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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 31 to 41]
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L. H. from St. John's, NL
(10/18/2011)
 "Not flat, not pretty but spectators great" (about: 2011)
3 previous marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 The Good: Fabulous volunteers and lots of them. Well organized water stations - told as you were getting close that Gatorade would be first and water second (distinctive cups). Superb spectators/bands/music especially through the Beaches. Nice medal and great warming 'blankets'. Good bus service to the Expo. The Bad: Not a very exciting or attractive course and definitely not pancake flat as they say. The last 10 K are rolling inclines which were OK but not fun as there was a strong headwind (not the organizers fault!). Very poor Expo, lousy shirts which were too small and we were not permitted to exchange for another size. Bag check at the start was good but totally chaotic at the end when they opened it up for everyone to rush into the area and try to find their bag. Food was poor - banana, apple and bagel only and you had to hunt for water (not handed to you as you came through). Much preferred the Toronto Goodlife Fitness marathon route and Expo. | |
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C. R. from Canada
(10/18/2011)
"Great Marathon...Still a Little Work To Do" (about: 2011)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Toronto Waterfront Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 The course is great. Spectator support is pretty sparse for a big city marathon. The exhibition, start and the actual race was well organized but the finish was a 'gong show.' Waited 1.5 hrs in the baggage pick-up line before finally getting my checked bag. If they can iron out the finish area issues it will be one of the best! | |
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K. H. from Wilmette, IL
(10/17/2011)
 "Solid Race in a World-Class City" (about: 2011)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Toronto Waterfront Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 Fun race in some challenging conditions - the last 5 miles or so of the course was right into a strong headwind and made for a tough finish. Pros: Great pasta feed. Really good expo and gear. Great city, mostly scenic course, mostly flat (except for a few rollers in the second half and a bridge), great aid stations and volunteers, spectators were enthusiastic. Cons: The finish area was an absolute mess. Runners were funneled into a small space which made it very difficult to find people you were meeting up with. The bag check was also the worst I have ever seen- my friend had to wait 45 minutes before finally taking it upon herself to get our bag. Fix the small finish area and try to end the course in a large plaza area if possible, and this race could be really awesome. We definitely had a great time though and enjoyed Toronto very much. | |
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M. B. from Manitoba, Canada
(10/17/2011)
 "99% highly recommended" (about: 2011)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Toronto Waterfront Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 Great rolling, mostly scenic course with enthusiastic fans in most places. Extremely well organized with one GLARING exception: baggage pick up was a complete and utter disaster. I imagine the organizers will be blasted badly and repeatedly about this and make the appropriate changes for next year. With changes, I'd recommend this race 100%. | |
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A. M. from Toronto
(10/17/2011)
"It's too bad......" (about: 2011)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 Toronto Waterfront Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 that this race will forever be remembered for the bag check fiasco. While waiting over 60 minutes for my bag, I spoke with many people, not just from out of town but around the world. People who said they would neither recommend nor run this marathon again because of the bag check problem. I'm not new to this game people, but this was definitely the worst bag recovery I have experienced. And to boot, we had to pay $2 for the service. I personally have never paid for a bag check at a marathon (47 and counting). At the end of a marathon, on a cold day, and you can't get at your dry clothes for over an hour. I got my bag faster in both NY and Boston, and they have a few more runners than Toronto. You keep saying you want to run a world class marathon and attract runners from around the world. Well, I hate to break it to you, you just took a HUGE step in the wrong direction. You can build bridges, super highways, and skyscrapers, but if you screw one sheep.... Enough said. | |
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R. T. from London, Ontario
(10/17/2011)
"Not My Favorite Race" (about: 2011)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Toronto Waterfront Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 5 The race was ok at best. I felt like there were too many out-and-backs and that began to screw with my head near the end. The last out and back down Queen street in the beaches neighbourhood was a difficult stretch to tackle mentally. Your legs are screaming and its all too tempting to step into the west bound lane and cut the race short. There was nothing terrible about the course i just wouldn't have planned it that way. The worst part was the bag check pick-up. The finishing shoot ends at the bag check which is a closed corral. It was chaos. It took me almost an hour to get my bag and that was after they had let all the marathoners go into the half and 5k line to get things moving quicker. Of and after you get your bag you expected to wade back through the mob it was unbelievable. They also charge you $2.00 if you want to check your bag. I'll probably never run this race again because of this. | |
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E. C. from New York, NY
(1/28/2011)
"Awesome" (about: 2010)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Toronto Waterfront Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I didn't get into the race in my home town, so I decided to visit this marathon and I do not regret my decision. The race is pretty flat and there were some bumps, but nothing was noticeably painful. The crowd was also very good and interactive. It's not the 26.2-mile block party that NY is but still extremely supportive. My only gripe is that I don't run with a watch and use the marathon clocks to guide myself. In the US, every mile is marked. Unfortunately, this race marks only every 5K, which I hadn't expected so it threw me off. Oh well - I still had a great time! | |
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O. S. from Puebla (Puebla), Mexico
(10/22/2010)
"Excellent organization, great marathon!" (about: 2010)
1 previous marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I loved to run STWM 2010. Weather was just perfect, many people were cheering all along the course long, and there was great organization overall. Impressive views of the lake and the city downtown. I also enjoyed very much the "friendship run" the day before the marathon, with John Stanton. Great marathon; I truly recommend it! | |
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M. R. from SANTO DOMINGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
(10/11/2010)
"Good marathon" (about: 2010)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Toronto Waterfront Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Very good organization.The course isn't as flat as they say it is during the final 10 to 12K. Recommended 100%. | |
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H. Y. from Michigan
(10/6/2010)
"Don't Think It's Pancake Flat" (about: 2010)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Toronto Waterfront Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I wouldn't say this course is pancake flat! Make sure you check out the elevation chart for this course. Starting around mile 20 it seems like it's more uphill than down, and if it's windy, it's kind of brutal! |
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