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May 6, 2024

Callaway Gardens Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Callaway Gardens Marathon Information & Reviews

Course 4.2

Organization 3.7

Spectators 2.3

Number of comments: 76 [displaying comments 11 to 21]

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 > ]

J. D. from Signal Mountain, TN (2/20/2012) "Not recommended unless you are very self sufficien" (about: 2012) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Callaway Gardens Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 I actually did the half marathon with my wife, while a buddy ran the full marathon. It is a double-loop course so we saw the whole thing. Pro: Beautiful scenic course. Cons: Just about everything else: Just finding it was an adventure :) Cheap cotton t-shirts. Very little on-course support including NO food and NO apparent medical personnel. Nothing available but water and watered-down Powerade. No portable toilets and restrooms are almost impossible to find on the course. Expo was very small. Medals were some of the chintziest I have ever seen, and they ran out of them (still haven't gotten mine in the mail). Prehistoric chips strapped around your ankle (I was wearing tights due to the temperature, but it probably would have chafed if I had been wearing shorts). If you want a scenic training run of 13.1 or 26.2 miles and are completely self-supporting with no medical issues, then this race might be for you. If you want any sort of nourishment or medical assistance to be available, or if you think your entry fee should entitle you to a decent tech shirt and a medal that costs more than 50 cents, if you get one that is, keep looking.
K. W. from Atlanta, GA (2/4/2012) "Nice small, no frills race" (about: 2012) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Callaway Gardens Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 As everyone before me has said, the course is really lovely. A little hillier than I expected, even coming from Atlanta where it is difficult to find flats. Two larger than average hills and lots of rollers. There are sections of flat but I would describe the overall course as rolling, more rollers than flats. Spectators are few and far between simply due to the logistics of the race. Those that were there (primarily at the finish) were very enthusiastic! If you have never done a small marathon before, be prepared for some solitude once you start the second loop. I went for a few miles before I saw anyone. Just the nature of the race. You might want to check the map or listen to the pre-race annoucements. There are no porta-potties on the course ; however, there are a few outbuildings along the way. So if you have a need... might be good to know where these are. The only very minor negative comments I have relate to the shirt and water on the course. I registered for a small shirt and when I arrived I was given a large as the only size available. In my mind, if I pre-register for a size, I should get that size when I show up. In terms of water, the stops are oddly spaced. Some are three miles apart, some are two, some are less than a mile. I would suggest carrying your own. Mile 22(ish) was out of cups when I rolled through. Overall, I enjoyed the race, beautiful, challenging and not too expensive.
D. C. from South Carolina (1/31/2012) "Beautiful small race" (about: 2012) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Callaway Gardens Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 1 The course is absolutely beautiful, even in January - so beautiful that I didn't mind doing it twice! There were some moderate hills but nothing crazy, and I welcomed the terrain variations. There are about 450 half marathoners and 150 full marathoners, so it does get lonely after the split. There are almost no places for spectators to view the race, so this might not be the best race to bring your family to. As such, pretty much the only time you see anyone is at the halfway point (half marathon finish). If you need a lot of crowd support or any type of support, for that matter, this race is not for you. It is important to know that the water stops are about every 2 miles apart. At one point they are 3 miles apart. It might help to bring your own water if you need more than that, especially later in the race. They ran out of cups at Mile 23! There are no porta potties on the course, but there are some outbuildings. I was surprised to find a very small expo with all the basic necessities- I had expected nothing! Packet pick up couldn't have been easier and you can do it on race morning. Stay at the host hotel - it is cheap and as close as you can get to the start! I think it was $99 this year. However, there is plenty of parking for those driving in. All in all, I would recommend this race if you don't need a lot of support. The course is spectacular and for the most part, the logistics are well done. Could use some more water stops, but that's about it.
C. C. from Smiths, AL (1/30/2012) "Excellent time" (about: 2012) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Callaway Gardens Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This was our first time running this course. The weather was a little brisk at the start, but it was a beautiful day for a run. We have been to Callaway for many other things, but never the run. I found the entire experience to be be very pleasant, and the people were friendly and supportive. I will be back next year. Thanks for all you do.
k. b. from Midwest, USA (1/30/2012) "Gorgeous Location and Great, Serene Course" (about: 2012) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Callaway Gardens Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 Price: $10-$20 too high for what you get Location: excellent Course: excellent Time of year: excellent Time of race: excellent Weather: excellent Aid stations: plenty. No gels though. Awards ceremony: handed out as you finished Awards: plaques for top in age groups and finisher medals for others. OK. nothing unique. Post-race food: lame. Mostly gone for marathoners due to 5k and half marathoners and only bananas, apples, and cookies. i wish i was making this up. Basically, I just wanted to leave and go get some real food someplace. Plus, I brought my own Muscle Milk which I'm glad I did. Race bag goodies: None T-shirt: cotton. Not cool. Give to charity Expo: good enough for small marathon but no freebies. good products. Pasta feed: $13 for pretty lame meal. I recommend eating nearby in local cafe or restaurant. Better food for cheaper.
