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Marathon Details - Palm Beaches Marathon Festival

North America Marathons > USA > FL > West Palm Beach > Palm Beaches Marathon Festival

Palm Beaches Marathon Festival

Garden of Life Palm Beaches Marathon Festival & Half Marathon, Marathon Relay, 10K, 5K

West Palm Beach, FL USA

December 15, 2024

http://gardenoflifemarathon.com

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Race Details

Fast, flat course mostly along the intracoastal.

Contact Information

Name:	K2 Road Sports
Address:	3300 PGA Boulevard #800, Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410
Phone Number:	561-2207417
Email:	Email the organizers

Runner Reviews (106)

Course 3.7

Organization 3.6

Spectators 3.1

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Number of comments: 106 [displaying comments 1 to 11]

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 .. 11 > ]

R. H. from New York City (1/19/2019) "Hot & Humid" (about: 2018) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Palm Beaches Marathon Festival COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 Leading up to all races i'm always checking the weather constantly. Knowing it was going to be 81 degrees with a real feel temp of 91 degrees, I knew hydration during the week leading up to it was crucial. After mile 5 I can feel the heat coming on. Knowing it was going to be hot and humid, and with zero shade, I think they should've planned for more hydration stations along the course and maybe some water sprayed on us at some points. Also, nobody had ice which would've helped. Anyways, very dehydrated during the latter half of the race. Heart rate was like 180 bpm while only running 10 min pace toward the end, when normally it is like 140 bpm. That should tell how painful the heat and humidity was, along with minimal hydration stations. I'm not super pissed because I like to tackle all challenges put in front of me, but I just would've liked water/gaterade every mile during these types of conditions so i least have a fighting chance at a decent time.
d. d. from oh (12/16/2015) "nice race and only 26.2" (about: 2015) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Palm Beaches Marathon Festival COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 This was a good mid size run with the advantages of both the larger and smaller runs. No real crowds nice expo but not to much, an indoor location would be good since it did rain a lot. Plenty of close by parking and hotels, clocks every mile, the views by the water were wonderful and mist area at mile 17 and 21 was a great help. Nice race tech shirt and medal, plenty of post race food music and party, the race road was closed to road traffic for times as posted to help slower runners get a good run and enjoy a great finish, my gps very closely matched there posted miles.
J. S. from Florida (12/11/2015) "Great improvement over past few years" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 6+ Palm Beaches Marathon Festivals COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 I have run this marathon every year and seen the good and the bad. Hats off to the organizers this year. You can't control the weather but this was a much better race and experience than last couple years. Distance was much closer to 26.2 and it started on time. Only suggestion would be to get excessive turns reduced. Thanks for getting it right and I'll be back.
S. E. from Jupiter, Florida (12/27/2014) "27 Mile Course & Not Certified for Boston" (about: 2014) 6-10 previous marathons \| 3 Palm Beaches Marathon Festivals COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 I live in the area and several of my friends and I run the Marathon each year. This year they designed a new course which was 27 miles by our Garmin watches. Others had it at 27.14 miles. It was advertised as USATF certified but there is no certification listed for their new course. It was psychologically demoralizing to run those last miles with your Garmin going off 3/4 of a mile before the marker on the course was visible. Unforgivable.
