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Apr 28, 2024

Carlsbad Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Carlsbad Marathon Information & Reviews

Course 4.2

Organization 4.3

Spectators 3.7

Number of comments: 188 [displaying comments 11 to 21]

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 .. 19 > ]

D. M. from Wilmington, DElaware (1/19/2016) "Tougher than I thought for a marathon at the beach" (about: 2016) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Carlsbad Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Being from the East Coast, I imagined the miles along the beach would be flat, but it is rolling terrain all the way. Weather was great for doing a January marathon. If anything, it got a bit warm towards the end. The only complaint I had was that while there were water stops every mile, there were not electrolyte replacement drinks nearly that often. Ultima is definitely a better tasting substance than Gatorade and no upset. But the 'deal' to buy it with a discount, still means paying about 70 cents for 12 ounces - way too much for a mix.
A. T. from Chicago (1/18/2016) "well-organized, well-supported, partly along ocean" (about: 2016) 11-50 previous marathons \| 2 Carlsbad Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Well-organized; good expo; plenty of aid (but not enough porta-potties along Polomar Road!); nice jacket and shirt; bands, spectators, lots of volunteers. Hampton Inn had shuttle (across from airport), but shuttle ran out of room. about 1/3 along ocean; lots of 'gradual' hills. Someone else can pick up your packet with copy of ID.
j. c. from san diego ca (1/25/2015) "get out for parking lot" (about: 2015) 6-10 previous marathons \| 2 Carlsbad Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 all good, but parking lot terrible. 1 hour trying to get out of the parking lot.
D. F. from Burbank, CA (1/20/2015) "Great race!" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Carlsbad Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I can't say enough good things about this marathon... Congrats to the race director and all the volunteers, you all did an amazing job, and the race was so 'well equipped'. More porta pottys, water stations, and Clif Shot stations than I've seen on any other race, 'big' marathons included. Parking at the mall was so convenient, and free!!! Good decision starting the halfers an hour and a half later than the marathoners, it made for so much less congestion and easier parking at the start. Small field for the full marathon, I think it was only a little over 1000 people. made for an easy start, the pack spread out very quickly, probably within a quarter of a mile. Hilly course, so not fast, but scenic... lots of miles along the coast, got to see a great sunrise over the ocean. My only complaint is that the full marathoners joined up with the halfers for the last 10 miles or so, which made it a little more congested. Plus, halfers are often newbies, and don't quite have their etiquette together... I saw a lot of non-registered people jumping on the course to run a few miles with their friends, and often clogging up the course by running side-by-side so that they could talk. Hard to police this though, I know. But altogether, a very well put together race, would definitely run it again.
S. C. from Portland Oregon (1/19/2015) "Great Course" (about: 2015) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Carlsbad Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 When I saw the elevation map, I thought I'd hate this run. Not so. It was fantastic. Even going up the 325' wasn't a big deal. Pluses: the early start! great course. great medal. loved the shirt and the jacket (full marathon only ... that's fair) loved that they completely do different medals and shirts for the FULL. NICE! Merging with the 1/2 at mile 15 was no big deal. We were with them for a mile and there was enough room to run my own race. Merging back with them again at mile 20 was a challenge. It was too easy to walk with the folks doing the 1/2. Time for some mental mojo to get you past the 'wall'. I've done 89 marathons. I strongly recommend this one. Oh, and lots of inexpensive hotels to stay at!
Wayne Wright from Palmdale, California USA (3/31/2014) "Carls-good!" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Carlsbad Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 INTRODUCTION: I am a race-walker with a median marathon completion time of 5:15:19. The Carlsbad Marathon was my twenty-eighth 26.2-miler accomplished. COURSE: It was a great day for a marathon: a cool 48 degrees, 37 percent relative humidity with a 9 mph wind from the ENE at the pre-dawn start. It was a well-mannered start as we left the Westfield Plaza Camino Real on our way west, initially alongside Buena Vista Lagoon and crossing I-5, completing our first of many nominal ascents, in our first mile. Our second mile afforded us our first approach onto the historic US-101, now better known as Carlsbad Boulevard, which was to be our companion for 12 of the 26.2 miles. Initially, we headed north, crossing Buena Vista Lagoon until reaching the Oceanside city limit, where we turned around and headed south beginning our climb toward Carlsbad Village, the touristy heart of the city filled with shops, cafes, and lodging accommodations before having our first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean. Dawn approached as we completed mile 3 alongside Carlsbad State Beach, continuing south as we were given further opportunity to see the sea for the next two miles. At mile 5, we departed Carlsbad Boulevard to commence the most difficult part of the marathon: the ascent toward Palomar Airport. For the next four miles, we climbed 275 feet, heading east on Palomar Airport Road. Miles 6 and 7 were not too terribly difficult, only going up 41 feet in elevation. Things started to get interesting in the eighth mile, where turning onto Palomar Oaks Way, we encountered a steeper grade, which increased to 4 percent upon returning to Palomar Airport Road by way of Camino Vida Roble. We reached the crest at mile 9, crossing the Yarrow Road entrance to Palomar Airport. We turned around at mile 9.4, soon before beginning our descent on Palomar Airport Road. Just after crossing I-5 and before returning to Carlsbad