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Apr 28, 2024

Carlsbad Marathon Runner Comments

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Course 4.2

Organization 4.3

Spectators 3.7

Number of comments: 188 [displaying comments 21 to 31]

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B. B. from Orange County, CA (1/28/2013) "Solid race experience" (about: 2013) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Carlsbad Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I had a generally pleasant experience at this race. It's not in an exciting tourist destination and doesn't have any mind-blowing views, but the organizers do a good job at putting on a quality event. It's probably not a race I'd tell people to travel for, but if you live in Southern CA, it's definitely worth adding to your running resume. Comments: 1) Parking was great, both for the expo and race. I arrived over an hour early for the race, expecting traffic on the 78 East, and found both the drive and parking to be a breeze. 2) Organization was good. The website had all the info you need, which is more than I can say for a lot of races (I'm looking at you, Nike Women's Marathon). Lots of people directing traffic and parking. Signs were mostly well placed - except finish line signs didn't match: signs on the cones said halfers finish on the left and full on the right; the banner above the finish line said full finish on the left and half on the right. No big deal though. 3) Course was pretty, though not quite as flat as advertised. The hills aren't too big, but there are a decent number of rolling hills. Most of the half course runs along the ocean, so it's scenic although there can be some challenging headwinds at times. 4) I ran the half, not the full, so I don't know how bad it was for marathoners to merge with half runners the last few miles, but it didn't seem clogged where I was (I was in the first wave of half marathon runners though - waves farther back probably had more congestion) 5) Bring your own GPS watch and sports drinks. They don't have clocks on the course, just mile markers. And they only serve Ultima, which has to be the foulest-tasting drink out there. 6) Excellent job on the wave start for half marathon. I've been to races where the 'waves' are just suggestions and really everyone gets herded into crowded corrals with few access points so you end up getting stuck behind people who put themselves in wave 1 even though they are walking. This one gave plenty of access in and out of corrals and seemed far less chaotic than usual. 7) Nice long-sleeved technical t-shirt. I think the full finishers got a jacket, which is a great touch. 8) Water, coconut water, chocolate milk, bananas, pretzels, and protein bars at the finish made for much appreciated recovery food. 9) Pretty good spectator support. If you need thousands of spectators cheering you on, this isn't your race, but there were lots of people out there with great enthusiasm. Thanks :) Overall, nice solid race experience. I'll probably run again next year.
Joel White from San Diego, CA (11/9/2012) "Challenging, but scenic marathon" (about: 2012) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Carlsbad Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This marathon is one that I would recommend if you want to run a scenic marathon, but is not a particularly good PR course. There is a decent size hill that is a 3-4% incline about a third of the way through, and rolling hills for most of the rest of the course. About half of the course runs along the Pacific Coast Highway, making it one of the most beautiful marathons you can run. There were plenty of water stations, which included gels at many of them. There were also pace groups for multiple time goals. If you want to run a small and scenic marathon, this one is a great choice.
T. H. from Orange County (2/20/2012) "Classic California Course in Carlsbad" (about: 2012) 50+ previous marathons \| 6+ Carlsbad Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Carlsbad offers the classic California course with ocean front running, hills and a little traffic congestion. The best way to enjoy this marathon is to arrive early to get the best parking and be patient when leaving if you need to get to the freeway. I think passing the slower half marathoners during the last six miles is a 'good' motivator to keep running steady as long as they stay to the left of the cones as instructed. The spectators along Carlsbad Blvd to the finish are great when only a couple of small hills are left. This was my 10th finish on this course which was called the San Diego Marathon prior to 2005. The inclusion of a quality white Carlsbad Marathon running hat along with the tech shirt is a very nice feature. Please continue this in the future. Come to Carlsbad to run in the 'beautiful' January winter weather.
A. M. from San Diego, CA (1/30/2012) "Good overall race" (about: 2012) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Carlsbad Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 This was my first marathon after running several half marathons. I picked this race because it was close to my house and because it ran along the ocean. PROS: 1. Beautiful scenery. Because one of the turnbacks is on the coast, I didn't mind them. There are quite a few though. 2. Perfect weather- high 60's with partial clouds 3. Nice long sleeve technical shirt. I also liked that there was a difference between the half and full marathon shirts. I mean it is double as long. 4. Plenty of parking and port a potties on race day. The start is in a mall parking lot so there is ample parking. 5. Plenty of water/aid stations. The Ultima isn't my favorite tasting drink, but there were enough aid stations and they were spaced out well. CONS: 1. I know there is not much they can do about it, but it was pitch black to start the race. I saw a couple people trip on the raised dots in the road it was so dark. Maybe a little later than 6 am start time? 2. No timers. I brought my Garmin so I was fine, but I would have expected a clock somewhere on the course besides the finish line. 3. Bad staffing at split off. Like the other posters here, I got confused when we were supposed to split with the half. My partner and I were talking and following the crowd when I spied one person running straight while we were turning. I looked around and saw only one sign, which was simply a laminated piece of printer paper on a traffic cone which told us to go straight. No staffers there either. Luckily we only took about ten steps in the wrong direction. 