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☰
Richmond Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Richmond Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.5 
Organization 4.7 
Spectators 4.5
Number of comments: 401 [displaying comments 181 to 191]
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B. J. from Tennessee
(12/8/2008)
"Would do again" (about: 2008)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Richmond Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This was my second marathon. The weather much different than predicted. Even the forecaster at 7 a.m. on local TV said to be prepared for thunderstorms and overcast skies. We can't control the weather. The start and finish were great. Crowd support was great. Party zones were encouraging. Sportsbacker coaches were inspiring even if not part of there group. The course was good - flat to rolling at times. I recommend staying at the Omni, which is next to the finish, and close to the start. Overall, I enjoyed it more than my previous marathon in Memphis. I would do it again. | |
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C. J. from Nebraska
(12/1/2008)
"Wonderful event" (about: 2008)
11-50 previous marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I am surprised at the negative comments posted here. I wonder if I ran the same race. No one has control over the weather, but yes, it was warm and humid. I felt the water stops were more than adequate, even with the heat. I sometimes wonder if the negativity is created by results that fall short of a goal time. My finish time was my second slowest in 12 marathons and still saw this as a great event. This is a well organized, well supported race on a course that offers great variety. The corral start was perfect; I never felt crowded on the course, the volunteers manning the water stops were enthusiastic, the wet towels at two stops were much appreciated and the spectators offering fruit, pretzels and beer were great. The downhill finish is awesome. Keep up the good work! | |
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Y. C. from Chesapeake, VA
(11/28/2008)
"A Good Race" (about: 2008)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Richmond Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 It was a decent race overall. The hills were not as bad as I expected (I purposely took my 45-second to 1-minute walk-break on these hills). I wanted to run under four hours but finished at 4:00:25. The weather was unusually warm and humid. It could be worse because Richmond in November can be very cold and wet. Pros: 1. Very friendly volunteers and speculators. 2. Downhill finish is always a plus. Several downhill parts of the course were also very nice. 3. Small but decent expo. Cons: 1. Water stops!!! A big drawback of the race. Every two-mile starting at mile 3 would be okay if the weather had been better. I took four cups at every water stop because many of them were 1/3 full. 2. Traffic condition (in and out of downtown) and parking were horrible. | |
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J. H. from Manakin Sabot, VA
(11/24/2008)
"The Battle of Richmond" (about: 2008)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Richmond Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 This race will no doubt be remembered for the terribly humid and hot (in that order!) weather and the problems with the timing strips, which apparently were a major failure. But I didn't mind that my chip didn't work because I ran an hour slower than my previous marathon, and was just happy to get to the finish line under five hours. It was a battleground out there! I know a guy who's run 58 marathons, and he said this was one of the toughest two or three, as we started out with cloudy, humid conditions in the mid-sixties, then got nailed by the sun, pushing temps into the upper 70's! I saw two women passed out at the 15-mile mark. But in my opinion, race volunteers did a great job responding to the heat, providing plenty of water and PowerAde, and medical personnel were all over the place for the last 10K. The course is fantastic in some places and indeed rather dull at times, with few spectators - but what race doesn't have its weak spots? It sure as heck is NOT flat! There's a long hill around the 12-13 mile mark that must go for at least a mile. It is unfair to label this a poor event based on a bad experience due to the weather. Hopefully, organizers will do away with the lousy timing devices next year. And, if they're going to have the expo far away from the host hotel/starting line, they should make sure they have more than two vans serving as the official shuttle. My friends from out of town had to wait 45 minutes in the rain to be shuttled to the expo. I will run this race again, and pray for better weather! | |
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C. S. from West Point, NY
(11/24/2008)
