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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 51 to 61]

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

J. B. from San Francisco, CA (1/29/2007) "Scenic, low-key race with decent organization" (about: 2007) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Callaway Gardens Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 The only thing keeping this race from receiving four stars on the course is the double loop. The course is beautiful as it winds through Callaway Gardens. There is always something to look at or distract you when needed; however, traveling in your same footsteps can be a bit of a downer, especially when you want an element of surprise. Overall, I think this is a great low-key race. Organization was great and volunteers excellent. No spectators on the course, but who needs them when the scenery is so beautiful. The weather and organizational problems from 2005 appear to be a distant memory. I think I would label this race a hidden gem.
Gg Goodson from Atlanta, GA (1/29/2007) "Nice" (about: 2007) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Callaway Gardens Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 A nice course through Callaway Gardens - there were very very few spectators on the course, but that doesn't bother me. The course was rolling in some parts, but where you go up, you gotta go back down, so it wasn't difficult. Nice weather, friendly volunteers, well organized... I can't think of anything bad about the race. A definite small-town race.
K. M. from Atlanta, GA (2/3/2006) "The 2006 race was problem-free!" (about: 2006) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Callaway Gardens Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 I was also very reluctant to run this race after reading about last year's debacle. Despite the cold steady rain, the race experience was fine. The number of participants is quite small and the vast majority seem to run the half marathon. The course is definitely challenging, but quite scenic. At times, I just tried to focus on the scenery when climbing yet another hill. If you are looking for the "big time" marathon experience, this is not the race for you. However, if you are looking for marathon without all the hoopla, bells and whistles, this is certainly the race for you.
S. R. from Warner Robins, Georgia (1/30/2006) "What a beautiful course!" (about: 2006) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Callaway Gardens Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 I am so glad I ran this race. I was a little nervous going into this marathon after reading all the comments from last year. It was an amazing run. The water stops were great, the volunteers at the stops were so nice, and the course was gorgeous. Yes, there are hills, but they are the nice rolling type. Just enough so you don't get bored. It's a smaller race, so you don't have all the spectators out there on the course. It didn't matter. Just take in the beauty of the course and it goes by so much faster. I was a little worried about a loop course, thinking I would get bored the second time around, but I saw stuff on the second loop that I didn't see the first time and the second loop went by so fast. I would recommend this to anyone. Just don't go into it comparing it to the big races. This is a small, sweet race with the potential of becoming a big race. Thank you for a great run!
S. C. from Marietta, Ga (2/20/2005) "Horrible organization" (about: 2005) First Marathon COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 2 I did not actually run this race but I did observe it from a qualified runners view. I was there to support my wife who was running her 1st marathon. To start off there was an ice storm the day before the event. Ice is NOT snow!! It is 100 times more dangerous than snow. My wife and I live on the north side of Atlanta where the storm hit pretty bad. Called the race director's number several times the day before the race to see if there was any news as to cancellation. Only got a message telling us they had left for Callaway. No way to get ahold of anyone who should have had info. Called Callaway Garden, no info from them either. Wife and I decided to chance it and drove 3 hours (normally a 1.5-hour drive). Got to Callaway and the expo was no expo at all!! Got up the next morning only to find out the race was postponed and maybe to be cancelled. Race was started 2 hours late and the course was changed at the last minute because of trees down on the course. Whoever measured the new course did a lousy job because they added almost 2.5 miles to it. The mileage was not marked and many of the turns not clearly marked either. My wife actually ended up making a wrong turn and running 10 minutes in the wrong direction (see post from K.C.)! The race clock malfunctioned sometime after the start and the director ended up using his wristwatch/stopwatch. His timekeeper kept coming up and asking what peoples' times were because she wasn't paying attention when racers crossed the finish line. The post-race food and drink was lousy!! By the time my wife finished all they had was warm water and green bananas. The post-race massage staff packed up and left about an hour before the majority of runners finished. I never once saw any type of medical support staff anywhere around in case of emergencies, which was a big possibilty given the weather and course conditions! Yes, the weather was bad and it did screw a lot of things up. Regardless, it should be expected and planned for when a race is scheduled in the dead of winter. The race director needed a better way of getting in touch with him. This race is touted as a Boston Marathon qualifier. How one could claim that I don't know, given the poor organization of this event.