D. Q. from New Orleans, LA (1/30/2012) "Great Small Marathon" (about: 2012) 6-10 previous marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I'll preface my comments that this was my 8th marathon and I have done the big ones (Boston, NY, Chicago), medium ones (New Orleans, Memphis), and small (Mobile). This was definitely the smallest race I had done so far but have a lot of good comparison points. I gave this race good reviews for several reasons. Course - 5 Stars - the race is a double loop in Callaway because it is a beautiful scenic course I had no problem doing the loop twice. The course itself was well marked and I ran a good portion of the race on my own and had no problem following the turns. It is a tough course with two more challenging hills and several other rolling hills. Coming from pancake flat New Orleans though I didn't find them overwhelming, but definitely challenging especially the second loop. The course is open to traffic, but there didn't seem to be too many cars that early in the morning. If you were a slower marathoner the traffic may have been a little more of an issue as you got closer to midday. Weatherwise was perfect - no wind, start in the 30s and moving up to the high 40s/low 50s by the finish - so ideal marathon conditions. There was an indoor tented area to wait in until the start so that was very nice as well. Organization - 4 stars - the reason I give it 4 and not five was that the website itself could benefit from a little more info I felt. If they had the info sheet that came with your registration pick up around course map, aid stations, restrooms, etc I think it would benefit participants for preparing ahead of time. I don't fault the race for this, but some of the aid stations no one was actually handing out water. I understand it's a smaller race and not incredibly competitive so most people don't mind grabbing cups themselves. At the same time I was running competitively so did not like having to try to grab water/gatorade while on the run and felt bad because I actually knocked over several cups one time trying to grab it on the run. I want to reinforce that this was only at a couple of the stations and don't knock the race for it but did find it a little annoying. Awards/medals are given right after the race and there is not much in the way of an after party but there was plenty of fluids and snacks available. I did not partake in the pasta buffet the night before the race, but was at the restaurant where it was held. That seemed a little chaotic as they ran out of pasta a couple times and for 12.95 I am not sure if you really got your money's worth. Spectators - 5 stars - you won't get very many but those that were there were very nice and enthusiastic. Several of the better manned water stations were also very enthusiatic and encouraging which was nice to break up some of the solitude of the race. All in all I enjoyed the smaller nature of this race. If you don't mind not having spectators to carry you through or plenty of runners to pace off of then you should really enjoy this beautiful but challenging course. There are a couple other fun things to do around Callaway/Pine Mt (Wild Animal Safari, Treetop Adventure, Birds of Prey show, Butterfly Garden) that helped make this a nice little mini-weekend vacation. I enjoyed the race and would recommend to others.
R. H. from Atlanta, Georgia (1/30/2012) "A few surprises, but overall enjoyable" (about: 2012) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Callaway Gardens Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 1. The hills between mile 5-7 are killers (where you go out of the park and back). They are constantly rolling hills. 2. It was NOT a closed course. There were plenty of times when a car came whizzing past us. 3. They ran out of bags for the runners.
J. H. from Florida (1/29/2012) "I was a spectator" (about: 2012) First Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 1 The map provided was very difficult to figure out as a spectator. I tried to get to several different points to see my daughter and her friends and had no success. No one knew where to go which was very frustrating as I was there to cheer her on. More signs would be extremely helpful not to mention clearer maps.
R. H. from Lawrenceville, GA (1/29/2012) "Small challenging marathon" (about: 2012) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Callaway Gardens Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Course: I had heard that the course was a little hilly and I had heard correctly. The worst hill of the bunch is at miles 5 and 18. I enjoyed each of the hills and the overall course, but I didn't have the turnover in my legs to put together the run I wanted. The final 3.5-4 miles are downhill or flat so it is setup for a nice finish if you have anything left in you at that point. The running surface is almost entirely asphalt and there are some spots that make you watch your footing as roots have pushed their way through the pavement and cracked/elevated the surface slightly. Organization: The 5k started at 7:50 so the half/full start is not crowded. The 'circus tent' is large enough for virtually all participants to warm up indoors and stretch. The expo was open on race day for anyone that may have forgotten or needed shoes, watches or other gear. Thankfully I didn't forget anything, but it was there if I had. I'm not sure where the medical tent was and didn't notice anyone medical support riding around on bikes. There were numerous cars stationed on the course by the water stops so some of these people may have been part of the medical staff, but I don't know. If I had any changes I'd like to see in the future, it would be 1. to keep some food & drinks stored separately for marathon finishers as it appeared the 5k and half finishers depleted what was available. I was able to get water, bananas and cookies at the finish since I was in the top 10, but I'm not sure the other finishers were going to be so lucky. 2. have some way of knowing which cups had Gatorade and which had water at the water stops since some stations were unmanned or lightly manned. 3. alter the water stop at 6/19 to lessen the congestion. 4. create a website which shows a map and elevation chart of the course. Simply mapping it on the USA Track & Field site would suffice. Crowd: If you need fan support, this is definitely not the race for you. I really enjoyed not having people along the course, but others may not. Overall, I liked the course and event.
P. M. from Birmingham, AL (2/6/2011) "A great January run!" (about: 2011) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Callaway Gardens Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I did not expect the course to be as beautiful as it was in the winter. The facilities were nice, and you passed outbuildings with restrooms on a regular basis. It is a challenging course, but not overly hilly. After some of the other comments, I was not expecting it to be well organized, but found the logistics to be much more than adequate. They seem to have a lot of repeat customers, if that tells you anything. I enjoyed it and will return.

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