"Great race - expectations fulfilled (except PR!)" (about: 2008)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Richmond Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This is a great race that I would definitely run again. Great organization, fan support, and course. If you take a close look at the website prior to the race, all questions and issues are properly addressed. Of course, the weather did not cooperate and it was difficult to run - I had severe cramps, etc. that caused me to finish 50 minutes off my target time. However, that is not the fault of the organizers. I have researched many marathons, and I don't know of any others that offer more water stops. The pre-race parking issue needs to be addressed. I simply went to the next exit (which was not recommended) and had no problem parking. Others waited in ridiculous traffic to go to the recommended exit, and that caused a lot of unhappy people. I agree with others that the long stretch on the bridge midway through the course needed a water stop or something - that was a tough stretch! Overall, I would do this again in a heartbeat and hope for better weather. Thanks, Richmond. | |
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J. B. from Columbus OH
(11/23/2008)
"Great race (the weather... it is what it is)" (about: 2008)
4-5 previous marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I won't beat the weather dead horse, except to say that the 77 degree temps were NOT predicted (as another poster suggested) - we were actually expecting another line of thunderstorms late morning. Therefore, throwing together "extra" water stops at the last minute would not have been practical. I imagine the race directors were worrying that they'd have to call the race due to lightning.... Pros: - the corral start - the incredible water-station volunteers, still cheering enthusiastically nearly 5 hours into the race - the two cold washcloth stations - the folks offering bowls of pretzels just when I needed the extra sodium - spectators at the 3 party zones cheered for all of us, not just "their" runners (and they were able to travel to all three spots, thanks to clear printed directions) - coaches from the SportsBackers (local) training team were everywhere, cheering on not only team members, but also the rest of us - the guys offering cups of beer at mile 23 (what the heck, since I gave up on my PR at mile 17) Cons: - really, nothing This was a great race, especially for the unusual weather conditions. I would definitely do this one again! | |
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Bas Kavanagh from Newfoundland Canada
(11/21/2008)
"A superb experience" (about: 2008)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Richmond Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I'm simply amazed to read some of the negative comments. I swear some of the people who wrote them were not in the same race. I trained for six months, ran 1/2 an hour slower than I expected because of the heat and humidity (an unfortunate occurrence, but out of everyone's control), and I loved - absolutely loved - everything about the race. I visited from Canada and thought the city was great, the Sports Backers race organization and people were fabulous, the volunteers were superb and the course was ideal. The only thing lacking in this race were ideal race conditions. It won't be the first nor the last race to encounter less than ideal weather conditions. Learn to role with the punches. It was a marathon! | |
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v. m. from Washington, DC
(11/20/2008)
"A major letdown from years past." (about: 2008)
6-10 previous marathons
| 4-5 Richmond Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 5 This is not the same race I've run since 2004. This year there were no festivities at the finish line - basically just the food tent, ntelos and baggage. There was also no race day packet pick up this year. There was, however, some improvement to the course. Richmond is a great place to look around, but the race itself is not worth coming in from out of town for. | |
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J. W. from charlottesville, va
(11/19/2008)
"Brutal day, tough, tough course!" (about: 2008)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Richmond Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 I really wanted to like this race, but... first, this is NOT a flat course as advertised. One of the hills is actually quite long, and much of the last six miles are lonely stretches with no crowd support. If you're running alone, you could actually be stopped at an intersection. Since the weather was ghastly humid and eventually hot and humid, runners were dropping right and left with cramps and heat exhaustion - and few left with PR's. But many are understandably upset with what appears to have been a total failure of the chip system. It was such a disaster for me that I really didn't care my results weren't posted, but a lot of people who BQ'd were robbed. | |
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J. S. from USA
(11/19/2008)
"Excellent Race" (about: 2008)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Richmond Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 This was an excellent race that I will do again. I train on hills so I found the course to be relatively flat with only a few small hills. Positives: -Flat course -Decent expo -Good separation of half and full marathon runners Negatives: -Weather, but that was uncontrollable -Need more water stops such a very warm day (that is controllable) -Paper chip didn't work after it got wet Also, more emergency personnel are needed for the stretches with no spectators. A woman felt sick on the long bridge and there was no one around to help her except for other runners who stopped. |
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