W. H. from Columbus, Georgia (2/10/2005) "Terrible experience - Will not go back!" (about: 2005) 11-50 previous marathons COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 The Hughston Clinic/Callaway Gardens Half Marathon/Marathon was a terrible experience for me. I say this as a very experienced distance runner with 31 years experience and over 250 completed distance races. I am most concerned about the very poor organization; and it had nothing to do with the weather!. There was a two-plus hour delay to clear off limbs from the course; yet the limbs had been on the ground for 24 hours when the clean-up began. I drove a considerable distance to participate in the race, yet no one with the Callaway Resort could give me any information by phone about potential delays, problems, etc. I called well in advance. Because I had another commitment later in the day, I could not stay through the delay to compete. I requested a refund which was flatly denied by the race official. This is a terrible event! It is badly run, poorly organized and is not runner friendly. Their mistakes are too numerous to count. They were quick to take my money but gave me nothing in return but a committed desire to never waste my time there again. Stay away runners! There are plenty of quality events in the State of Georgia. If enough serious runners will hold the line on poor races such as this, maybe a quality event will take its place. I sure hope so.
Rob Simmons from Jackson, MS (2/6/2005) "Beautiful course, though lots of hills" (about: 2005) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Callaway Gardens Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 Ice in GA. Race course had to be changed and start delayed. Distance accidently extended with the change. I was actually the LAST FINISHER. Found there to be plenty of water on the course. Most water stops were still manned even thought the volunteers had been there for 9 hours or so since the race was supposed to begin. The race director and staff were kind to allow me plenty of time to finish. This hills were tougher than I anticipated. I should have trained more for them. Don't hold the race director responsible for the bad weather.
M. C. from MIdland, GA (2/5/2005) "organization was a disaster" (about: 2005) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Callaway Gardens Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 OK, so there was an ice storm. The day before the race was supposed to offer early packet pick-up registration, an expo, and running injury clinic. Because of storm, I called to make sure this was still happening. I was told it was. My son & I drove 45 minutes to Callaway, and were able to pick up our packet but discovered that the 'expo' was not happening, and neither was the clinic. Apparently the 'guys from Macon' weren't sure they could make it over because of the storm. Was the 'expo' REALLY a couple of guys from Macon??? Morning of the race, arrived to find out it had been postponed 2 hours. OK, they had debris, I can understand that. Immediately before the race we were told that the course had been re-routed to avoid the bike trails, but this was OK because it meant the hills wouldn't be so bad. (If they had steeper hills on the bike trail, I'd have needed repelling gear.) Things got a bit suspicious when the last mile marker observed was for mile 4. I have a watch that tracks my mileage, but I don't see how anyone without such help gauged pace without mile markers. Then as we neared the 'end,' the course just kept going, and going, and going... turns out when the course was re-routed, no attention was given to the distance. How do you reroute a marathon without concerning yourself with the DISTANCE?!?!?! To this day I still don't know how far I ran on my first 1/2 marathon, and have no idea if I met my goal time.
K. C. from Georgia (2/1/2005) "Beautiful course but poor organization." (about: 2005) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Callaway Gardens Marathon COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 This is a beautiful course. So much better than running through dirty city streets somewhere. However, I was terribly disappointed with the organization. I was told before the race that all the turns would have a monitor. NOT SO!! I came to a spot where there was a fork in the road with a cone right smack in the middle of the road. Not to one side or the other at all. No arrows, nothing. I had to guess which way to go. I guessed wrong and ended up running about 5 or more minutes out of the way. I ended up in a parking lot somewhere. A lady who had run the half-marathon earlier saw me and took me back to the fork and pointed the way to go. This happened at about mile 25 or so. Don't expect an exhausted runner to make the correct guess at mile 25!!! MAN THOSE TURNS PLEASE!! Also, I came to a spot where there were 2 signs: one about 2 feet behind the other pointing down 2 different roads. I was lucky that I did guess right that time. No medical support staff. Post-race food was all gone except for a few green bananas. Mainly upset about the unmanned turns. Maybe the volunteers got tired and left but all marathoners deserve direction throughout their race. Previous years comments point out that the direction issue is an ongoing problem that has yet to be corrected. As beautiful as this course is, I would not run it again for fear of getting lost on the course.
S. W. from Atlanta (1/31/2005) "Organizers should invest in a GPS" (about: 2005) 6-10 previous marathons \| 3 Callaway Gardens Marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 1 After an awful drive to get to this through the snow and ice to arrive the day before (because of the 8.00am start), we found out 30 minutes prior to the start that it had been postponed for 2 hours. And that was just the tip of the iceberg. The delay was for clearing of trees from the course which were plainly obvious from the previous day's weather (also due to this the course was altered 'SLIGHTLY' to avoid the carnage). What the organizers did not know is that 2.5 miles was added to the distance!!! I found out because of my GPS around the first loop showed 14.2. I felt for the people doing the half who found their times had +8:00 minutes! If the organizers delayed the start, they had time to re-check the distance. All that was needed was to move the turn-around point in about 3/4 mile; easy, this was a closed course! This was my friend's first marathon... to do all that training and to feel 'cheated' at the end. What a waste. As for me, I found out I could sustain my pace for a longer distance! A bit of thought the day before could have avoided all the bitterness.

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