. I thought it was pretty demoralizing to have to go past the capitol, where you know you need to end up, out along the narrow bridge on John Nolan, around and up West Wash to end. Thought the whole course would have been much better had it been reversed. The spectators were fantastic. Cheering us on by name, high-fives, hoses, ice, music... thanks! Also, the early marathon finishers who stayed to cheer on us later finishers were terrific. Really gave me that extra boost at the end.
T. N. from Kansas City.MO (6/2/2010) "If I have to repeat Wisconsin, it won't be here." (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Madison Marathon (Mad City Marathon) COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 This was to be my 46th marathon and my 39th state. About 17-18 miles into this event, word came out that, due to the hot, humid weather, the clocks were turned off, and no times would be recorded after 4:00. I pushed on; water and medical were still on the course. At mile 23, a group of young men told us to give up our chips since no times were being recorded. My chip was TAKEN from my ankle. Turns out the clocks were still running and there are finishers with times 30 minutes behind my unofficial time. Neither the race director nor the timing company has found time to answer my emails about how I can get an official time to be able to count this race for the state of Wisconsin. I now see that this is the second time this race has shut down the course early because of heat. A reputation like that calls out for a new race director or find another race in Wisconsin. I won't be back.
M. B. from Atlanta, Georgia (6/2/2010) "Good race, but organization needs improvement" (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Madison Marathon (Mad City Marathon) COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 5 The temp on race day got up to the high 80s this year. Here's a quick rundown of the good and bad of this race: The bad: there was a lot of non-marathon traffic on the course (bikers, non-marathon runners, etc.) which made it more crowded than it should have been. There was also a section where the marathon collided with the half marathon walkers and although the walkers did a great job of staying to the left there really wasn't enough room for both races in the given space. The water/Gatorade stations were well stocked when I arrived, but I had several friends who ran the half who said the stations near the end were completely out! The medical tents weren't marked and I only remembered actually seeing one on the course. No one had informed the volunteers about where they were, either, and I asked about medical tent locations at a couple of water stations with no one being able to give me any information (I just needed sunscreen and a kind volunteer gave me hers). The timing system was a disaster - signing up to track runners didn't work at the expo and we ended up scrolling page by page (there were 419 pages) to find our names to sign up to track each other. And after all of that, it still didn't work! The timing chip was on a Velcro band to be worn around the wrist or ankle, and I think I speak for all runners when I say I'd rather have the disposable plastic bands on my laces instead. The good: the spectators were fabulous; many used their hoses to cool us down and several were passing out water/fruit along the course. There were also a couple of cycling groups who were going back and forth along the marathon route (but staying out of the course!) cheering on the runners. The course itself was very scenic and provided a great view of the city, especially the areas along the lakes (however, there was no shade along the lake path so it was less enjoyable than it could have been). The new finish at the capitol was fun, but I'm still torn about whether it was better to have it at Bratfest since it's much easier for spectators to come and park there. Although the race was red-flagged, I still found my race time online even though I finished after the 4-hour cutoff. Overall, I would recommend this race with the assumption that the organization/logistics will greatly improve next year.
s. j. from IL (6/1/2010) "3 years and 3 different courses; this one bombed" (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 3 Madison Marathon (Mad City Marathon)s COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 This was my 3rd Madison, and 19th marathon overall. I was optimistic, having run barely over 3 hours there in 2009. No bags at pickup??? Ok, save some money. Downtown: beautiful. Course: aaaaaahhh. WHAT a mess! Mile 8 joined the masses through 12, had to weave through them, up hills, got blocked from aide tables]. I asked race crew on bikes to help and they were clueless. MILE MARKERS were off!! And missing!!! Medical tents were not identified! Under-staffed aid tables. No music on the course - having some would have helped. Great town, but terrible organization ( the course was unforgivable) this year. I almost thought they didn't have an advisory panel. If they did, it must not have had any runners on it. Add in high heat, and this one really disappointed. Worst course - by far - of the 19 I've done. Bring back the '08 or '09 course.
R. P. from Wauwatosa, WI (6/1/2010) "Great course" (about: 2010) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Madison Marathon (Mad City Marathon) COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Fantastic course. Many beautiful stretches. The start and finish at the capitol deserves 10 stars. Perfect location - much better then last year. Last 0.2 miles being uphill is tough for most people, but it is a good trade-off for having such a great location. For me personally, the adrenaline of running the final stretch lined with spectators got me sprinting effortlessly in that last section. Medal is much better now. Food at finish was on the level of the best marathons: chocolate milk, pizza, subs, bananas, beer, and more. Nice. Weather was tough this year, 86 when I finished. Organizers did prepare fairly, I would say. They had plenty of ice, which was nice. People had sprinklers going, which was so, so nice. My biggest problem was getting water on sections when the marathon and half-marathon shared the course (especially the first such shared section, where there were a lot of very slow half-marathoner just hanging out at water station table in no hurry to move on). I wish they had tables on two sides at these sections, clearly labeled for marathoners and half-marathoners. Overall, I think the organizers and volunteers did a fantastic job (despite the very difficult weather). There were huge improvement in my overall experience from 2009 (I ran the quarter-marathon then). Scenic, mildly to moderately challenging course, great WI marathon.
