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☰
Bear Lake Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Bear Lake Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 3.8 
Organization 3.8 
Spectators 2.7
Number of comments: 25 [displaying comments 11 to 21]
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E. R. from Philadelphia, Pa
(6/22/2012)
"Super fun, super gorgeous race" (about: 2012)
11-50 previous marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 1 I ran the Friday marathon (the smaller of the two events) and then braved a second marathon in two days. The Saturday race is larger mainly because there are multiple events (Half, 10K and 5K). The marathon itself had 119 finishers as opposed to the 98 finishers on Friday. We enjoy spectacular scenery as we run around the south end of Bear Lake (beginning on the east side of the lake and ending in Garden City). They have shuttle buses that take us out to the start line. these buses then shuttle the Half marathoners to the start. There are some mild rollers the first 8 miles or so but after that the course is super flat. The support was excellent. Aid stops every mile and a half or so with water and gatorade (different flavors at different stops. a nice touch). There were also many stops with gel (all having multiple flavor options) The first 20 miles the roads were super quiet. They are not closed but it isn't needed. You can literally go miles between cars. Most of those cars were family or friends of runners. If you want family to get to see you often during a race this is the race. There is a stretch from 20 to 23 where runners run along a moderately busy road. It was really no big deal but I guess it could be if you encounter a rude driver. The final 3 miles we run on a bike path that runs along the road so no problem then. I hurt my knee on the run and didn't finish until almost 6 hours and I felt supported even finishing that late. That is a sign of a good race!! We got a nice shirt and medal. I also appreciated the morning bib pick-up. I flew into Salt Lake City and stayed in Logan Ut. It was a tad far away from Garden City (40 miles) but the ride was gorgeous. | |
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B. W. from Winter Park, FL
(6/13/2012)
"Love Mammoth Marathons!" (about: 2012)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Bear Lake Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I ran both the Friday Idaho run and Saturday's Utah run. The race directors did everything imaginable to make both days a success. Course is beautiful, support great, volunteers friendly. I'll go back. | |
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D. C. from Heber City, UT
(6/11/2012)
"Gorgeous Small Town Race" (about: 2012)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Bear Lake Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Let me begin by saying that I thoroughly enjoyed this race. The volunteers are incredible, the course is very pretty (and simple), and the race is relatively well organized considering it is a two-day, multiple race event. The course - The marathon course for the Utah portion (the more popular and more well-supported of the two) is very lovely indeed, with views of the mountains and lake present virtually the entire race. The first 10 miles or so are full of rolling hills, but the the grades are fairly gentle. There was also an intermittent head wind during the first half of the race, but obviously no one is to blame for that! For the first time in my running life, I actually completed the second half of the marathon faster than the first half. Not to suggest this will be the case for everyone, but the course is essentially dead flat the entire 2nd half. The last 10 miles or so are run on a somewhat busy state highway and, for understandable reasons, they are unable to close the road (there is a paved trail for the last miles before the park finish). Loved the finishers medal, expo, post-race support, volunteer enthusiasm, etc. Nothing but first-class. My only real 'criticism' if you would even call it that is this: As a 'faster' marathoner, I found it a bit frustrating once I caught up to the large contingent of half-marathoners, 10k runners, and marathon walkers around mile 17 and was forced to weave my way through them (not to mention the oncoming traffic which exacerbated the situation), constantly having to dart this way or that, changing direction to avoid them....Definitely made it a little more difficult to focus on maintaining my pace, plus the sharp darting and direction changes are no fun on 'jello' legs :) I realize there is little that can be done about this, as the course is shared by all race distance participants. Just a thought for any marathoner shooting for a 'faster' time. The other runners (regardless of distance) were supportive, enthusiastic, and incredibly friendly, as were the fabulous, self-less volunteers who manned the aid stations and finish line. Thanks to mammoth for a great race! I would definitely come back for this one. | |
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P. W. from Mississippi
(6/12/2011)
"Great 'small town' race" (about: 2011)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Bear Lake Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I ran the Friday 'Idaho' marathon followed by the Saturday main marathon in Utah. The Friday event is small, limited help, no real support, but a whole lot of fun ! Don't know the numbers but I bet it was under a hundred runners. The course is spectacular, a point to point loop around half of Bear Lake. You can choose to finish the loop, and circle the entire lake the next day if you desire. Finishers get a cool 'back to back' marathon medal . I know the organizers are busy enough with the Saturday race but cant give them enough thanks for setting up the Friday race as well. huge thumbs up ! | |
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K. L. from Syracuse, Utah
(10/7/2010)
"Good if you like small events" (about: 2010)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Bear Lake Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 This was my first organized race and I ran the half marathon, which was Saturday. I felt at the time that it was good, but since I have run other races since then, I really don't think that it measures up. The organization wasn't as great, it seemed a little unorganized, and while the aid stations were okay, it would have been nice to have them more frequent. My biggest complaint was the lack of porta-potties. Many runners were just left to do their business on the side of the road due to the lack of potties. Not cool when it is freezing and raining. When you did get to a potty, the lines were so long that it made the bushes look like a better option. At the end of the race the spectators were good, but I wondered where they were till the last mile. I know it is a small town, but there were practically no one to cheer you on. However, the scenery is awesome. I love how it is pretty flat. I also liked that it was a smaller race; for my first that was nice. | |
