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Lake Placid Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Lake Placid Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 3.9 
Organization 4.1 
Spectators 3.5
Number of comments: 73 [displaying comments 61 to 71]
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B. A. from Rochester, NY
(7/28/2005)
"Viva Le Difference" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Lake Placid Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 Kudos to the race organizers for a great effort. Throughout the claustrophobic packet pick-up they kept a cheerful, positive attitude and went out of their way to solve problems. The hill up to the non-ice rink WAS a MFer and, like most others, brought me to a slow walk. But that's the beauty of marathon running. It's 26.2 miles. No promises after that. And you gotta admit the section along the river was absolutely gorgeous. Regarding spectators- few and far between but that's no big deal. I got the impression that this marathon event was an intrusion in the collective mind of the village of Lake Placid. There seemed to be enough $$$ walking the village that whatever the marathon could bring wasn't needed- or wanted. It doesn't seem like the type of place that would shut down the main road for a marathon; therefore we were shunted to the outskirts and probably made to feel thankful we could get Mirror Lake Drive for the start for 30 minutes in the morning. Notes to the organizers: 1. Give it a shot next year. It fills a void in the calendar and region. 2. Please do try to publish a less confusing, more accurate course map. 3. Start at 0700 instead of 0800. It's cooler and traffic control should be easier. 4. If LP is a hassle, look for a different host village in the region. There are miles and miles of beautiful roads up there. 5. Give me my chip at packet pick-up, not the next morning. If I'm careless enough to lose it, I deserve to cough up the $$$. | |
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C. R. from Pennsylvania
(7/18/2005)
"A good start---it should be better next year" (about: 2005)
2 previous marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I think the explanations for the low points of the race center around being short on money: the organizers must have expected to get closer to their maximum number of entries. Given they they had to cut corners, they probably cut them in the right spots. The support on the course was excellent, and there was only about 1% uncertainty in where to turn (a little tougher given the dual run of marathon and half marathon, but it turned out 99% O.K.). Big kudos to all those involved. They gave out hats, but charged for finisher t-shirts (a last-minute change). As long as you train with a hat (I do), this is probably a more useful item, anyway. I did buy the t-shirt, and it's kind of nice not to have advertising on it. The food at the end was quite disappointing, though, definitely the weakest point. I didn't buy a bagel. It was nice to have an announcer at the end shouting out names---a benefit of a small race! Given the tough hill halfway and at the end (the same hill), I was actually glad to have the double out-and-back course. It probably would be nice to run more through the town and avoid that hill, but at least the river road run, even without closing that road at all, didn't have much traffic on it while I was running. Again, it probably came down to money. Given that it was the first year, I think it was a fun experience to run the inaugural race. I hope that the organizers learn and plan for improvements next year. Oh, and I received a plaque today in the mail! I didn't expect it, so it was nice to have it mailed to me, even if it was incredibly scratched (probably thrown in a bag with the other ones that weren't picked up). I would have been much more likely to stick around for the awards if the food was better. | |
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D. R. from Boston, MA USA
(7/15/2005)
"Attractive location, awful course design" (about: 2005)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Lake Placid Marathon
COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 1 Lake Placid is a wonderful setting for a race. I would not recommend this race to anyone given the current design of the course. At the 13 and 26 mile marks, (repeated loop) there is a hideous stair-like climb up a back driveway to the olympic speedskating oval that simply has no place on any road running course, let alone a marathon course. Fully half of the marathon field dropped out. Granted it was a hot steamy day, but this course feature certainly played a significant role. The other hills were all quite manageable. I would like to have repeated the trek alongside Mirror Lake rather than extended the trip down Riverside Drive. The 1+ mile extension down Riverside Drive at mile 19 meant 2+ miles added to the break between water stops. This was tough to handle given the weather. Spectators were absent except for the start and finish. | |
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F. W. from Watertown, MA
(6/28/2005)
"Great rural race course!" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Lake Placid Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 While some would consider an out-and-back X 2 too boring for a marathon, I felt it offered consistency and some element of comfort knowing how easily the miles went on the first loop. The last 3 miles of each loop require tackling two tough hills, made even more difficult on the second loop as they are at miles 23 and 25. Otherwise a relatively flat course. | |
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M. S. from Springfield,MA.
