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Marathon Popular de Valencia Runner Comments
Back to Marathon Popular de Valencia Information & Reviews
Course 4.2 
Organization 4.4 
Spectators 3.9
Number of comments: 35 [displaying comments 11 to 21]
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P. P. from Singapore
(11/19/2014)
"An awesome flat marathon" (about: 2014)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Marathon Popular de Valencia
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I ran this marathon on 16 Nov 2014. If tyou want to achieve PB with a decent crowd support, this is the one for you. I beat my previous PB by 5 minutes. Pros: Great weather (18-21 deg C) for a fast marathon. Absolutely flat course. There is a 30-40m slight uphill in the 23rd Km, but if you are busy enjoying the scenery, you will miss it. Amazing crowd support, especially on drums. There were probably 30-40 bands of drummers along the course. The support was great in the beginning and the end and pretty decent in the middle. Great choice of hotels 5 minutes walk from the start and finish. I stayed at Confortel Aqua 4 which is also a part of a mall. Sports drinks at every drink stop was a great blessing. Also, they gave gels at 20K and 30K (usually, the marathons do it only once). Water in bottles! What a blessing. Much better than cups. Lots of food given after the race. The race medal was amazing. Cons: They did not give safety pins for the bib! Mine did not have any. So I had to go shopping for it (ask for 'imperdible' on the 7th floor of Cortes Ingles next to Aqua mall). They did not give any raincoat type covering for the body after the race. I was feeling really cold (as ones does after a marathon) and it was unpleasant not be protected. Overall, an excellent experience. Thanks, Valencia. | |
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Adam Stivala from Miami Beach, FL
(11/18/2014)
"Amazing marathon from start to finish! Must do!" (about: 2014)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Marathon Popular de Valencia
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Aside from Disney and Boston, this has been my favorite marathon! Awesome crowd support, epic start/finish area, full bottles at aid stations, post-race bag with oranges/pastries/persimmons, and perfect weather! I don't know when, but I will be back for this one! | |
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Francesco Cornelio from Italy
(12/2/2013)
"Great race and atmosphere!" (about: 2013)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Marathon Popular de Valencia
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 This was my 3rd marathon and for sure the best so far. The race is flat and quick, the weather was amazing and the supporters just great: people from Valencia are very warm and friendly and you will enjoy your stay there. Also the city surprised me, it's really worth a visit. I ran my PB (2h51') and really enjoy the experience. The only thing I didn't like is that only XL T-Shirt were available, so totally useless for me! For the rest just very very nice! | |
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B. P. from Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
(11/25/2013)
"Fun!" (about: 2013)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Marathon Popular de Valencia
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 This race was much larger than we expected. The course was flat, but I would not say fast as it is so crowded that it made it very hard to run a decent pace for at least 5K. My biggest complaint was that they ran out of race shirts in normal sizes. I came all the way from the US to run this race and all they had for me was a mens XL. There were also no race jackets or running shirts to buy that had the race on it. I have absolutely NOTHING with divina pastora valencia on it and I'm very disappointed in that. Otherwise, AMAZING fans!!! Also, you may want to note that prizes/placement are done on gun time, not chip time, which is unusual. May want to know about that if you are in contention for a place. | |
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P. B. from Springfield, United States
(11/20/2013)
"Flat, fast course with good scenery throughout" (about: 2013)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Marathon Popular de Valencia
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 I enjoyed this course and I can see why it is rapidly becoming one of the most popular races in Spain. The course itself is quite flat with minimal incline and decline. I think it is well-suited for new PRs and BQs. The finish is pretty neat, as you run past the futuristic City of Arts and Sciences along a long blue carpet/walkway. For organization, I have a few complaints, particularly about the distribution of sports drink. Sports drink should never be in a cup, and the quantities distributed were quite low (and even lower after attempting to drink out of a sloshing cup at race pace). Also at the 35km mark it was a farce when a pack of runners showed up and they had only two people handing it out. Finally, the bag storage before the race was very poorly situated. it was no where near the start line, so it required me to do an extra warmup run just to find it and make it back to the start on time. I didn´t need that extra stress! It also caused me to make the tactical error of entering the throng nowhere near the goal pace I was targeting. My mistake yes, but the bag issue was partially to blame for sure. The spectators were great throughout, and enjoyed some of the music (particularly just the drumming) and encouragement from the crowd. At times some cyclists crept onto the course and I had to yell at them, but that´s my only complaint. Overall it was a good experience and I think it could easily be one of the top races in Europe in a few years, especially if it can get more top level elites like this year (top finisher was 2:07.14, fastest ever for a race in Spain). | |
