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May 1, 2024

Toronto Waterfront Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Toronto Waterfront Marathon Information & Reviews

Course 4.0

Organization 4.1

Spectators 3.4

Number of comments: 228 [displaying comments 21 to 31]

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 .. 23 > ]

D. L. from Calgary, Alberta (10/16/2012) "Loved it!" (about: 2012) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Toronto Waterfront Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 You can tell the race organizers took the bag check comments from 2011 to heart. There were no issues whatsoever this year. I thought the course was great (twists and turns, but I'd take that over a lot of hills) and I was pleasantly surprised how many spectators were on course. The water station volunteers were outstanding and, again, I was surprised how many people were holding out cups at each station. Nice work, everyone. I would happily come back.
Rod Henning from London, Ontario (10/15/2012) "Top Notch All Around" (about: 2012) 11-50 previous marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Every aspect of this marathon is well done. From registration through email update to the expo and the race they got it right. The one thing they don't control is the weather. And when they get that nice cold clear windless October day it will make for excellent running. I believe the changes from last year made for a huge improvement in the organization. To me things went off seamlessly. A couple of suggestions would be maps of the start and finish area. It wasn't hard to find the entrance to the corrals but having a picture of how it was controlled would have been nice. Also the finish area was the same. Maybe I just didn't see the maps. Just copy the Boston booklet. I actually only ran the half so can't comment on the whole course but I enjoyed the front side. I am not a real fan of multiple races starting at the same time, but if you have to do it this worked well. Does give a 'larger' marathon feel at the start. Separation at the end was good. My only criticism is of the pasta dinner at the Trattoria Mercatto. And this really has little to do with the race. They had a marathon special but they really missed the boat on quantity. You'd have thought they would have made up on quality but the portions were small and cold. In the end probably the right amount but not what you expect. Overall a great event.
C. L. from Ontario (10/14/2012) "Not bad" (about: 2012) 6-10 previous marathons \| 2 Toronto Waterfront Marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 Generally not bad but there were lineups at every porto potty. In Chicago it was a lot better. I get it...porto potties cost a lot of money and each extra one takes away from the bottom line...but for the average runner...this is important.
M. B. from Manitoba, Canada (10/30/2011) "Nearly a perfect day" (about: 2011) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Toronto Waterfront Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 The baggage pick up has been written about and it truly did suck. However, I sent an e-mail to the race director the following day making some suggestions to fix the problems and within 24 hours he got back to me saying it was already being restructured. Everything else was great: the course offered a chance to see the leaders, the rolling terrain made things interesting, the neighbourhoods were tremendously supportive and the medal is very nice. The t-shirt is OK and the post-race food could be improved quite a bit. Overall, I'd still recommend this race - but don't kid yourself, it isn't pancake flat.
C. L. from toronto, ontario (10/22/2011) "Great race.....BUT!" (about: 2011) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Toronto Waterfront Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 5 I was very lucky to avoid the bag check fiasco as my office overlooks the finish line. I saw what a mess it was. Alan Brookes has acknowledged it and promised it won't happen again. I think it will be sorted out next year...just a one year hiccup. That being said, a problem like this will cause people to skip this race in the future.....it is that important to get things like this right.
W. H. from Toronto (10/22/2011) "A lesson for organizers" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 2 Toronto Waterfront Marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 The course may be flat, the fans may have been out there, but the organizers messed up the finish area. The bag check was a, in their own words, a disaster (http://yumkerun.blogspot.com/2011/10/utter-fiasco-that-was-scotiabank.html). They want to keep their silver rating, they should focus on serving their runners, not trying to create press out of prize money or singling out great runners. There are the other of runners thousands of them that your race will depend its reputation for. You let them down.
A. L. from Mexico (10/22/2011) "It was flat, fast and festive but..," (about: 2011) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Toronto Waterfront Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 the organization was poor, especially at the baggage pick up. After Marathon, you can't stop and wait for more than one hour
C. W. from New York (10/21/2011) "Not bad, but not great" (about: 2011) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Toronto Waterfront Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 This was my 5th marathon and the first that I would not recommend running (but just barely - it was fine). It was quite windy, but I don't think that is clouding my judgment. There were enough drawbacks that I would skip this in the future. Pros: Good fast course, downtown start and finish, fairly good crowd support, some beautiful parts of the course, well organized water/Gatorade stations, very friendly runners. Cons: Expensive ($13) parking for packet pickup/Expo, hidden porta-potties at the start (I didn't see a single one), some ugly industrial areas on the course, subpar post-race food and the first water available was a pretty long walk from the finish, ugly race shirt (I will likely never wear it). I didn't get caught up in the bag pickup debacle, but it's pretty funny that this is the only race I have heard of with a fee for bag check.
J. J. from Toronto, ON (10/20/2011) "Toronto" (about: 2011) 6-10 previous marathons \| 3 Toronto Waterfront Marathons COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 2 Now I remember why I haven't run this marathon in 3 years. Flat, fast & Festive? Try: Boring, Boring, Boring!!! The course is boring, with out-and-backs through industrial areas in town, it's fast if there isn't the usual headwind from the lake, the crowds are thin and unenthusiastic in typical Toronto fashion. The Bag Claim which cost $2 was a disaster. I heard one friend waited until 3:45pm to get her bag and she finished her Half Marathon at 11am!!! I went around the back and got roughed up by a cop when I tried to get my bag. I finally saw a 'Race Official' standing beside my bag and he threw it to me over the fence without even verifying my bib #!! How secure is that!!! This race is not worthy of it's IAAF Silver Medal Distinction. World Class? Hardly!
E. M. from London, Ontario (10/19/2011) "Terrible Bag Pick-up Issues" (about: 2011) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Toronto Waterfront Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 I don't ever plan on running this marathon again. I've run many small and large marathons (7 now) and have NEVER seen such a mess before. I stood in the mob of people for over an HOUR waiting to get my checked bag. After pushing your body to its limit running 26.2 miles, the last thing you need is to stand in the cold for over an hour in tight cramped quarters with thousands of runners! My entire body starting shaking from cold and exhaustion. Luckily I found a friend, who eventually hopped the fence and went in back to get our bags. To funnel 5K, half marathon, and marathon runners; thousands of people; into such small quarters is rediculous. Obviously that was a problem waiting to happen! And we paid and Extra $2 for this privilege!

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 .. 23 > ]

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