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M. S. from Orlando, FL
(7/5/2010)
"Back-to-Back Bears - Great Weekend" (about: 2010)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Bear Lake Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 The race organization for the Friday and Saturday marathons is impressive. I didn't have high expectation for a small race, but they went above and beyond to exceed them. It is obvious that the organizers enjoy what they do. Ladies, they had nice women's tech shirts for both days, so take that into consideration when picking your shirt size. I usually wear my race shirts once then they go to charity. These are so nice that I will be keeping them. Aid stations along the way were great. Plenty of GU, PowerAde, water, and occasional fruit and snacks and fun volunteers. Looking forward to running another marathon with Mammoth Marathons. | |
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P. M. from SC
(6/30/2010)
"Great race on a scenic course" (about: 2010)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Bear Lake Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Fairly easy course (but be warned it is at altitude), with rolling hills to start. Great organization, with plenty of drinks, GU, fruit, etc. at frequent intervals. Volunteers were awesome. Beautiful scenery along Bear Lake. Weather started off nice and then got nasty. Make sure to bring a running jacket and gloves just in case. A nice finishing medal as well. Post-race party was lacking much in the way of food and drinks. That's really the only thing that needs to be improved. Overall, a great race. | |
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L. D. from Kuwait (American Ex-Pat)
(6/14/2010)
"RD obviously read last year's comments" (about: 2010)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Bear Lake Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This was an amazingly organized race for one so small. Issues brought up in previous years' reviews were clearly taken into consideration this year. There were plenty of aid stations with water, GU (different GU flavors), Gatorade, port-a-potties, first aid kits, friendly volunteers, etc. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate on Saturday, and I'm pretty sure it hailed on me - but the RD drove around with garbage bags for runners to wear when the rain got bad. The volunteers THANKED us for running, when clearly they needed to be thanked for standing in the cold rain, waiting for us slower "runners" to arrive. I wasn't thrilled with the traffic towards the end of the race, because I wasn't confident that the cars weren't going to hit me - not sure why they had to speed by me in the pouring rain. The RD did remind us at the beginning of the marathon, though, that since they couldn't close the roads we needed to be more aware of the cars and to stay on the shoulder of the roads. Scenery was gorgeous - even the dark black clouds and rain over the mountain were pretty. I found that the organization and attitude toward the runners (slow and fast) made this one of the best marathons I've run. | |
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M. W. from Irvine, CA
(6/29/2009)
"Beautiful Bear Lake" (about: 2009)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Bear Lake Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 The course is quite simple but generally lovely. All along the lake, there are a variety of sights to see that are really breathtaking and enjoyable. A less enjoyable part is toward the middle-end, when we were along a sort of busy road with cars coming near us! Also along the race, it was kind of cool the way they counted down miles to go, instead of telling you what mile you were at (like most races do). The aid stations were sorta blah - no good energy drinks, and bare-bones energy gels. Post-race was ok; there were a few cookies and some fruit, but a bit more variety might be nice. Organization was better than the previous day (this group allows racers to do two marathons in a row, to run around the whole lake - pretty awesome!), although we still started late. At least there were a few more bathrooms (though they still need more!) and mile makers (the day before there were none!). There were no spectators to speak of, so it is a pretty mellow time. So in closing, for what this race offers (especially in conjunction with the double they put on from the day before), it is great; and with a few adjustments, this could be a pretty perfect race. | |
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Brett Jones from Ogden, Utah
(6/15/2009)
"thanks again, mammoth" (about: 2009)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Bear Lake Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I hope to see this company keep up their usual high standards for their events. This group really makes runners feel like their participation is valued and that they aren't just in it for the money. They offer two marathons in two days around Bear Lake so that runners can get the experience of running around the whole lake, and can get two states in if they are trying to get all 50 done. Organizing two marathons in two days must be an extreme hassle, and they do this for the runners. The first day was a little less supported, but this was advertised beforehand. They actually drove my car to the finish line for me in exchange for taking some people back to the start line. The second day I took some early starters to the start line and then one of the RDs drove me back from the finish - amazing. I also ran both marathons injured (dumb, I know), and while I usually finish in 4-ish, I knew I would be a lot longer (6-ish?); I asked the RD what the cutoff time was and he told me that there wasn't really one and that, if necessary, he would just drive behind me until I finished. They don't have to do that - that is just unheard of! Anyway, I hope that they continue this high level of quality events as they get bigger - and they will, if they keep this up. I have run another marathon with this group ("Little Grand Canyon"), and it remains my favorite out of the 17 I have done so far. My only "complaint" is that both medals for the first and second marathons were exactly the same. No big deal though. I also rated the "spectators" category 5/5, but really it should be N/A. There weren't any spectators... and that's great for me. I hate people saying dumb things like, "Almost there" - with 18 miles to go - and "Lookin' good," when this is clearly not the case. So... thanks again, Mammoth Marathons. Keep up the great work! |
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