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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 51 to 61]
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C. N. from Los Angeles, CA
(12/15/2009)
"Excellent, Beautiful Course!" (about: 2009)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Charlotte Marathon (formerly Charlotte's Thunder Road Marathon)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 To add to the last comment, I ran the half and P.R.'d even with hills. My husband ran the marathon and finished in under four hours. After the race, he commented that the downtown skyscraper and the B of A stadium ("Panther Stadium") was cool and we actually drove back that evening to take pictures. A pat on the back to the race director(s) in course selection! | |
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R. S. from Raleigh
(12/15/2009)
"Great Race" (about: 2009)
6-10 previous marathons
| 3 Charlotte Marathon (formerly Charlotte's Thunder Road Marathon)s
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I have run this race 3 times and love it. It is one of the best organized marathons I have done. Although a little hilly, the course is very scenic and really shows off the City of Charlotte. It has come a long way since I ran it in 2006! Will definitely run again! | |
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C. N. from USA
(12/14/2009)
"Good race for a challenge" (about: 2009)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Charlotte Marathon (formerly Charlotte's Thunder Road Marathon)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 Loved this race. Ran the half-marathon, and even with the hills (I trained well for them), I P.R.'d. All runners really lucked out. It was supposed to rain and it didn't; instead it rained the day after the race. Yea! What was up with the runners having to remove their chips? Usually the volunteers do that. The finishers were all jammed up at the chip buckets taking off the chips. | |
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K. D. from Fort Mill, SC
(12/14/2009)
"Great experience for my first marathon!" (about: 2009)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Charlotte Marathon (formerly Charlotte's Thunder Road Marathon)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This was my first marathon, and it was everything I expected and then some. The crowds were entertaining at times, and the other runners were all very nice. The 5:00 pace guys were great to run with for awhile, but I just couldn't hold onto them. Finished at 5:07. Will be back for sure! | |
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J. C. from Lynchburg, VA
(12/14/2009)
"Thunder Road keeps improving!" (about: 2009)
6-10 previous marathons
| 2 Charlotte Marathon (formerly Charlotte's Thunder Road Marathon)s
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This is my second time running Thunder Road and I definitely recommend it to others. Some will say the course is hilly, although I consider it a rolling course. The course takes you through very pretty neighborhoods, by the Panthers stadium, through uptown, and by the Bobcats arena. I thought the expo was nice and packet pickup was a breeze. I think the organizers did a great job getting really good hotel rates right near the start/finish. Having the Charlotte Convention Center open the morning of the race is awesome, because you can arrive early yet wait inside and use indoor bathrooms (rather than porta-potties). I think overall the race is very well run. This year we got two long-sleeved technical shirts (one at packet pickup and one for finishers) and a nice medal. I would recommend this race and will probably do it again in the future. | |
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K. S. from Goode, VA
(12/14/2009)
"Rolling hills make for a very challenging race!" (about: 2009)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 Charlotte Marathon (formerly Charlotte's Thunder Road Marathon)s
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 If running Thunder Road for the first time, make sure to check out the elevation profile and and get some pre-race, quality hill work in. The hills are rolling and gradual, but fairly constant with the first half being slightly worse than the second half. The first half of the course is much nicer than the second half, which takes you back into the downtown area and through some fairly nondescript sections. Spectator support is pretty decent in certain areas (neighborhoods, primarily) but then practically non-existent in other areas. Organization is top-notch! Many hotels in the downtown area offer reduced rates to runners and late check-out and are within walking distance to the expo, start and finish lines. The medal was essentially identical to last year's medal. Very nice to receive a long-sleeve technical shirt at the expo and then another one of a different color and material at the finish line! I've never received TWO different shirts before at a race! Even though the designs were exactly the same, it was a very nice gesture on the part of the race organizers - thanks! Post-race food was the usual fare for the most part and included beer. Volunteers at the finish line and at the aid stations on the course were very supportive, friendly and helpful, not to mention plentiful in numbers - thanks to you all! | |