4. It might have been a littering thing, but I found it so annoying when the staffers at the aid station took the top off the GU for me. Both times when I picked it up, my fingers were covered in GU! Later in the race, a few staffers were yelling 'Unopened GU!' So I think they knew it was annoying. 5. The pacers. I was trying to run a 10:30 pace so I got behind a pace person. He consistently ran 9:45 pace. This was confirmed with my and several people's Garmins. When someone asked him about it, he said he was going a little fast because the race got tougher up ahead. What?! 6. The finish area. After finishing, I kept getting yelled at to go forward and keep moving. After getting my medal, they mistakenly gave me a half medal, so I had to go to the info desk to get it exchanged. There was a little crappy bag with a small banana and a few terrible tasting bars. The area was PACKED with family members to where you could barely move. There wasn't really anything going on at the finish either. Just a 20 minute line if you checked a bag. I was hoping for some good food or a blanket or something. Overall I liked this marathon and had a good experience.
P. M. from Oceanside, CA (1/27/2012) "OK Course, But Lacking..." (about: 2012) 3 previous marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 The beginning of the race was good- plenty of porta potties=no waiting. Starting in the dark with the stars was nice. Sunrise running along the coast was good. I didn't really like the out and back on the same stretches. Most of it was ok, except for the merge with the half marathon which was horrible. After the merge, the marathon route turn off was not well marked at all. There were many people that missed it and ruined thier marathon!! Since I live in the area, I kind of knew that it was too early to turn around, so made the correct decision to go straight. There should have been a HUGE sign there to make it clear. On the last merge, it was really annoying to be mixed in with the slower half marathoners- we were very tired, mile 20 to 26.2, and had to weave in and out of slow running and walking half marathoners. To top everyting off, when we went to the gear pick up, we had to wait over an hour because they were completely disorganized and could find people's bags very quickly. I was somewhat dissapointed with the whole thing, especially after hearing so many good things about it. If I were to do it again, it would only be because it is only 15 minutes from where I live. This race is very much about the half marathon and 'triple crown'- The marathon is just a little side show.
J. S. from Minneapolis, MN (1/27/2012) "The Marathon seems like an afterthought." (about: 2012) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Carlsbad Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 To me, this race was really geared to the half-marathon. The Half runners outnumbered the 26.2 runners by a margin of more than 6 to 1. This was fine while the routes were seperate, but when they merged the two, it really cost me a lot of time and enjoyment. Weaving through the much slower half-marathoners was bad enough, but it wasn't clear to me for about a mile whether I was still on the marathon route or had missed a turn. After the race, the bag pick-up line took about 40 minutes and then it took another 40 minutes just to drive the 1/4 mile to get out of the mall parking lot. The course was great. The t-shirt and medal were great. But I wouldn't run this again unless they increased the ratio of marathon runners and/or did a better job of seperating the courses.
D. K. from Rancho Cucamonga, CA (1/25/2012) "Fun race monopolized by half marathoners" (about: 2012) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Carlsbad Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 The course is varied with one hill early enough to not be too much trouble. Several sections along the ocean are just incredibly beautiful. Not a lot of spectators, and not very enthusiastic (like most CA marathons). The one great benefit of having thousands more half marathoners starting later is the hundreds of port-a-potties available. The last six miles are merged with the 1/2 marathoners, but there the bike lane was coned off until the last 2 miles. Weaving throuogh slower half marathoners for the last miles is a bit of a pain.
M. H. from Pittsburgh, PA (1/24/2012) "Beautiful but Confusing and Crowded" (about: 2012) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Carlsbad Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 5 The Positive. First of all, this was probably the prettiest of the three marathons I've run. The volunteers, spectators, bands and cheer groups all did an amazing job. It was especially great to see so many younger musicians volunteering for an event like this. I like that the tech shirts are sex-specific, fit well, and come from a conscientious company. Water stations were plentiful and there were enough porta-potties at the start line meaning that (at least for the marathoners who start earlier) there was little to no wait time to use one before the race. This seems to be a rarity for marathons(availability of porta-potties throughout the course was comparable to other races. There was usually a wait of 1 to 3 people for the toilets along the course. Wait time would also probably be longer for the more numerous half-marathoners at the start.) I was happy with the post-race food bag and the medals are nice as well. I had high expectations of this marathon after reading all the favorable reviews and traveled 2,000 miles to participate. However. The Negative. This was also the smallest scale and least well-organized of the