A. B. from Miami, Florida (12/19/2014) "Nothing right about the course" (about: 2014) 6-10 previous marathons \| 2 Palm Beaches Marathon Festivals COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 4 1) As others have said, my watch had the course at a mile too long. Just unacceptable. 2) The course had so many loops and turns, mostly off into neighborhoods. The course has so much potential to be scenic, the straight parts along the water are nice, some turns to be expected to make the distance (although it was wrong, see above) but keep it scenic. Then, just to be really cruel, just before the finish line it made the marathoners detour under a bridge instead of being a straight shot to the finish line. The route also used to go over the bridge and into Palm Beach (before Lifetime took it over). How can it be called the Palm Beach Marathon if it doesn't even go onto Palm Beach?? A loop around PB (past the Breakers, down Worth Ave etc.) and an out-and-back on the WPB side would make for a much nicer race. If the race is gonna take us away from the waterfront on the WPB side, at least bring us down Clematis and through City place where maybe they'll be spectators to cheer. 3) There wasn't even enough space on the starting line for all the runners. Consider separate starts times for the half and full (or different days of the weekend). No runner should have to start their marathon or half as a 'spectator' on the sideline. Again, unacceptable. 4) Surprised that there were no gels passed out along the course, most marathons have at least 1 or 2 aid stations that do and the price of the marathon was not so cheap to account for this. In a warm-weather marathon I'd think it'd be especially important to provide fuel w/ electrolytes (I carried my own, but still think they should offer something along course.) 5) The weather can't be controlled, but the start time can. Push it back to 6am, or maybe even 5:30. 6) 2 words: More port-a-potties (especially at the start). This marathon could be good (and has been good before), but some serious organizational changes need to be made.
A. D. from davie, florida (12/13/2014) "Too long!" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons \| 2 Palm Beaches Marathon Festivals COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 My garmin read 27.22 miles. Not a problem trying to have a good finish time as I had to walk a few miles due to physical reasons, but it was unforgivably too far. The consesus at the local watering hole just after the race had all GPS devices reading over 27 miles. Great improvements on the course layout and the length is easily fixable, take out one of the many one block detours we took. Great course support and control and a good weather day. Look forward to a perfect race next year.
J. S. from S FL (12/10/2014) "Get the distance right" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons \| 6+ Palm Beaches Marathon Festivals COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 I have run this every year and have seen changes and mostly for the better but last year was the late start and this year the distance was 27mi. These things should not be an issue. Weather you can't control but a a certified course that is 27 mi should not happen. How was it certified if it was 27? I agree with others as it could have been a BQer or PR for many. Please get it right as I want to keep running this race close to home.
Anniebee Stemer from Fort Lauderdale, FL (12/8/2014) "more like 27.2!!" (about: 2014) 6-10 previous marathons \| 2 Palm Beaches Marathon Festivals COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 To the race director: you have to respect the distance! It's 26.2, the holy grail of race distances! Marathoners have goals, not to race against each other, but to BQ or get a PR or break 5:00 or 4:00 or 3:00. The new course was more scenic and shadier. I was very happy with it until I realized how much too long it was. I would have BQ'ed if it hadn't been a mile too long. I would love to do it again next year, but not unless I'm assured that it is a true marathon. This race, the half and the whole, has so much potential. I would hate to see it fail.
A. K. from Cayman Islands (12/7/2014) "Was it really 26.2?" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Palm Beaches Marathon Festival COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 Everyone was questioning the distance - even the pace setters. I reckon it was a good mile longer than 26.2. Everyone seemed to have the same view. Quite disheartening to see signs saying you are a mile behind what your watch says. From last years comments it seems like the organisational issues havent been addressed. I'm forgiving but .....
C. P. from CT (12/7/2014) "some improvements" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 This Marathon/Half is 11 years old - I have run the half 7 times. Plus: As usual, all kinds of parking, free and close to the start Gatorade and water every mile, starting at mile 1 Rice and beans with chicken at the finish. Course is completely closed to traffic Organization has considerably improved. Start was only 5 minutes late Minus: Incredible amount of turns for a half marathon Crowd support is minimal Small expo Weather this year was 65 at the start (6:30AM), and about 75 at noon. Probably a little warmer than typical

