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☰
Memphis Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Memphis Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.2 
Organization 4.7 
Spectators 4.2
Number of comments: 382 [displaying comments 121 to 131]
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J. H. from Gulfport, MS
(12/9/2008)
"Good marathon" (about: 2008)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Memphis Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Good marathon. I enjoyed the course. I wish there were more spectators over the last 2 miles - when I needed it - but it probably would have been embarrassing to have them see my form at that time. They had plenty of water and GU, even though I brought my own. It would be nice if one spectator could go in with a runner to help get food and drink from the runners' food area. Well organized. started on time and ran like clockwork. Thanks, Memphis. | |
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J. E. from Indiana
(12/9/2008)
"Well-Run Race" (about: 2008)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Memphis Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 My first time ever in Memphis and I really enjoyed this race and the city. The race was well organized. I found the water stops at EVERY SINGLE MILE, on the mile, every time, to be wonderful. And each water stop had water, Gatorade and porta-potties. The fans were great (though mostly only there for the first half) and I've never been thanked so much for running a race. The fundraiser for St. Jude Children's Hospital is a big deal in Memphis. My only advice to runners would be to pay attention to the camber of the road. Three of us who ran it all found the consistent slope to the right to give us some leg pain by the end. Not bad... but if this is an issue for you, pay attention. A very enjoyable event... I'd definitely run it again. | |
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M. M. from Chicago
(12/9/2008)
"Takes Tops for After-Race Goodies" (about: 2008)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Memphis Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I thought the Atlanta Thanksgiving Marathon post-race goodies were the best, with a Coke and a Snickers bar, but I think the beer and Krispy Kreme donuts even have Atlanta beat! Fun course, even though it was cold, this year the support from the crowd was good and kept everyone pumped up - even us in the back of the pack. Wonderful town, too! | |
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T. W. from Dyersburg, TN
(12/9/2008)
"Great half-marathon. I loved it. A must-do!" (about: 2008)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Memphis Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 The good thing about this one is it's cold at the start but warms up by mile 2. Chip timed. Not really any port-o-potties near the first two corrals. I had to go back by Corral 8-9 to use the bathroom. Other than that, it was great!! Very friendly atmosphere. Nice medal, and nice beer and food after the race! I loved it all! | |
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S. K. from Texas
(12/9/2008)
"Nice Marathon - No spectators" (about: 2008)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Memphis Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 The course and the organization for this marathon are all right. While there were weak spots, there is really nothing negative to be said. The course has a lot of rolling hills and long straight sections. There are spots were the road surface is substandard but there is almost nothing the organization can do about that. It is a Saturday race and like the other Saturday races I've done there are the ongoing traffic issues. You race in lanes with cars and trucks going by right next to you. And no matter how many police they have for traffic control, there are the handful of locals who didn't get the word and end up driving through the racers out of their driveways or the smaller side streets. Unique to Memphis, at least in my experience, are the trolley rails that it felt like we crossed a half dozen times. All that said, it was a nice enough mix of neighborhoods, urban parks and downtown. The organization holds the finish line open for 7.5 hours and insist that all the walkers start in the last corral. Apparently, they have had problems in the past with under trained walkers since their website actively discourages walkers from entering the full marathon. This was the first race I've done without a significant presence of Team in Training or any of the other common charity marathon groups. This marathon's main charity, St. Jude's Hospital, is a fine organization worthy of all the support it can be given. There is a very real difference of how they and Team in Training support their racers out on the course. This race had the fewest spectators I've ever seen and it made the absence of the TnT supporters really obvious. I commented to others that the only way they could have had any fewer spectators would be to order an evacuation of the city. | |
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J. M. from Springfield, MO
(12/8/2008)
