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☰
Twin Cities Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Twin Cities Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.8 
Organization 4.6 
Spectators 4.9
Number of comments: 455 [displaying comments 261 to 271]
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R. K. from Longmont, CO
(10/3/2006)
"Best marathon ever, with only minor gripes" (about: 2006)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Twin Cities Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 First, let me say that when they say it's the "most beautiful urban marathon," they mean it. The run was spectacular, and although I thought the aid stations were a little spread out for an 80+ degree day, the volunteers were great, the spectators were great, the other runners were great, and the overall atmosphere was great. Adding to the sweetness was by far the coolest finisher's medal ever, and probably the coolest finisher's shirt ever (a blue, long-sleeve, technical, running shirt - VERY COOL). Gripe 1 (and the only one worth mentioning): Why have "gun time" and "chip time" if you use the timing chip? First, the gun time goes by the first wave, so even if I was at the front of the second wave, there was no way I could run when the gun is fired. Second, from the starting gun until I crossed the start line, 8+ minutes elapsed. I guess, I thought the purpose of the timing chip was to eliminate these "getting to the start line" disparities. Otherwise, great race, great volunteers, great spectators. This was my favorite race ever. It doesn't hurt that all of this, together with the aid of good coaching, pushed me to set a PR by 37 minutes. This race was at the top of the class for me. | |
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Geoff Martin from Winnipeg,manitoba,Canada
(10/3/2006)
"Wonderful 25th anniversary." (about: 2006)
11-50 previous marathons
| 6+ Twin Cities Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Congratulations on a wonderful event. This marathon has it all: a great, scenic course, challenging hills, and fantastic spectators. The organization of this event is world-class. Never, apart from previous Twin Cities Marathons, have I ever seen such enthusiastic volunteers at the water stations. The crowds, the music, the whole scene were just so uplifting. For folks who have never run this race: do it. It is, without a doubt, one of the best to be found anywhere. Thanks to everyone for making my 40th marathon a run that I will never forget. Terry and the gang from Winnipeg, great job. You guys rock. | |
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C. T. from Milwaukee, WI
(10/3/2006)
"Awesome, beautiful race" (about: 2006)
First Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 My first marathon. I ran with Marie (the 5-hour pace team leader). Awesome - she kept us going the entire way. Her energy and spirit were fantastic. I would love to run at Twin Cities again and have her as our leader. Thank you for a great run. | |
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M. H. from Derby Kansas
(10/3/2006)
"Great Fall Marathon!" (about: 2006)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Twin Cities Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was the first time I have run this marathon. The course definitely lived up to its slogan of "The most beautiful urban marathon in America." The course did a great job of showing off the Twin Cities, which are very beautiful. I thought the two-wave start went off without a hitch. I started at the 4:30 mark and was able to work up to a 4:10 (total marathon time) pace without any problem within the first 8 miles without pushing too hard. The hills on the course were not too bad until the end. The last 5-6 miles were tough and the hills killed me. I ended up finishing in 4:20. The race finish was well organized and easy to process through. The crowd support was phenomenal and really helped at the end. There were very few places on the course that didn't have people cheering for the runners. I would definitely recommend this well organized marathon to everyone. | |
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B. G. from Michigan
(10/2/2006)
"A great marathon and a worthy challenge" (about: 2006)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Twin Cities Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The Twin Cities Marathon is as billed: beautiful! A lovely course in a wonderful running community. From my perspective, having just run it, the first 21 miles are mostly flat to slightly rolling. And then there are the last five miles. Some people on this site don't seem to think much of the hills, but what I didn't expect was for the whole last 5 miles to be uphill. I thought there would be a few uphill portions during the last miles, but when you are not running up a hill, you are still running up an incline. I'm just saying: Be prepared. Be very prepared. I thought the race organization was fantastic. I especially liked the layout and room/space after crossing the finish line. Nicely done. A terrific experience overall and a worthy challenge - as if 26.2 weren't challenge enough. | |
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S. L. from Rochester, Minnesota
(10/2/2006)