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 .. 11 > ]



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R. H. from New York City (1/19/2019) "Hot & Humid" (about: 2018) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Palm Beaches Marathon Festival COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 Leading up to all races i'm always checking the weather constantly. Knowing it was going to be 81 degrees with a real feel temp of 91 degrees, I knew hydration during the week leading up to it was crucial. After mile 5 I can feel the heat coming on. Knowing it was going to be hot and humid, and with zero shade, I think they should've planned for more hydration stations along the course and maybe some water sprayed on us at some points. Also, nobody had ice which would've helped. Anyways, very dehydrated during the latter half of the race. Heart rate was like 180 bpm while only running 10 min pace toward the end, when normally it is like 140 bpm. That should tell how painful the heat and humidity was, along with minimal hydration stations. I'm not super pissed because I like to tackle all challenges put in front of me, but I just would've liked water/gaterade every mile during these types of conditions so i least have a fighting chance at a decent time.
d. d. from oh (12/16/2015) "nice race and only 26.2" (about: 2015) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Palm Beaches Marathon Festival COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 This was a good mid size run with the advantages of both the larger and smaller runs. No real crowds nice expo but not to much, an indoor location would be good since it did rain a lot. Plenty of close by parking and hotels, clocks every mile, the views by the water were wonderful and mist area at mile 17 and 21 was a great help. Nice race tech shirt and medal, plenty of post race food music and party, the race road was closed to road traffic for times as posted to help slower runners get a good run and enjoy a great finish, my gps very closely matched there posted miles.
J. S. from Florida (12/11/2015) "Great improvement over past few years" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 6+ Palm Beaches Marathon Festivals COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 I have run this marathon every year and seen the good and the bad. Hats off to the organizers this year. You can't control the weather but this was a much better race and experience than last couple years. Distance was much closer to 26.2 and it started on time. Only suggestion would be to get excessive turns reduced. Thanks for getting it right and I'll be back.
S. E. from Jupiter, Florida (12/27/2014) "27 Mile Course & Not Certified for Boston" (about: 2014) 6-10 previous marathons \| 3 Palm Beaches Marathon Festivals COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 I live in the area and several of my friends and I run the Marathon each year. This year they designed a new course which was 27 miles by our Garmin watches. Others had it at 27.14 miles. It was advertised as USATF certified but there is no certification listed for their new course. It was psychologically demoralizing to run those last miles with your Garmin going off 3/4 of a mile before the marker on the course was visible. Unforgivable.
A. B. from Miami, Florida (12/19/2014) "Nothing right about the course" (about: 2014) 6-10 previous marathons \| 2 Palm Beaches Marathon Festivals COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 4 1) As others have said, my watch had the course at a mile too long. Just unacceptable. 2) The course had so many loops and turns, mostly off into neighborhoods. The course has so much potential to be scenic, the straight parts along the water are nice, some turns to be expected to make the distance (although it was wrong, see above) but keep it scenic. Then, just to be really cruel, just before the finish line it made the marathoners detour under a bridge instead of being a straight shot to the finish line. The route also used to go over the bridge and into Palm Beach (before Lifetime took it over). How can it be called the Palm Beach Marathon if it doesn't even go onto Palm Beach?? A loop around PB (past the Breakers, down Worth Ave etc.) and an out-and-back on the WPB side would make for a much nicer race. If the race is gonna take us away from the waterfront on the WPB side, at least bring us down Clematis and through City place where maybe they'll be spectators to cheer. 3) There wasn't even enough space on the starting line for all the runners. Consider separate starts times for the half and full (or different days of the weekend). No runner should have to start their marathon or half as a 'spectator' on the sideline. Again, unacceptable. 4) Surprised that there were no gels passed out along the course, most marathons have at least 1 or 2 aid stations that do and the price of the marathon was not so cheap to account for this. In a warm-weather marathon I'd think it'd be especially important to provide fuel w/ electrolytes (I carried my own, but still think they should offer something along course.) 5) The weather can't be controlled, but the start time can. Push it back to 6am, or maybe even 5:30. 6) 2 words: More port-a-potties (especially at the start). This marathon could be good (and has been good before), but some serious organizational changes need to be made.
A. D. from davie, florida (12/13/2014) "Too long!" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons \| 2 Palm Beaches Marathon Festivals COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 My garmin read 27.22 miles. Not a problem trying to have a good finish time as I had to walk a few miles due to physical reasons, but it was unforgivably too far. The consesus at the local watering hole just after the race had all GPS devices reading over 27 miles. Great improvements on the course layout and the length is easily fixable, take out one of the many one block detours we took. Great course support and control and a good weather day. Look forward to a perfect race next year.
J. S. from S FL (12/10/2014) "Get the distance right" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons \| 6+ Palm Beaches Marathon Festivals COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 I have run this every year and have seen changes and mostly for the better but last year was the late start and this year the distance was 27mi. These things should not be an issue. Weather you can't control but a a certified course that is 27 mi should not happen. How was it certified if it was 27? I agree with others as it could have been a BQer or PR for many. Please get it right as I want to keep running this race close to home.
Anniebee Stemer from Fort Lauderdale, FL (12/8/2014) "more like 27.2!!" (about: 2014) 6-10 previous marathons \| 2 Palm Beaches Marathon Festivals COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 To the race director: you have to respect the distance! It's 26.2, the holy grail of race distances! Marathoners have goals, not to race against each other, but to BQ or get a PR or break 5:00 or 4:00 or 3:00. The new course was more scenic and shadier. I was very happy with it until I realized how much too long it was. I would have BQ'ed if it hadn't been a mile too long. I would love to do it again next year, but not unless I'm assured that it is a true marathon. This race, the half and the whole, has so much potential. I would hate to see it fail.
A. K. from Cayman Islands (12/7/2014) "Was it really 26.2?" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Palm Beaches Marathon Festival COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 Everyone was questioning the distance - even the pace setters. I reckon it was a good mile longer than 26.2. Everyone seemed to have the same view. Quite disheartening to see signs saying you are a mile behind what your watch says. From last years comments it seems like the organisational issues havent been addressed. I'm forgiving but .....
C. P. from CT (12/7/2014) "some improvements" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 This Marathon/Half is 11 years old - I have run the half 7 times. Plus: As usual, all kinds of parking, free and close to the start Gatorade and water every mile, starting at mile 1 Rice and beans with chicken at the finish. Course is completely closed to traffic Organization has considerably improved. Start was only 5 minutes late Minus: Incredible amount of turns for a half marathon Crowd support is minimal Small expo Weather this year was 65 at the start (6:30AM), and about 75 at noon. Probably a little warmer than typical

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Marathon Details - Palm Beaches Marathon Festival