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Dec 23, 2024

Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathon Information & Reviews

Course 4.8

Organization 4.4

Spectators 3.3

Number of comments: 52 [displaying comments 1 to 11]

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N. M. from Dominican Republic (6/23/2023) "Excelente carrera" (about: 2023) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Para los corredores de asfalto es algo muy diferente, un trayecto entre montañas, rios y pendiente negativa pero no drástica. Dado que se corre con desnivel, es un poco demandante a nivel muscular, no obstante, estadísticamente es una de las mejores carreras para BQ y PR (logré ambas cosas). Este año (2023) fue modificada la logística de trasnporte de los corredores a la salida, lo que afectó a algunos corredores como fue mi caso. En todo el trayecto tienen muy buena hidratación y seguridad. Es una carrera de aproximadamente 900 personas, lo que la hace muy fluida y relajante. Google Translation: For asphalt runners it is something very different, a journey between mountains, rivers and a negative but not drastic slope. Since it's run with a drop, it's a bit demanding on a muscular level, however, statistically it's one of the best races for BQ and PR (I did both). This year (2023) the logistics of transporting the runners at the start was modified, which affected some runners, as was the case with me. Throughout the journey they have very good hydration and safety. It is a race of approximately 900 people, which makes it very fluid and relaxing.
K. M. from Walla Walla WA (8/21/2019) "Very Fast Downhill marathon" (about: 2019) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 This marathon is actually a series of three run on the same course at different times. I did the Aug. one called 'tunnel vision.' I had done many previous marathons (64) but never one on an entire downhill course. This makes for fast times but if not trained well very sore muscles. For me it allowed for a Boston Qualifying by 15 minutes. It is run entirely off road - beautiful views of the cascade mountains. If you are looking for large crowds in a city area - don't run this one. If you want a very fast time on an enjoyable, different course - pick any of the 'tunnel Marathons.' Well organized, good food at the end, nice shirt and medal. And, unique for any of my marathons... an ice filled large pool for soaking sore legs at the end!
J. O. from Sacramento, CA (6/18/2019) "Downhill is harder than I thought" (about: 2019) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 1 This is a well organized and very well supported marathon with water, gatorade and 3 kinds of Gu every 2.5 miles. It is a trail run but almost all downhill. Many people BQ on this because it is downhill but I did not. In fact the downhill did not help me at all and I ended up really hurting towards the end. It is a Rails to Trails route so it has no spectators and is shaded by trees for most of the route. Highly recommend this race but do prep by running downhill. It loses 2000 feet in elevation.
D. W. from Alberta, canada (6/17/2019) "Awesome marathon" (about: 2019) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Was a great race. Well organized and well executed. Great setting. Packed gravel trail was ok for traction but did tear up the heels on my Nike vapour fly 4's. Went out too fast and ran first half much faster than planned and started to feel the burn from the downhill by 25km. Hung in there and finished two minutes faster than 3:30 goal for a ten min personal best. Had been running with the 3:30 pacers for much of the race and they passed me near the 35 km point. I heard later that they finished 6-7 min faster than planned pace. Stayed at the race sponsored hotel and was great to have race package pickup at checkin. Food at the finish was great and water stations were well manned. My garmin with foot pod was within 0.1 km of official distance at end of race and was not impacted by tunnel, mountains or tree cover. Would love to do this race again.
R. H. from Midwest, USA (6/13/2019) "Scenic course - and fast!" (about: 2019) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I really enjoyed this marathon. The fun started when we entered the 2.25 mile long tunnel about 1/2 mile into the race. There was indeed a light at the end of the tunnel that was visible near the start of the tunnel. I was surprised that my running watch kept track of distance really well through the tunnel. However, I think it struggled with pace tracking as I thought we were running faster than what the GPS watch was showing. Once out of the tunnel, be prepared for your watch to periodically give you false pace readings as many of us experienced this, which only added to the intrigue of the race. The scenery along the course was beautiful. Enjoyed running the bridges as the view below them was incredible. Some bridges may have been 300 to 400 feet above the bottom. This is run on a rail trail with a feet friendly gravel surface. I wore gaiters but most didn't and didn't hear of anyone having problems with pebbles in their shoes. This is a fast course! The weather was perfect! I snagged a 15 minute BQ and calculated that nearly 36% had a BQ. This course is essentially downhill all the way except for some flat areas. The downhill is fairly gentle so my