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Calico Racing from Las Vegas, NV
(12/14/2009)
"A very pleasant surprise of a great race!" (about: 2009)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Charlotte Marathon (formerly Charlotte's Thunder Road Marathon)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This was my 47th marathon and I am also an RD for 6 marathons - so I have a lot to compare a race to. This ranks among my top races! Travel was easy from the airport to the hotel. The start line was only feet from the host hotel, which made for extra sleep and a mere stumble back post-race. Packet pick up was easy. I have never been to Charlotte and was impressed with the downtown area, and the residential areas that we run through were beautiful- a very impressive overview of Charlotte for only having been able to stay for 24 hours! The course was rolling hills - but nothing horrible. I was surprised that we got two-long sleeve shirts - one at packet pick up and one at the finish. They were different colors and fabrics, but the same design. I thought the second one would have "finisher" on it - or at least no sponsor logos - but that was not the case. The medal was nice, volunteers and aid station support was as promised, and some of the nicest fellow runners. I am not a big eater after races, but I did notice the lack of finish line food. Chip timing worked fine for me - not sure why the other poster wrote that. One minor point of attention might be to have a little more room for the corral at the start of the race, as a large number of us were outside of the fencing and had to squeeze in after the gun. Overall, probably in my top 5 races. Well done! | |
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G. R. from Philadelphia, PA
(12/14/2009)
"Good (but not great) race" (about: 2009)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Charlotte Marathon (formerly Charlotte's Thunder Road Marathon)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 The course: Rolling hills pretty much throughout. Well marked. Covered residential, commercial, and (lonely) industrial portions of the city. Support: Compared to my prior marathons (Marine Corps), this race was relatively small, with under 2,000 marathon runners. For a lot of the second half of the race, especially the last 8 miles or so, runners were pretty spread out. Fan support was spotty, but the fans that did come out were generally very good. There were a couple of DJs and bands along the way that helped. Big thanks to the police, who did a great job with traffic control; many of them also cheered us on. There were plenty of water/PowerAde stations, and the volunteers who were there did a great job. A couple of stations seemed a little short-staffed, but it just meant I had to get the cup from the table myself - not a big deal. Pre- and post-race: Nothing to write home about, but everything ran smoothly enough. It was nice to have the convention center available to get out of the unseasonable cold (28 degrees) pre-race. Ended up with two performance long-sleeve shirts (one pre-race and one at the finish), which was nice. Location: I was pleasantly surprised with uptown Charlotte - it seemed like a nice area to hang out. Hotels are very close (i.e. walking distance) to the race and reasonably priced. Driving in and out of the city was pretty easy. Overall: A positive experience. I'm glad I did it, and if I lived in Charlotte, I would probably do it again. But not a race I left saying, "I need to come back and run this again." | |
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J. M. from Southern California
(12/13/2009)
"Great Organization" (about: 2009)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Charlotte Marathon (formerly Charlotte's Thunder Road Marathon)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Hotels had late checkout and great rates. Easy to get to the start/finish. There is bus service to/from the airport to downtown hotels. Thanks to the two gentlemen in orange shirts that paced the 5-hour group. Though it was hilly, they made it possible for me to finish in just under 5 hours. Even the weather was good for running. | |
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T. S. from Superior, WI
(12/13/2009)
"Good one for 50-Staters" (about: 2009)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Charlotte Marathon (formerly Charlotte's Thunder Road Marathon)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 Liked: Very organized all around. Pre-registration was easy - a good website with lots of info, about the race, hotels, travel, the expo, etc. Air travel to Charlotte was easy, with many excellent, affordable hotels to choose from. Course was well planned; it really showed off the city to out-of-towners like me. Great police support at the many closed intersections. Excellent water stops. Didn't like: Half marathon was run with the marathon, so it was very congested. Not enough porta-potties on the course. A few more would do it. At the finish line there was NO FOOD for marathon finishers except a table of GREEN bananas. I sensed that there were many more half-marathon runners and we got what was left. The residents don't really come out to cheer, so spectators are at a minimum. Bottom line: Great race that I would recommend to other 50-Staters, and my 27th state. |
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