S. S. from Fort Collins, CO (6/1/2010) "Too Darn Hot!" (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Madison Marathon (Mad City Marathon) COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 I have mixed feelings about this race. As others have mentioned or you may have already heard, the 2010 edition of the Madison Marathon was run under extremely hot conditions and had to be sort of closed down after 4 hours. I was fortunate to finish in fewer than 4 hours, but my performance was negatively affected by the weather, as was everyone else's. I say, "sort of closed down" because, although they stopped the clock at the finish line at 4 hours, they did in fact keep recording official times and I think handing out medals well after the 4-hour mark. Only 335 out of 1369 (24.5%) runners finished in fewer than 4 hours this year, compared to 2009 (which did not have the exact same course and was slightly easier, I am lead to believe) in which 589 out of 1542 (38.2%) runners completed in fewer than 4 hours. Also, note that there were fewer finishers in 2010, likely due to people dropping out and not finishing. I applaud the directors for trying very hard to keep the runners safe, and I hope no one out there was seriously hurt. It really felt dangerous and scary to be running a marathon that day. A lot of people were hurting, and many had to drop out completely. If you ran this race this year, I salute you for displaying uncommon toughness! I actually took the time to look up the weather records from race day from a weather station on the UW campus, situated at the 8.5 mile-mark of the marathon. Here are the weather readings at various hours: 6:00 a.m., 65 degrees, 87% humidity 7:00, 66, 84% marathon start 8:00, 69, 75% 9:00, 74, 65% 10:00, 78, 59% 11:00, 80, 56% course closed (sort of) 12:00, 83, 43% 1:00, 85, 38% I make two conclusions from this: 1: It could have been worse! At least the humidity stayed reasonably low. I think Chicago 2007 was worse. 2: Starting the race earlier, say, at 6:00 a.m., would have helped. For a 4-hour marathoner, that is substituting one hour at or around 80 degrees for one hour at or around 66 degrees (albeit with higher humidity, but more shade too). I would take that swap. There is another really good reason to start the marathoners at 6:00 a.m. The marathon runners had a heck of a time navigating the slower half marathon-runners and walkers from mile 7.5 through mile 12.5. the half marathon started at 7:20 and they were at mile 1.5 when we were at mile 7.5, meaning we had to run up the back of and wind through a significant chunk of the teeming masses of half marathon-runners and walkers - over 4,000 of them! I think with an hour head start on the half marathon-runners, much of that collision would have been avoided. Also I think some thought should be given to hosting the race earlier in the month. Madison also had to shut down the race early in 2006. Once is bad luck; twice is a trend. Green Bay, which is farther north, has their marathon earlier in the month. I would consider doing the same with Madison, if possible. While I'm on the subject of things that I did not like about the marathon, I have one more complaint. They really need to have more aid stations along the course, particularly in the last 6 miles. I thought the aid stations were ample until then, although they really needed larger aid station between miles 8 and 12.5 where the half and full runners were together. After mile 20 there were only 4 aid stations, and considering the conditions, another 2 stations would have really been nice to have. Now having said all of that, I really had a great experience in Madison, and I want to give credit where it is due. I really liked the course, the half marathon issue notwithstanding. Starting and ending at the capitol is absolutely the way to go. The final hill is tough but I thought that was kind of fun actually. The course shows off the city very well, and the only parts without much support were early on in the arboretum (which was fine because it was early and very scenic besides), and the northern loop around Maple Bluff (which was tougher but understandable). The neighborhood around Monona Bay at mile 24 - God bless them - had a multitude of sprinklers and hoses with which they were joyously spraying all of us as we ran and shuffled by in the heat. They were probably literally lifesavers! I got so soaked that my shoes were squeaking, but it was the only way I was going to finish the race. And the not inconsiderable masochistic part of me really enjoyed the challenge of running a marathon in the heat, to see if I could do it. I was able to hold on to my pace through the first 17 miles, but once I realized that it would be suicide to continue to run fast, I slowed down, drank as much as possible at the aid stations, and just told myself to run tough. I was trying to run a 3:20, and having slipped that I even got passed by the 3:30 pacer at mile 24. The humorous part was that the pacer was completely alone. I have never seen a race where the pacers lost all of their runners! The conditions were that brutal. I told myself to at least try to hang on to the solitary 3:30 pacer, and I was largely able to do that, coming in just under 3:31. But the time really didn't matter this day; he was just something to chase at the end of a very hot day. So of course the heat created some disappointment that I could not meet my goal time, but it was offset by the notion that I was able to face down a significant challenge and run tough. But it is not the sort of thing I would like to experience very often, all the same. If the organizers move that start time back and maybe move the date back, I would consider running this race again. Until then, and I hate to say this, overall, I cannot wholeheartedly recommend this marathon.