quads were fine during and after the race. This was a well organized race from start to finish. The buses to the race start were well organized and they allowed us to stay on the buses at the start area to keep warm. They had two drop bags for us - one for our stuff at the start and the other for our headlamps (yes, you need a headlamp in the tunnel) and any clothes we wanted to ditch once we exited the tunnel. The race started on time. The mile markers were accurate except for one, which was no big deal at all. The aid stations were well organized with plenty of water and gator aide, and the volunteers were friendly and helpful. There was lots of food at the end and places to sit. We stayed at one of the sponsor hotels, the Hilton Garden Inn in Issaquah. It was a great place to stay and only 20 minutes from the bus to start area. For those who stayed at one of the sponsor hotels, we could ask to have our race packet available at the hotel when we checked in. What a nice convenience this was. I wish more races would do this. I would highly recommend this race. It was as good as they get with no negatives. Kudos to the race director and owner for a terrific race.
S. S. from USA (9/17/2018) "Great course, but course management terrible" (about: 2018) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 The course itself is BEAUTIFUL! I would run it again in a heartbeat in that regard. The downhill was subtle, but started to take its toll halfway down- so just be prepared for sore quads- do some strengthening beforehand. The gravel never bothered me and I didn't wear gaitors. My complaint started with the management of the course. They were blowing up the start line about 15 minutes before gun time. My friend and I wondered why they waited until the last minute to set up. It didn't really matter. What mattered is that the course mile markers were way off. Like in half mile off. I knew that I wouldn't be able to depend on my garmin because of the tunnel and trees, so I figured I would look at my running clock to make sure I was hitting benchmarks. I couldn't even do that. I had no idea where I was at. Feeling defeated, I walked through the last aid station and did some stretching on the side (all of which I didn't NEED to do). Turns out that when I crossed the line, I did BQ, but only with a little more than a minute to spare. I could have easily shaved another few minutes off if I would have known where I was at with a little accuracy. Horrible. It's not hard to measure mile markers on a bike...downhill. Who's mishap this was I have no idea- but I will never run this series again.
R. B. from Houston, Texas (6/10/2018) "Great Response facing an ominous start" (about: 2018) 50+ previous marathons \| 2 Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Having finished this marathon LAST I am pleased to submit my comments for 2018 first. With a knee issue, I ended up walking the race. By finishing last, one is able to get a perspective on the organization's interest in the runners. In my case, I was entirely impressed. I had numerous bicyclists, cars and vans drive by, stop and ask how I was doing. All the later water stops were enthusiastically staffed, and contained water, Gatorade and Gu, and the finish area still had plenty of food available. The race started ominously as it rained all the way to the start and right up until the race began. But, the organizers had anticipated this and arranged for the buses to stay at the start, so the runners could stay dry. Luckily, the rain decreased once the race began, with only a slight drizzle at various stages. As always, the course was scenic, with the trail well managed with little water despite the early rain. Having come in from Houston, I was pleased with the cool temperatures. I look forward to running the race again, hopefully when I can take better advantage of the downhill course.
B. C. from VA (7/14/2017) "Came off better than expected" (about: 2017) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 1 Registration was chaos as the old RD quit that morning, and started her own race the day before, deceptively redirecting this race web site to her own. From what I gather, there is blame on all sides, but hijacking a website is unethical and I absolutely would NOT recommend the 'Super' series owned by Sabrina. She also advertised the same course, but did not yet have and never got the permit for the full course, and had to improvise a slower course. Anyway, back to this race. Others have already mentioned the drop bag issue and the late and poorly communicated change to the race start. I was really worried this would be indicative of the whole race, but the rest of the race went fairly smoothly. I carried a bottle as aid stations were a bit spread out at ~2.5 miles, and I worried they might not all be there given the other organization issues, but all were there. The t-shirt line at the end was long until they skipped checking people off and just handed them out. Good food spread at the end. Things weren't laid out in any organized way and no one directing you where to go, but it's a small enough race to find things yourself. The course itself is crazy fast, IF you can handle the non-stop downhill. Once out of the tunnel, that's all there is. Beautiful course. The trail wasn't quite as smooth as I had hoped. There's enough rocks that you may not want to wear thin soled racers, though you can wear road shoes. Hard to believe they couldn't come up with a better start than the horseshoe. Hopefully the issues with this race will be ironed out, and communication will be better. I'd probably recommend the Jack&Jill marathon on the same course as the first choice.