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J. L. from Madrid
(4/24/2013)
"Excellent Marathon" (about: 2012)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Marathon Popular de Valencia
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This is a great marathon and is no surprise that it´s the fastest growing marathon in Spain - the number of runners has tripled in the past few years and Valencia now has the Bronze IAAF award. The course is fast and flat and a PB is definitely possible ( I took off 9 mins and got 3.20.30) Weather was ideal maybe a little too warm for some, about 16C at the start and reached 19C about 3 hours later, but no wind and thankfully the sunshine was hazy. There was a false start which delayed things by 5 mins. If there is anything that could be improved it is the start area, as it was poorly planned. The 4.30 pacer was next to the 3 hour pacer! This must be a first for a big city marathon. Thankfully this wasn´t as bad as it could have been, the slower pacer and runners quickly moved to the side to allow the faster runners through. Though I did pass a barefoot runner 30m from the start line going about 10 min/mile pace (no idea why he lined up or was allowed to line up next to 3 hour runners) Also there could be some more pace groups for mid packers. There was a 3.45, 3.30 and then a 3.10. The expo was efficient and no problem with race bib pick up. The fans in general are vocal and it´s a well supported race (there are some quiet areas but not too many). There could be some more music along the course or at least some more variety - Chariots of Fire is played on a constant loop. There is a tunnel around the 30km that lasts for about 1km so this may well cause problems if you run with a GPS. The end of the race is truly spectacular - it really is just as it appears on the webpage. One word of caution is to keep running until you see the clock. There are a few twists and turns in the last few hundred meters and also a few inflatable arches that can easily be mistake as the finish line, especially when you see runners slowing down or walking. Valencia is a very popular tourist destination and English is spoken in many hotels, restaurants etc. The race is popular with tourists too. The PA at the start line repeated everything in about 4 languages. I´ve run the marathon in Paris, New York, Chicago, Madrid and Valencia is one of my favourites. If you want to do a marathon in Spain I´d highly recommend Valencia or Barcelona. | |
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K. L. from Hamburg, Germany
(1/20/2013)
"fantastic marathon" (about: 2012)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Marathon Popular de Valencia
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Everything was well organized (without the false start), weather and temperature were perfect, music-tunnel and finish on the water are amazing. Not good: a few km in the middle of the route Marathon and cars are sharing the street. Viewers could have been more. | |
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F. O. from Dublin
(11/22/2012)
"Fantastic marathon but at 26.7 miles - no PB" (about: 2012)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Marathon Popular de Valencia
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Fantastic marathon. Great route, super conditions, amazing support and the finish is spectacular. The real downside though was looking for a sub 3 hr PB. The course clocked in at over 26.7 miles - so you need to run sub 6.42 miles rather than 6.50s. Other than that, can't say enough about it. | |
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M. R. from Germany
(11/21/2012)
"Totally Awesome" (about: 2012)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Marathon Popular de Valencia
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 What a great race. It is a very fast course through a very beautiful city. with the exception of coming out of two tunnels (very mild and short incline)the course is completely flat. I prefer water more often than every 5km as they had, but they did have firetruck along the course spraying water to help keep you cool. Temp can get warm, it was 21 cel, 69 F, so plan for a warm race (They grow oranges). You finish running over water which is awesome. They did run out of beer at the end of the race. If you want a must do marathon this is it. | |
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T. v. from Frankfurt, Germany
(11/18/2012)
"The perfect race." (about: 2012)
1 previous marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I can't complain about anything. Everything before, during and after the race was just great. The organization, weather, course, and the usual just worked out fine. What really stood out for me was the loudspeakers at the tunnel. It's just amazing when you run down the tunnel and loud music is being played :) By fare the best experience for myself. |
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