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☰
Charlotte Marathon (formerly Charlotte's Thunder Road Marathon) Runner Comments
Back to Charlotte Marathon (formerly Charlotte's Thunder Road Marathon) Information & Reviews
Course 4.1 
Organization 4.3 
Spectators 3.4
Number of comments: 181 [displaying comments 161 to 171]
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E. M. from Charlotte, NC
(12/6/2005)
"Great local marathon - nice course, well managed" (about: 2005)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Charlotte Marathon (formerly Charlotte's Thunder Road Marathon)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 Nice course with some hills. Race management was incredible - a cop at every intersection, and several were cheering on the runners; wide running lanes; good support every 2 miles; cool shirt. Not much in the way of spectators except for a few areas. I am really glad to have a 'hometown' marathon to look forward to every year. | |
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Jared Kary from Greensboro
(12/6/2005)
"Fantastic Debut!" (about: 2005)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Charlotte Marathon (formerly Charlotte's Thunder Road Marathon)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 The Thunder Road Marathon was very well put together, with the course, expo, and start/finish, I thought. Every time I had a question, there was always someone enthusiastic about helping me out. The course took me through several parts of Charlotte I had never seen and it was beautiful. As soon as I was done I knew I would come back again next year. I was rather impressed considering this is a 1st-year marathon, with aid stations in full supply with everything you needed. | |
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J. S. from Ohio
(12/5/2005)
"Great race! Medals for 1/2 marathoners?" (about: 2005)
6-10 previous marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 My 7th half marathon this year & looked forward to participating in the added inaugural half-marathon run, great course but unfortunately there was no medal. A real letdown! But overall the race was well organized & couldn't have asked for better weather. Chicken sandwiches were perfect from Chick-Fil-A. | |
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J. S. from Georgia, USA
(12/5/2005)
"lots to be proud of but room to improve" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 This is a hilly course, but don't let that scare you. It is nicely done as it rolls through a great mixture of beautiful homes and downtown landmarks. Traffic control was the best I have ever seen! The NASCAR theme could be used much more to their advantage and the pasta dinner needs to be moved indoors. Very well organized for a first-time event, and one to mark on your calendar for an early winter race. | |
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S. S. from Pawleys Island, South Carolina
(12/5/2005)
"Challenging and well organized" (about: 2005)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Charlotte Marathon (formerly Charlotte's Thunder Road Marathon)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I enjoyed running in Charlotte. The city really had a lot going on (marathon, football game Sunday, Disney on Ice, etc.) to make it a great family weekend. The first part of the course was especially scenic. I found the race challenging having only run Myrtle Beach twice and being from the beach area. It is hard to train for hills when you don't live around hills. The hills gradually kicked my butt! The police and volunteers were fantastic. The spectators were a little on the thin side, but it was not well promoted by the newspaper I guess. That may have been by design from past problems to restore credibility (I don't know). It seems that most people I talked to from Charlotte seem happy to have a marathon back and a fresh start. Those of you from up north looking for a PR or Boston qualifier should be able to run Myrtle Beach, Kiawah, or one of the coastal marathons much quicker; they are very flat compared to Charlotte. Hilton was great downtown: Walked to start and back from finish. Nice touch that we could catch the Panthers and Falcons on Sunday!! | |
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J. P. from the midwest
(12/5/2005)
"Good first effort" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Charlotte Marathon (formerly Charlotte's Thunder Road Marathon)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Pros - Good organization, excellent traffic control with friendly police officers running the intersections. The water stops were great. Lots of hard-working volunteers. A special "thank you" to all of the kids and Boy Scouts that helped. Kids at water stops are always the most fun. Plenty of port-a-potties. Course has some great neighborhoods to run in but very hilly. Great job to everyone who worked in and around this event to bring it back to Charlotte. Crowds were thin but enthusiastic so that was OK. Cons - Host hotel is closing soon and the food was awful. Without a car and being from out of town, we felt trapped. Suggest spending the money for a car so you can see some of the sights of Charlotte and get away from the downtown area. This event could be a real winner in the coming years with some slight modifications. | |
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J. S. from Fairfax, Virginia
(12/5/2005)
"A good inaugural effort" (about: 2005)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Charlotte Marathon (formerly Charlotte's Thunder Road Marathon)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 A very good first effort with room for improvement. The course was terrific - very scenic, traffic was well controlled, and the turns along the way were well marked. It was a challenging course given all the hills, but that didn't really bother me any. The volunteers at the water stops and along the course were very energetic and enthusiastic. What few spectators there were also very supportive. My biggest suggestion for improvement is on the time management side of things. The expo started packing up well before the end time of 8pm. The finish tables started packing up after 5 hours - odd considering the time limit was 6 hours. The last person to finish came in at 6 hours and 10 minutes, and they had to dig the box with the medals out of the truck in order to find one for him. And, as others have said, there was nothing for the half-marathoners or relay runners. It was their first race, so I hope these things will be corrected for next year. All things considered, I'll be back again. | |
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R. T. from Charlotte, NC
(12/5/2005)
"Thunder Road is the next world-class marathon!" (about: 2005)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Charlotte Marathon (formerly Charlotte's Thunder Road Marathon)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Fantastic marathon; it is hard to believe that this was the inaugural for Thunder Road. The course was beautiful and contained plenty of variety from uptown towers, to elegant residential areas and quaint shopping districts. There was also plenty of room with a minimum of two lanes blocked and police at every intersection. This may not be a PR (i.e. very flat) course but it was fair and none of the hills were that big. The organization was outstanding with everything staying on schedule and plenty of clean toilets at the start and throughout the course. There is a little fine tuning that will come with any first year marathon like pasta dinner location, entertainment schedules and post-race party. However, the details like a web forum and charity raffle were very nice touches. The only notch is for the quantity of spectators which I attribute to a lack of local media support. However, the quality of spectator support was awesome from police traffic control to volunteers at the water stops and the residents and friends who were in attendance. I wouldn't be surprised if Thunder Road hits the Runner's Magazine list of top 10 "Long on Fun" marathons in 2007. | |
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S. E. from Charlotte, NC
(12/5/2005)
"Great inaugural effort" (about: 2005)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Charlotte Marathon (formerly Charlotte's Thunder Road Marathon)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 Great to see Charlotte finally have a marathon, organized and managed by runners for runners. Nice job with the details (plenty of water/Powerade/Gu stops) and the course was well-managed throughout. The course was great and, for many of us who call Charlotte home, it was a great way to show off our great running areas. Early December weather is usually perfect and this day was not a disappointment. This new Charlotte Marathon is the real deal and a GREAT way to experience Charlotte. | |
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M. D. from Charlotte, NC
(12/5/2005)
"Thunder Road was Thrilling!" (about: 2005)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Charlotte Marathon (formerly Charlotte's Thunder Road Marathon)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This was a fantastic inaugural marathon! Everyone I spoke to complimented the race organizers for coordinating a very smooth event. Usually unheard of for first-time races. I live in Charlotte (2nd largest banking center in the United States) and knew the course would be hilly yet there were fantastic sites like tree-lined streets, fabulous homes, the Bank of America Stadium, Bobcats Arena, and a wonderful view of the Charlotte skyline. I really enjoyed the running route looping through the 'NoDa' section of town even though there was minimal spectator involvement there. Aid stations were well manned, plenty of toilets along the ENTIRE course, and enough GU to satisfy the most energy deprived runner! Special kudos to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department for a fantastic job of traffic management. You made it safe for the runners and gave smiles and encouragement to us all along the way. Hey, even the chief of police worked the entire day at one of the intersections (mile 8). How's that for leadership? This race is definitely one to put on your calendar! |
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