Boulevard, we took a north-south out-and-back detour on Avenida Encinas. Interestingly, the halfway point of the race was located at In-n-Out Burger, a treasured establishment in the mind of most Southern Californians. The temptation to stop for a Double-Double and fries was easy to refuse considering the restaurant was a couple of hours away from opening. Returning to Carlsbad Boulevard at mile 15, we headed toward the south, enduring inclines and declines of not too significant substance and sharing the road with some half marathoners for a little over a mile while enjoying occasional vistas of the South Carlsbad State Beach. After crossing Batiquitos Lagoon, we reached the southernmost point intersecting La Costa Avenue at the Encinitas city limit at mile 18, where we turned around and headed north. From here on out, we retraced our steps back to the start line. When we caught up with the slower half-marathoners just short of mile 20, there was a band that separated us, forcing us to stay on the far right, where the cant of the road was at its steepest. We resumed sharing the road with the 13.1-milers somewhere between mile 22 and 23 all the way back to the finish line. Weather conditions at the finish: a warmer-than-average 67 degrees, 28 percent relative humidity with a 4 mph wind from the WSW. ORGANIZATION: Average sized expo for a marathon of this size with a little less than average selection of marathon-logoed merchandise. (There appeared to be a greater focus toward the Triple Crown series of half marathon races, of which the Carlsbad Half Marathon was part of.) The event itself was well-organized: the start went off well, the properly placed mile markers were easy to spot, and there were no issues regarding traffic control. FANS: Average for an event of this size. There were various bands performing with more or less enthusiasm along the way. My favorite was the band playing surf music near mile 7-appropriate for this sort of venue. CONCLUSION: Five of the twenty largest US marathons are located within the Golden State, so it is easy for the non-Californian to overlook Carlsbad. Given the consistently terrific weather, attractive course and excellent organization, it is a race well worth considering. Well done.
D. S. from Michigan (1/27/2014) "Nice solid, perfect weather!" (about: 2014) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Carlsbad Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Carlsbad was a last second race choice for me coming from Michigan, and I was genuinely surprised in the scope and overal organization. The 1500 marathoners started well ahead of the 7000 1/2ers but merged with them later in the race. The first merge segment was a little congested but the blvd was closed to traffic and it wasn't too bad rolling along the beachside. There were a couple small and one long non-descript out-and-back portions that clearly are just to pad distance for the marathon (although they did try to add a band or two to spice it up). Race seemed pretty friendly for even the slower or gimping runners and I didn't hear of them running out of any frills or aid station supplies. A simple improvement suggestion would be to add a start/finish area map to the website to help guide us 'out-of-towners' to the expo/ race event.
W. W. from Los Angeles (1/26/2014) "A Fantastic Event" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Carlsbad Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I signed up the event a few days before the race. I enjoyed the scenic route, cheerful volunteers in this well organized event. The total of full marathoners were less than 2000. It is a nice smaller crowd than many big marathon events. The street were wide at the beginning of the race. Starting from mile 1, you don't need to fight with others to find your own pace. There are plenty pace keepers, water stations, and many energy gel stations. There are many spectators and creative cheering signs along the route in the last 6 miles. I saw one tequila stand, and one beer stand along the way. Although I can not drink alcohol when I run, they warmed my heart. The organizers are very responsive to the questions/requests even after the event were over. It is a good idea to divide the full marathon and half marathon at the first two miles after those two streams join together. However, the tilt road surface close to the curbside made that two miles very hard to run.
A. T. from Chicago (1/22/2014) "well-organized, scenic race" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Carlsbad Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 1 Scenic course along the ocean; I thought the inland part was fine, too; there will hills, but very manageable. Spectators in only a few parts of the course (which is what I prefer). Great expo - lots of vendors. Nice shirt (and different from half marathoners) and not unisex (but women's ran large). LOTS of porta-potties at start. Aid every mile for a long time. Need WAY more porta-potties in second half (especially once we joined the Half); (I had to use the bushes a couple times!). I'm a 5:30 so joining with the Half wasn't bad, but I can imagine it was a lot worse for people faster than me. GREAT, ENTHUSIASTIC, WONDERFUL volunteers at all the aid stations. Chocolate milk at end was nice. Great 'Marathon Show' announcer guy welcoming us to the Finish - even for the people at the end. Lots of Bands - that was nice. My kind of race - scenic, not crowded but always running with people; minimal spectators, well supported; and the plus was the great expo.
S. W. from Madison, WI (7/21/2013) "A Very Difficult Course!" (about: 2013) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Carlsbad Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 This race was a beautiful race when I was able to run along the ocean. The other parts of the race were not very scenic and there were WAY too many hills. There were quite a few spectators at this race. I absolutely HATED running with the half marathoners because this made it extremely congested, especially towards the end. It was hard to find the expo because I thought it was in the mall but it was really outside of it. Although I loved the weather and the ocean, I would not do this marathon again. It was really tough!

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