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☰
Med-City Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Med-City Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.0 
Organization 4.3 
Spectators 3.8
Number of comments: 65 [displaying comments 1 to 11]
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X. T. from MD, USA
(7/4/2022)
"Lost checked bag and no shirt" (about: 2022)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Med-City Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 My checked bag which contained my race shirt and a few other things was missing after the race. The bag was likely given to the wrong person. The RD agreed to mail me a race shirt for replacement. After getting home, I have tried to follow up with him via email. Sadly, after over a month of trying I still have not received the shirt. We also had a temporary race interruption due to the thunderstorms this year. | |
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t. y. from iowa
(5/27/2019)
"new course was a nice improvemnt" (about: 2019)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 Med-City Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 The course starts from the airport and creates a large loop around the main city. The first six miles are Midwest country running past flat farm fields and then you start a steady downhill slope into bike trails through parks and along rivers. It is pretty, peaceful, and would be lonely, except for the fact that you run with the half marathoners for the first 13 miles. When they break off, you begin running through neighborhoods, on more pretty bike trails, and retrace the final two miles until the finish downtown. The only tough hill is a short one at mile 20. Overall, the organization is quite strong (great bus service from downtown out to the start), water stops are frequent, and this is a well done, inexpensive race in a pretty Minnesota city. Crowd support is soft because much of the route is on bike trails, but you never run more than a few minutes without having someone clap for you. Overall, a good late season marathon that is easy to recommend to others. | |
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E. B. from Naples, Florida
(6/4/2018)
"Cancelled, no refund" (about: 2018)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Med-City Marathon
COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 2 The 2018 full length marathon was cancelled on very short notice by race organizers due to heat. Instead of offering refunds to those that had trained for the full, race organizers simply opened up the half marathon to all registered runners. There are many issues with this, the most obvious being the price difference between the races. Per usual, the full marathon was pricier than the half. Those that signed up for the full ended up paying that price to run a half, since no refunds were given at all. It's disappointing enough to train all winter for a marathon - the lack of any sort of refund was the tip of the iceberg. Anyway, there's my little gripe about the organization. I strongly recommend not signing up for this event, given that it was cancelled so easily. The course itself was alright, but I can only speak to the first 13.1 miles. Early rolling hills gave way to flat pavement after about 6 miles. It's also a straight course, which makes it easier to focus on running - no worrying about lots of turns. There were water stops every one or two miles, and the volunteers were good. Most of the race lacks large crowds, but that's to be expected in a small town. One negative was the stench. It seemed as though the farms we were running by had just mulched or something, and runners often received whiffs of animal dung. We were also facing the sun for most of the race, which was just annoying for someone that didn't think to wear sun glasses. Overall, the course itself is unspectacular, and doesn't make up for the risk of race cancellations. | |
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J. F. from Pittsburgh, PA
(5/26/2018)
"Don't do this race!" (about: 2018)
50+ previous marathons
COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 2018 runners received the below email the morning before the race. Having traveled quite far to get here, I would have preferred to find this out much earlier than the day before. I have run other much larger marathons in worse conditions and so do not understand this at all. The Med City Marathon full distance marathon, 20 mile race, and marathon relay scheduled for May 27th have been shortened due to the extreme heat forecasted. This decision was made by the race organizers and Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine team together, and was based on evidence-based temperature criteria for marathons. The decision was made in the best interests of the runners, as the high temperatures create significant risk for serious, and sometimes fatal, heat related conditions, especially in runners who are not acclimatized to the heat. | |
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T. P. from Maple Grove MN
(5/31/2017)
"Fantastic and very well organized Marathon!" (about: 2017)
50+ previous marathons
| 6+ Med-City Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Thank you Peg and Wally for creating the Med City marathon! This was my 22nd Med City Marathon and this is a consistently very well organized running event weekend. I completed the 5K on Saturday and enjoyed the free beer! Then I completed the marathon and enjoyed the free beer after the marathon as well. Shout out to all the first timers completing their first marathon today and all the other runners that ran with the 5 hour Pacer. Great weather for the marathon and the spectators on the course were wonderful to see. | |
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M. V. from Maple Grove, MN
(5/29/2017)
"Well-organized small town race" (about: 2017)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Med-City Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 I enjoyed the race. The weather was good. Course is fine. Spectators are sparse, but enthusiastic. Post-race party was pretty cool. Good band! | |
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C. B. from Detroit, MI