"Amazing experience!" (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 2 Twin Cities Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Twin Cities was my first marathon in 1999 and I decided to run it again this year because it was the 25th anniversary of the race. It was an amazing experience! Organization was great at packet pick-up, the expo was a nice size, and things at the start went pretty well. The only negative I saw was that there is only one place to get into the 2nd wave corral. Other marathons I've run have had entrances to the corrals at various spots corresponding to the expected finishing time. Unless I just couldn't see the other entrances, there was only one way to get in (at the very back), and no way to move up through the crowd (I tried) to the right area for my finishing time. I know with the chip, it doesn't matter that much, except for the fact that it really mixed up the speeds of the runners for the first few miles, much moreso than other marathons I've done, and made it more difficult to go at one's desired pace. The course is absolutely beautiful! It's hard to believe so much spectacular scenery can be found in the middle of a metropolitan area. And as long as you do some hill training, the hills aren't much of a factor. I can say this because I've run this race with no hill training and some hill training (it makes a huge difference - this year I didn't even really feel the hills!). This race has one of the most awesome approaches to the finish line I can imagine. You come to the top of the hill next to the gorgeous cathedral and have an expansive view of the state capitol grounds with the finish line at the bottom of the hill, thousands of cheering spectators lining both sides. I get goosebumps just thinking about it - what a fantastic feeling to finish a marathon in this setting! The weather was a little warm for my liking and some cloud-cover would have helped, but of course that's something no one can control. The volunteers were outstanding. I had my name on my shirt (first time I've done this) and I was expecting spectators to cheer for me (which they did - how motivating, inspiring, and adreneline producing!), but the volunteers cheered for me by name too! How cool! Everyone should run Twin Cities at least once. You will absolutely love it! | |
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W. B. from Houston, TX
(10/2/2006)
"Great race day and exposition" (about: 2006)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Twin Cities Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I've completed 62 marathons and 27 different states, after completing this marathon. I rate the course and the exposition as right up there with the very best (Boston, New York, Houston...). I may come back in a few years, and do this one again. I loved the course, which had plenty of PowerAde and water at 2.5-mile increments, beautiful trees, sparkling lakes, and some leaves falling down on me as I ran. I also enjoyed the good food and drink, and great finisher's shirt and medal, all at the end. I had to subtract one star (5-1 = 4) for the Organization (for the packet pick-up): Some of the people working the full marathon packet pick-up tables were very careless with the 25th anniversary shirt tickets. There were tickets all over the floor in front of these packet pick-up tables, ("easy pickens" for someone wanting to get more than one free shirt, and leaving a possible shortage of shirts for the registered runners still coming in). I told one of the workers, and he was surprised that there were tickets there. It would have been good to have one person walk around the fronts of all of the tables to regularly check to make sure that things weren't getting lost under the boxes, or on the floor. No one at the packet pick-up tables could find any extra safety pins. Every race should have a few "floater boxes" of safety pins, in case the stuffed envelopes are short a few pins. Other than the minor stuff at the packet pick-up, and a warm 70 degrees F finish, the entire race experience was wonderful. | |
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R. S. from New England
(10/2/2006)
"First class... again" (about: 2006)
11-50 previous marathons
| 4-5 Twin Cities Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This marathon just gets better each and every year. Everything from the organization, attention to detail, volunteer enthusiasm and community support makes this, in my opinion, the best urban marathon around. The staff is very responsive if there are any questions about registration, etc., and it would be hard to find a better course anywhere in the country! Congratulations again to the community, the volunteers and the staff of the Most Beautiful Urban Marathon in America! | |
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R. S. from Middletown, CT
(10/2/2006)
"THE BEST Marathon yet!" (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Twin Cities Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 My wife and I have run five marathons together in the past three years, and were very impressed with the course, spectators (awesome!), and treatment from the volunteers. The weather was perfect, so the scenery was spectacular, and even while I was having difficulty on the last stretch, I could appreciate the fans' enthusiasm and the beautiful run to the finish. We highly reccommend this run. | |
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D. F. from Minneapolis, MN
(10/2/2006)
"Fantastic again, with a minor exception" (about: 2006)
11-50 previous marathons
| 6+ Twin Cities Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This year marked my 20th marathon and 9th TCM. Kudos to everyone involved, especially the volunteers. I didn't think there was much room for improvement; but the technical finisher shirt, bonus 25th anniversary T and finish area Jumbo-tron were nice new features. While the sun got a bit warm, the day couldn't have been prettier. My only complaint regards the Metrodome doors. It seemed everyone was forced to enter and exit through one set of revolving doors. In past years, this wasn't an issue; but the logjam exiting the dome created anxiety and risk of injury before the race even started. Let's open up a few more doors next year. |
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