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Whidbey Island Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Whidbey Island Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.1 
Organization 4.1 
Spectators 3.5
Number of comments: 90 [displaying comments 21 to 31]
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R. F. from Vancouver, BC
(3/30/2009)
 "Tough course!" (about: 2009)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Whidbey Island Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 My first Whidbey. Pretty course. The run over Deception Pass was incredible, and early enough in the race to actually enjoy it. Although it was an "open" course, there was really very little traffic to contend with. I understand that the course changes from year to year, and this year's course was far away from the I-20. However, there were a number of negatives that race organizers should consider. The number of registrants in the marathon was 300, whereas there were over 1500 in the half. The marathon seems like a bit of an afterthought. The course is extremely hilly - if you are running it, be prepared. My GPS logged over 1,000 meters of elevation gain. The water stations were weak - many did not have Gatorade and, particularly at the end, the volunteers did not seem ready for the racers. At the convergence of the half-marathon and marathon (meaning we were running up behind the walkers), it was a disaster. The runners do not want to stop for water - it should be handed out. At two aid stations, I had to stop and pick up water at the station for myself. Bring your own GU as well - there was none left on the back half (and I finished 3:30... well towards the beginning of the pack). Be ready to dodge the walkers during the final miles. Most were walking side by side, and at 20 miles plus you don't feel like dealing with this. Some were incredibly unsupportive and refused to move, even if you said, "Runner up" while approaching. Limited food at the finish - bananas, dry bagels and some kind of Vitamin Water. There were no thermal blankets. Nature's Path did not sponsor this year (for reasons unknown). | |
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N. S. from Hopkins, Minnesota
(3/30/2009)
"Could use a little tweaking" (about: 2009)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Whidbey Island Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 For a fairly well advertised, well regarded marathon, I was suprised at some organizational issues. First of all, this is not the kind of marathon with tons of screaming fans and thousands of participants, which I like. The course is hilly and difficult, but the area and some of the views are gorgeous. Although traffic is still going on most of the course, it is well controlled by volunteers and law enforcement. The volunteers are plentiful and tried to be helpful, but at times I just felt like they had not been trained at all. The biggest issue was that for a course that turned and twisted, often joining and leaving the half marathon group a couple of times, there was an uneasy feeling that you would get off course in a heartbeat. The volunteers at the turns and intersections often stood there and had to be yelled at to point the correct way. There was no clock anywhere on the course and having a chip timer without a starting mat never makes any sense to me. Also my finishing time posted was nearly a minute more than what was on the clock at the finish line and it did not take me a minute to cross the start line (was the finishing clock wrong?). Since it is a one-way marathon, they bus you out and you run back to the start area; but on the way back you still have to take a bus to the area where you are parked and had to wait for a bus. Annoying.... | |
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Megan Lienau from Columbus, Ohio
(12/12/2008)
 "Hilly, but spectacular!! Best marathon memories!" (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Whidbey Island Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I ran this race in 2006, and was unprepared for how beautiful it was. Unfortunately, I was also not very prepared for how hilly it was either!! I still tell people about this race today! | |
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S. D. from Mount Vernon, WA
(6/22/2008)
 "Second toughest road marathon I've run" (about: 2008)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 Whidbey Island Marathons
COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Two long hills on this course: one in the first half and one just before 20 miles. Compared to last year's course, it was much more difficult. The finish line at the stadium was more convenient as far as parking, but the finish line in Coupeville was superior. The old course also seemed safer with few conflicts with cars and walkers. The last 6 miles running in traffic to get by the walkers was nerve-wracking. Rumor has it that this new course was the best that the race organizers could do based on restrictions from local government agencies, so it is hard to blame the race organizers for things out of their control. Sending the half marathoners the wrong direction however... | |
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R. C. from Redmond, WA
(5/25/2008)
 "Hilly... hillly... hilly" (about: 2008)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Whidbey Island Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This was an interesting run for me for personal reasons. I lived in Whidbey Island for a year in 1965, which is typical for a Navy family. My brother and I fondly remember the time as perhaps the best summer of our childhood. As a result, for awhile the race became a slide-show of memories. We passed by the hill where my brother and I had a bad bicycle accident. There's the elementary school where I attended in 4th grade. Oh, here's the CPO Club, where my mom worked as a waitress. Many memories. The course? What can I say? It's perhaps the hilliest marathon I've ever run. Although I came in first in my age group, my time (3:30) was well off my best. Still, I will repeat next year, if only for the memories. By the way, we also passed by the house we lived in, or what was left of it. They were tearing it down.... | |
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S. L. from Seattle, WA
(4/18/2008)
"Crazy Hilly" (about: 2008)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Whidbey Island Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 About the hilliest running experience I have ever had. | |
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D. K. from United States
(4/18/2008)