(6/16/2005)
"Great Marathon" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Lake Placid Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This was a great marathon for a back-of-the-pack runner like myself. This was number 17 for me; I've run the big ones (NYC, Boston and Disney) and small ones too. The Lake Placid Marathon was very well organized (hats off to the race directors), featuring more than ample water stops with Gu and ice too, and bananas and cookies as well; and finishing at the ice skating oval where Olympic champions raced was very inspiring. Yes, there was a hill at 13 and at 26 (if you think this hill was bad, try the Race of Champions in MA in May), but so what? I walked it twice and still did better time-wise than my last marathons over the past 18 months. The course was beautiful, especially along River Road, with some nice cool mist in the morning. The town of Lake Placid was easily accessible on foot. A great restaurant was the Adirondack Steak and Seafood on Main Street, with homemade beer too. Also, the host hotel allowed pets and the town is very dog friendly. Overall, a great marathon which hopefully will grow. | |
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B. D. from USA
(6/15/2005)
"has great potential, but not quite there yet" (about: 2005)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Lake Placid Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 Positives: * Olympic feel, nice town * Water stops were frequent, but needed in this hot and humid weather * Organizers did a good job showing runners the way * Runners were called by their name when crossing the finish line Negatives (unfortunately outweigh the positives): * I hate to say it, but I had a sense that money was more important here than spoiling the runners --> (1) entry fee is high; (2) only marathon runners get a medal; (3) food provided after the race was very limited (you had to buy bagels); (4) a massage was 1 dollar a minute!! (who has money in his running shorts??) * Organizers could do a much better job making the course attractive (bigger loops, include downtown etc.) * The course is a killer, especially the huge incline at mile 26! (and 13) In summary, this race has great potential, but runners and not business need to take priority here. | |
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S. S. from New York
(6/14/2005)
"Lake Placid great, but race needs work" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 Well, 1. the packet pick up was not great in a small room. 2. They had no maps of the course available at pickup and race morning, 3. Race course was different from what it stated on website. 4. Hazy warm humid weather + hilly - did not help. 5. No real race support but plenty of water stations. 6. Medal was small. 7. Two loop course had a big hill to the school which was extremely hard. Lake Placid is a great place for a marathon but they need to make it one loop with more of the Olympic areas and run through downtown Lake Placid. | |
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S. S. from New York
(6/14/2005)
"Lake Placid is great, but the race needs work" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 Well, 1. The packet pick-up was not great in a small room. 2. They had no maps of the course available at pick-up and race morning, 3. Race course was different from what it stated on the website. 4. Hazy, warm, humid weather + hilly did not help. 5. No real race support but plenty of water stations. 6. Medal was small. 7. Two-loop course had a big hill to the school, which was extremely hard. Lake Placid is a great place for a marathon but they need to make it one loop with more of the Olympic areas and run through downtown Lake Placid. | |
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Z. R. from Toronto, Canada
(6/14/2005)
"Hot & humid but full of small town hospitality !" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Lake Placid Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 We thought Toronto, Canada was hot & humid until we reached Lake Placid. To add to the unfriendly weather, the course was hilly and an out and back double loop (kinda boring!). However, the water stops were ideally located and the volunteers were great. Without them, I don't think I would have been able to finish the race. Everyone's names were called when they were approaching the finish line....especially, the Canadians who received a very warm welcome. All in all, a good race, beautiful town but the course needs to be changed to make it more enjoyable. | |
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D. F. from Northeast US
(6/13/2005)
"Tough hills, beautiful views" (about: 2005)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Lake Placid Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 This is the fist time this race was held, so some glitches are expected. To begin, there are a couple good size hills on this course and since you run the same 13 mile route twice, you have to climb them twice. The real killer is you have to climb the bigger hill at miles 12 and 25. That's right. A huge uphill at mile 25! The course should be redesigned to go through downtown LP, and perhaps around Mirror Lk. As expected for rural race, the crowd support was sparse but enthusiastic. Rerouting the course through downtown would help here too. The volunteers did a nice job with the water stations and traffic control. Another opportunity for improvement: the bag drop. While I did not have a problem, there was no security. Bags were loaded into a truck at the start and left on an unattended tarp at the finish. The course was generally very beautiful, with views of the Adk Mtns, Mirror Lake, and alpine meadows. There were frequent water stops and the voulnteers were great. Overall I think it was good race for a first ever, small, rural event. I will consider running it again next year but I may also look for something different. |
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