marathons I've run, especially for a non-local. I didn't know that 'West Plaza' was a mall, or that the expo was behind the mall, so it was a little tricky to find on GPS directions to the address which lead you right to the JC Penney's on the front side of the mall. By afternoon of the Saturday expo, they had run out of almost all of the sizes of the marathon shirts for men and women. I wear women's extra small and the smallest size available was a men's large. Since we requested shirt sizes during registration, I thought the right size would be available. I ended up with a half marathon shirt that fit since I knew I wouldn't wear the giant marathon shirt. There are NO clocks on this course. None. Not even at 13.1. And no volunteers shouting out times with bullhorns like in other smaller scale races. I didn't wear a watch because usually marathons seem to have time clock overload, but I had no idea what time it was or how fast I was going for the entire race, aside from seeing the pace groups. The first clock I saw was at the finish line. It was a little disorienting, especially after the merge with the halfers (see below). The sports drink for this marathon is Ultima. It's not very good and the stations for it are(mostly) separate from the water stations. It seemed like there weren't that many Ultima stations along the course. There are two GU stations as well, but if you relied just on sports drinks and gels from the course, it probably wouldn't be enough. I ended up being glad I had brought along plenty of my own sports gels. If you do this race, I would definitely do the research ahead of time to know where the sports drink stations are. I noticed a lot of people wearing fuel belts with sports drinks during this race as well. Must've been race veterans. The marathon merge with the slower and exponentially more numerous half marathoners halfway through the race was immensely annoying. Miles 20 to 26.2 are also joined with the halfers. There is an 'express lane' for awhile which helps a little, but they still come back together. Some of the road surfaces along this course are banked as well. This was a concern for me since I've had IT band issues in the past and try to avoid banked roads. Course maps aren't to scale. Half/Full course integration was poorly marked for those unfamiliar with the course. The first junction had one small paper sign and one volunteer. Then a few miles after the half marathon merge, the half marathoners u-turn while the marathoners go straight. This intersection was poorly marked and I didn't see anyone going straight or any signs through the herd of half-marathoners. Usually there are numerous volunteers and obvious electronic signs at junctions like these, but there were just smaller paper signs and no volunteers. I missed the offshoot for the marathon course and didn't realize the mistake until it was too late, which effectively ruined this marathon as a legitimate race for me. This was my first marathon after I spent most of 2011 recovering and rehabing from a ski accident, so I was very disappointed. Also, although the course was pretty, it had much more double backing and repeat sections than I prefer. There is one intersection you run past three times. Great for family spectators, but not as much fun for runners. The finish line area is also overly congested with families. This is difficult when you just come off the course and need to keep moving but get stuck in a crowd of people and can't fight through. I like marathons which have a runner recovery area separated from the family festivities area. The gear check was also a nightmare and runners were forced to stand in long lines. I already received an apology email from the race about this, so it sounds like they intend to change it next year. Finally, the spectator guide was helpful, but more information on driving detours for race day would have been appreciated. Summary: pretty race and wonderful people. If it wasn't for the half marathon merge and course integration, I might be tempted to do this again next year. Word of caution to out of town runners and first time racers: research the course ahead of time and bring your own sports drink or gels, get to the expo as early as you can, and wear a Garmin or a watch so that you can track your pace.
G. K. from Chicago, Illinois (1/23/2012) "needs organizational improvement" (about: 2012) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Carlsbad Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 This was my 31st marathon. I liked the course and the volunteers and local folks were nice. There were parts of the course with some spectacular scenery, but the first 40 min was in the dark and much of the course was in pretty ordinary urban streets. There were a few annoying things that could have been fixed. 1) There was nothing but water to drink for the last 3-4 stops (no Gatorade type drink) and they ran out of cups at one stop. 2) The post-race food was a real letdown. The bag they handed out was heavy on candy bars and a banana. 3) The worst think about the race for me was after merging the mob of half marathoners with the marathoners they had a tricky turnaround for the 1/2 guys and the marathoners were supposed to go straight. I was not the only guy to make the false turn and have to retrace my steps. There should have been someone there directing traffic with a big sign. 4) While there is not much the organizers could do about this, trying to get out of the parking lot was very congested. It was not at all clear which way was the fastest and easiest route to your destination.
K. B. from San Diego (7/7/2011) "A tranquil, sun rising, ocean lined marathon." (about: 2011) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Carlsbad Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 A smaller scale marathon, with fun crowds and easy going runners. The full M. runners get sent off first, so the crowd is smaller at the start, which is so much nicer than in the bigger races. Running along the ocean, as the sun rises is a beautiful experience. I loved this run.

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