(6/1/2016)
"Nice if You Like Small Town Races" (about: 2016)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Med-City Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 It's nice if you like small town races, not nice if you don't. I think the organizers did a fantastic job, and this race is clearly loved by the community. It's not the race's fault that I don't like small town marathons and only did this one because I needed Minnesota and because the holiday weekend meant I had time to come out and do it. The Good: Lots of affordable lodging in town Easy logistics (shuttle to start or get dropped off, plenty of parking there if you have a chauffeur). Pretty farm country scenery for the first 6 miles or so Mostly flat course aside from the rolling hills in the first 5-6 miles Super friendly, helpful people running the race Really nice medal Plenty of aid stations, well-organized The Jumbo Tron at the end and the personalized comments from the announcer were pretty cool. Good finish line food (not fancy, but everything you would need). (Relatively) low registration fee, even last minute T-shirt in a color that is very underrepresented in my race shirt wardrobe purple The Bad: Really only one thing from my perspective, and that was that most of the course was on a multi-use path alongside the Zumbro River. It was pretty for about twenty minutes and then got so, so boring. Any scenery, no matter how pretty, gets boring if it never changes. This race was so small that I was alone for long stretches of time for most of the last 15 miles or so. It was more like a supported training run than a marathon. I'm sure there were a lot of people who loved the peace and quiet of the course not me, I was bored. And that made me slow down and not want to run. I don't have a bad thing to say about the rest of the race, just know what you're signing up for. | |
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T. P. from Twin Cities. MN
(5/31/2016)
"Great Overall Marathon Experience" (about: 2016)
50+ previous marathons
| 6+ Med-City Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Fantastic small town marathon! Simple Expo that has everything you would need. There is no pasta feed for the marathon, but there are plenty of relatively cheap places with great food in the downtown area. Most of the host hotels were offering checkouts as late as 3PM, which should give you plenty of time with a 7AM start. Most of the hotels are around $100 with tax if staying at one of the marathon hotels. Buses take you from downtown Rochester to the start area in Byron, where you get to stay inside a school if you so desire until the start of the marathon. Nice rolling hills for first 8 miles, then flatter for next 8 miles, then a little small rolling hills for the last 9. I have completed all 21 Med City Marathons, and plan on coming back for #22. I ran the 5K on late Saturday afternoon as a warmup for the marathon. Free beer after the 5K and the marathon is a nice added touch. Thanks again to the volunteers, spectators, medical staff, police, aid stations, and pacers for making this marathon special. | |
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T. P. from Twin Cities MN
(5/25/2015)
"Fantastic 20th Med-City Marathon" (about: 2015)
50+ previous marathons
| 6+ Med-City Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Thanks to all the volunteers, spectators, police, medical personnel and the race committee for putting on a fantastic 20th Med-City marathon. A big shout out to Peg and Wally Arnold to creating this marathon 20 years ago and making this a fun running weekend adventure in Rochester, MN. Hilton Garden Inn is a great hotel not within easy walking distance of the Expo and morning shuttles to the start and walking distance from the finish. Nice to see music and free beer at the finish. I will be back next year for my 21st Med-City marathon. And a shout out to all 7 runners who have completed all 20 of the Med-City marathons. | |
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A. B. from Pennsylvania
(5/27/2014)
"Pretty good small race" (about: 2014)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Med-City Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 The organizers have no control over the weather. When you run a marathon at the end of May there is always a risk that it will be a hot day. This year (2014) that was a reality. It was 70 at 10AM when the winners finished. It was also humid and sunny (there is almost no shade on the course). Very different than last year. Again, there is nothing the organizers can do about that. The course is not optimal. The first 7-8 miles are somewhat hilly (in midwest terms, not for a Pennsylvania guy like me) but have net loss of some 200 ft. They are nice and scenic and I enjoyed them. Once you get into Rochester things flatten and apart from some over and under passes and some tiny bridges, it's a fast course. There are million turns and it is practically impossible to run the tangents so prepare to run 26.4 miles or so. After the split from the half marathoners (about mile 11), there are many lonely spots where you barely see anyone. Many confusing turns where there are only cones that suppose to prevent you from going somewhere bad. There was a point where a volunteer saved me from going in the wrong direction. Look at the course map. You will be running east, west, north and south several times. Water stations were OK the first 20 miles, spaced every 2 miles. Then (and especially in such a warm day) you'd like to have more of them at the later miles. Some races have them every mile at the end. The finish was nice and the cold Getorade bottles were very refreshing. There was food and some treats. No complains. Medals are nice too. Another nice thing about this race is that the marathoners get the race shirt only at the end with the medal. Nice. Overall it's a nice race. Good organization, easy to get to the bus shuttles in the morning and you can park near the finish line easily. The all you can eat pasta dinner was nice too. In terms of weather, it's a gamble. If the weather is nice, this marathon can be an awesome experience. |
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