M. A. from Randallstown, MD (6/1/2010) "Needs Organizational Improvement..." (about: 2010) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Madison Marathon (Mad City Marathon) COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 Even though this was only my 3rd full marathon, I have run over 50 half marathons. So I know what works and what does not in an event. What Worked: The course layout was great - shady and scenic, and the hills (which there were not many of them) were not that steep. Even the finish with two blocks up to the state capitol was not that bad. For runners who train on flats, even a small rise is a hill. It was an excellent idea to start/finish at the capitol - better than the Brat Festival. Also great: the spectators who handed out water, ice and turned on their hoses. Thank you. What Did Not Work: First off, the packet pickup was a total mess. We got to the expo about 1 hour after it opened and the lines to pick up the numbers were long. I attempted to check in only to find that I had to go to a special resolution line as no number was assigned to me. I registered three weeks prior and online, but had to wait to get a number? Apparently, if you registered within a month of the event, there was no number pre-assigned. Some runners had to wait in the one line for 30 minutes only to be redirected to the resolution line for another 30-minute wait. And others received homemade bibs as they ran out. That is unacceptable and I have never seen this issue at an event. No reason was given for the problem. However, my guess is that they wanted to have the first names of the runners on the bib and the print shop gave them a deadline 4 weeks prior to the event and no one thought of how to address all of the other registered runners. I could understand if this were the first time they ran this event, but it was not. Suggestion: assign everyone a number and instruct them to look up their number prior to checking in. Check in by number and not by last name. Second, the layout of the port-a-potties. Now you may ask how the layout could cause a problem. Well, there were two lines for 25 port-a-potties lined up on a sidewalk - one line on the left and one line on the right. Each line watched about 5 potties. No one was watching the ones in the middle. So, you could just walk behind the potties in the street, come through the middle, and they were all open. Great for me and my wife, who figured this out, but bad for the hundreds of runners standing in line. Suggestion: place the potties in the middle of the street or have them face the street. Third, it was a very hot day, which was out of everyone's control. It was 69 degrees at the start at 7 a.m. and 89 degrees at the finish at 11:30 a.m. The race staff made it a point to place the red flag out at about 11 a.m., stating that the race clock was turned off and that we should walk the rest of the way in. Good call, as many of us heeded the red flag and slowed up. However, if they turned off the clock, why did I get a finisher's time the next day with age and overall rankings? If you make the decision to turn off the clock, then I do not want a finisher's time. I have my own watch, so I know what I did. Suggestion: red flag means clock off and no time given (period). Fourth, the new timing company (J-Chip) was supposed to supply race splits. About half of the runners got a 10K split, a quarter 20K splits and none got a 30K split. Suggestion: if you do not have the mats or equipment to set this up properly, then do not advertise that you are going to provide splits. Fifth, the medical staff that was stationed on the course were not as visible as they should be. They blended into the crowd. Suggestion: the medical staff needs to have a sign or banner showing where they are stationed. All of these issues are correctable. However, in reading some of the previous years' posts, it seems that they may not get addressed, which is sad. I really enjoyed the course, and even the extreme weather conditions. It is the details that are lacking in this event. As we say, this was a one-and-done event.
E. D. from Milwaukee, WI (6/1/2010) "Heading in the wrong direction" (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 4-5 Madison Marathon (Mad City Marathon)s COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 This is my fifth Madison Marathon, and unfortunately, I have to say that it's heading in the wrong direction. Still, a decent race, but it could be so much better in a city like Madison. The Good: The spectators, while sparse compared to some of the bigger-city marathons (as you would expect), were great, especially those with their hoses spraying the runners, and especially the lady around mile 24-25 handing out the cold sponges. Chocolate milk at the finish was great! The Bad: The weather was hot, of course, but you can't blame the race director for that. The walkers were really annoying, especially towards the end when you had to run around walkers who were three or four abreast; sometimes you had to run into traffic to get around them. I was tempted to just push them over at times. Bad idea to mix runners and walkers. Plus there was a lot of bike/pedestrian traffic the last 2-3 miles that you had to dodge. Not fun when you're exhausted after 4+ hours in the hot sun. Post-race organization - a shaded area to sit would have been nice, or even a shaded area to stand, but there was none. Timing - I don't know why but initially my "official" time on the results website was about 2-3 minutes over my gun time and even more than that over my chip time. I just checked again and it looks like they have it fixed, but it still only shows my gun time not my chip time. And it looks like results are based on gun time, not chip time; had I known that I would have lined up closer to the start. I didn't like the change to have the race finish at the capitol. Running the last half-mile or so uphill struck me as the race director taunting us! I was perfectly happy finishing at Brat Fest in years past.

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