S. S. from BC (6/23/2017) "Still a great time" (about: 2017) 50+ previous marathons \| 2 Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 I like this course: relatively low key, out of the concrete jungle and into beautiful mountain surroundings on a trail, and not too many runners. It is a fast course, too. I sympathise with runners being confronted with some of the organizational problem which shouldn't have happened, such as the lack of drop bags (easy way to solve this is to ask runners to bring their own (I was fortunate to have a bag with me)).I suspect that the copycat race the day before (and issues with the person running that race who used to be involved in the Tunnel Marathon) may have played a role. Even the busses seemed to have been duplicated on the previous day.I expect/hope that the marathon issues that occurred will be resolved by the next edition of the race in August. This is still a trail marathon and not a mega-race with all the bells and whistles associated with it. This is what I like about it. Sounds like some runners are attracted primarily on the basis of potential fast times and get frustrated when the experience gets a bit bumpy. I expected to have gravel, uneven ground, uncertainties in footing/illumination going through a tunnel (they had tape that you could wrap around your light and write you bib# on (and they took your light to the finish line)), and perhaps less than an optimal distribution of water stations. That being said, I found that the number of aid stations more or less adequate and I was happy to get gels from 2/3 of the stated gel stations. I find that even in the mega marathons not all alleged gel stations may be stocked (hence I always carry at least one gel in reserve). They also had mile markers and the trail was overall in good condition (I ran in road shoes). There was decent food/drink at the end. Other than making sure that the snafus that happened in June 2017 don't occur again, I think the course is great as it is without much need for changes, other than perhaps a timing mat at the half way mark. I'll be running it in the future.
A. B. from Issaquah, WA (6/16/2017) "This downhill race has certainly gone downhill" (about: 2017) 50+ previous marathons \| 2 Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 The 2017 edition of this race was much different than prior years. There was a change in race directors about 6 months ago and the race director responsible for the past few years of putting on a quality race departed from this race and started her own on a similar course. All drama aside, the change was noticeable for the worse for this marathon. While the course was the same beautiful fast and flat race, and things on the course were generally in order, there was a noticeable lack of organization and what appear to be some broken promises. Let's start with organization... First off, the race staff decided to change the start time of the race from 8AM to 7AM with less than a week's notice to runners. This was done hastily via email and on the Facebook page on the week of the race. While I caught this change, others did not. Also, the website said the start time was 8AM up until the night before the race. Poor communication! The start line organization was very hectic. Runners were promised two drop bags and there were none to be found at the start line until 2 minutes before the race started. One drop bag was supposed to be for your headlamp and gear coming out of the tunnel and a second to drop at the finish line. Many runners did not get the drop bags in time and ended up having to ditch gear at the start line and lost their headlamps at the tunnel exit. Also, free race photos were promised as part of the race entry, yet there was not a photographer to be seen on the course. It's almost a week later, and race organizers have yet to mention anything about the photos or respond to questions on Facebook. In fact, communication in general is pretty lacking from the race organizers. It appears they respond to what they want to and ignore any negative comments...i.e. they don't try to fix issues or remove complaints. We have receive no real communication post race. No thank you email. No results email. Nothing about the photos. All they have put up are two lone posts on the Facebook page. One with a results link and one congratulating the winners. Way to make a runner feel special... This race has great potential, it is a fast course and many run PRs and BQs. But dang, they race organizers need to get their act together to make sure the runner can enjoy race day. So should you run this race? Honestly, no. There are two other race series which utilize a similar course or the same course. Each series offers two marathons, so you have four other chances to run a fast time. Both series are also far better organized, and you should look there to have the best possible experience. You should definitely run from the Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathon...not toward it.

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