"A Great All-Around Race" (about: 2008)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Memphis Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 From the expo to the finish, the St. Jude Memphis Marathon was a great marathon experience. Here are my observations on each category: Course: While this was my first visit to the city, I felt the course was well designed to show us a good cross-section of Memphis. We spent a good amount of time in the downtown area, including a beautiful view of the Mississippi riverfront area as well as some of the great landmarks. We also saw nice residential areas as well as the zoo. I would add that I found the course to be a bit hillier than I expected... nothing too daunting, but they did keep coming. My one observation in terms of improvement would be mile markers. According to my Garmin, mile 20 measured 1.2 and mile 21 clocked in at 0.8. I think the others were pretty right on. But that was a small item in a really nice course. Organization: Great, from the packet pick-up and expo to the finish at Autozone Park. As a big baseball fan, I thought it was awesome to be able to use the AAA Cardinals clubhouse at the park to shower and change after the race. My only suggestion on organization is that they put the clothing drop at the start line rather than the finish. It kind of defeats the purpose of a gear drop to have it 3 or 4 blocks from the start. Having the start at FedEX Forum was a great plus... plenty of heat and bathrooms. Spectators: I felt the city really came out... lots of fans were scattered along the course. The aid stations were great as well, and I greatly enjoyed the music that was plentiful along the route. All those young people dressed up like various pieces of fruit - appearing several times - kept it interesting. And Elvis was in good supply as well. Even got my picture taken with him at the end. All in all, Memphis is a great race for a great cause... running past the hospital at mile 25 was far more emotional than I expected. Good job, Memphis. | |
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D. F. from St. Louis
(12/8/2008)
"Inspiring cause, uninspiring course" (about: 2008)
3 previous marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 The volunteers were great. Where there were supporters, they were fantastic - where else can you hear people yelling, "Thank y'all for runnin!"? I thought the course was pretty dull - the part through downtown is interesting, but then there are long dreary empty stretches after the half-marathoners split off. The soup at the end was the best thing ever!!! | |
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J. S. from Kansas City
(12/8/2008)
"A wonderful race!" (about: 2008)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Memphis Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 What a wonderful race! It was very well organized, from the wave start to the finish in the triple A ball stadium. Many downtown and suburban restaurants participated in the carb loading dinner by providing discounts to runners, which was neat since it gave many convenient options for dinner. The course was great, including runs past many notable attractions (Sun Studios, Beale St, etc.). Most of the race was run with the half marathoners all the way up until mile 12. There were many good aid stations - only had one problem with no PowerAde (only water) at one around mile 14 or 15. The spectators were great - sparse only at times but mostly wonderful and plentiful. The race finished at the ball stadium, where the marathon and other races finished at distinct separate ends of the field, making it easy for spectators to see their runners finish. Also, it was easy to look up from the field after finishing to find your friends and family in the stands. The medal was fine, and the participant shirt was a nice, wicking long-sleeve. No award for finishing except the medal, a Mylar blanket, and the sore muscles to prove it! Rolling hills kept things interesting. This was not only a fun race, but the town of Memphis made for a great race weekend with all the great things to do. I'd run this one again. | |
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D. Q. from New Orleans, LA
(12/8/2008)
"Great race" (about: 2008)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Memphis Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 My first time here at Memphis, and this was my fourth marathon overall. This is a smaller race after having done Chicago, NY, and Boston, but the organization is great and with the wave starts congestion was not a problem. I was also impressed that for as small a marathon as it was they provided pace teams all the way through 3:00 and as far as I could see the ones up front kept to the pacing very well. The course has a lot of rolling hills - nothing too terrible, just enough to break stride and give some good down hills to pick up pace. It also takes you past a lot of historic spots in Memphis, so there is plenty to see and it was clearly marked. The reason for the low rating on spectators was that there are going to be periods where this isn't anyone cheering for you. Many of the spectators that do turn out are very enthusiastic and help push you along though. I think that is the biggest drawback from the big-city marathons. But the competition is still pretty good and you should have people to run with and help pull you along even if you are running near the front of the race. The thing I enjoyed most was the post-race stuff. The options was great and this would probably be a benefit of the smaller race since you don't have to feed 20,000 to 40,000 runners. They had Domino's pizza (ham, pepperoni, sausage, and cheese), Krispy Kreme, cookies, bananas, oranges, McAllister soups, soft drinks, Vitamin Water, Dasani water, chocolate milk, OJ, and as much beer as you'd want to drink, so it would really be hard to ask for much more. I didn't take advantage of either but I think they also provided showers and massages for runners as well. One last thing I liked was that the race was Saturday, so you had a chance to go out and experience Beale St. and a little Memphis nightlife - a definite plus for out-of-town runners. Overall, I had a great experience and would certainly come back for this marathon again. | |
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S. S. from Nashville, TN
(12/8/2008)
"Not bad" (about: 2008)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Memphis Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 The course was a little boring and there was not energy gel at all the stations the information listed - this was pretty disappointing when I was counting on a kick at mile 16 and couldn't get any until mile 21 or so. Also, I had attempted to upgrade to the full from the half 3 weeks before the race, and while I was told that was fine, nothing was processed, leaving us stressed out at the expo (though they did take care of it). |
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