 "Should not have been Runner's World Top Race" (about: 2008)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Whidbey Island Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 My decision to run this marathon was based largely on a recent Runner's World article recommending this race. In all fairness, inclusion of Whidbey in RW list of top marathons probably heightened my expectations. For me, expectations fell short of my actual race experience. The marathon was touted as being scenic, and for the most part it was, but there was no running over Deception Pass, and fairly limited running by the water. I'd summarize the majority of the course as rural in nature, not necessarily a run in the woods, but open fields with sections with of trees. The course was challenging - lots of hills (emphasis on "lots" here - no real flat sections, for you were either going up or down the entire course). Some of the grades were fairly severe. The course was open to traffic (mainly 2 -lane blacktops and there was a fair amount of vehicular traffic) and you were asked to run on the shoulder of the road for most of the course. Volunteers were not particularly aggressive when it came to traffic control at major intersections. While it was hard to go off-course because there were cones marking the majority of the course, there were a couple of spots where a volunteer could have provided some oral direction, and they didn't (apparently there was some confusion in the 1/2 marathon and some runners got off course). Overall the volunteers were great and there were plenty of them. A first for me at this race was the limited availability of sport drink. The race website indicated that there would be at least 2 water stations in each 1/2 of the marathon offering sport drink - and that's pretty much what you got: 4 or 5 chances to grab Gatorade over the 26.2 mile course. This wasn't a problem because it was a cooler day and I was loaded for bear with PowerGel (and they offered a lot of GU on the course) so I had ample calories and electrolytes, but had it been a warmer day, the lack of sport drink on the course would have presented a problem for me. This race was really a 1/2 marathon with a marathon tacked on (there were more than 2X as many 1/2 participants as marathon participants). All that was left for me food-wise, at the finish, was water and bananas, which was disappointing. There was a cool finisher's medal made out of glass with a lanyard made out of shoelaces, but by the time I got to packet pickup (7 p.m. - I know, you snooze you lose) there were only size-large shirts available (which are at least a true XL in size, if not XXL), which I won't be able to wear. (The shirt design was pretty lacking anyway.) Race schwag consisted mainly of food products provided by Nature's Path, which was great, but what are you supposed to do with that full size box of cereal when you flew in from Illinois? This area of the country is beautiful - a great destination for a race, although Whidbey Island is not as conveniently located to Seattle as the RW article would have you believe. You can access the island by ferry (after a decent drive up from Seattle), but our attempt to do so resulted in failure, as the wait for the ferry the afternoon before the race was going to be 90 minutes, after which we would have a pretty good drive up the island to the race site. We ended up driving up an inland route to the northern part of the island in order to make it there in time for packet pickup. Allow plenty of time to get to the island for packet pickup - I can't imagine the logistics involved in getting to the island from the Seattle area on race morning, and actually making the start. I suggest staying on the island the night before the race. Whidbey bills itself as "A great place to do nothing" - something to consider when you're planning your trip. With the exception of visiting Deception Pass and actually running the race, I didn't do anything on the island. It's a "green" race, which is to be commended. Not a bad race experience, but not a great race experience either - just kind of disappointing. | |
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C. O. from Greenbank, WA
(4/17/2008)
"Had a great time in my 1st marathon" (about: 2008)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Whidbey Island Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I have nothing to compare to, but I have concerns about the course and the fact that 2-way traffic on a narrow road was hazardous for runners and walkers. Didn't seem safe to me. | |
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K. B. from Orlando, Florida
(4/17/2008)
"Room for improvement!" (about: 2008)
2 previous marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 This is the first time I have run Whidbey. Like others who have commented, I selected Whidbey for the (advertised) natural beauty of the course. Had I not come a day early and explored on my own, I fear that I'd be left with no appreciation of this aspect of the island. Aside from a nice view of the water during the last part of the marathon, it was a run through pretty mundane (and sometimes downright ugly) areas. The official reason for the course change was reportedly for the safety of the runners, but I spent a large chunk of time running with traffic that was whizzing by at 40 mph+, all while darting out and around the half-marathon walkers grouped side by side. If you decide to run this: 1. Bring your own water to the start. The only thing in liquid form that was available this year was Starbucks. I know it's Seattle, but coffee shots don't do it for everyone. 2. Be prepared to dodge the walkers during the final miles. Many were very supportive, but walking side-by-side and probably largely unaware that the marathoners were coming up from behind. This all happens in high traffic areas, so if you're like me and require an iPod for a marathon, turn the volume down/off as you're making your passes. 3. Bring something warm to wear at the end of the race! The weather at the end of the race was cold and windy. I finished in just over four hours, and they were already out of thermal blankets. I stood shivering for almost an hour, waiting for a finisher. When he crossed he asked why my lips had turned blue. (No kidding!) 4. Be your own timekeeper. There are mile markers on the course, but nothing/nobody calling time. 5. Hill train. I did not. Oops. On the positive side, the volunteers were amazing. GREAT water stations, gels/bars at just about every one. I never had to reach very far for water, and they made it clear which cups were Gatorade. The crowd support was sparse, but enthusiastic. Nice long-sleeved cotton/bamboo T. If they restore the course to something with a bit more to look at, I'll be back. | |
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Mary Cole from Chicago
(4/17/2008)
"Tough, Hilly, Beautiful and Well-Organized" (about: 2008)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Whidbey Island Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I ran Big Sur last year and chose this race based on MarathonGuide comments, thinking it would be a similar course, albeit much smaller. It was pretty much as I thought it would be, but I too was disappointed that we didn't get to run over Deception Pass. I thought I'd trained on hills, but I must not have trained enough. I thought it was harder than Big Sur, but not as pretty. I'm a slow runner, and the only people to cheer me at the finish line were my friends who had already finished the race. Kind of lonely out there after 5 hours. Eight of us rented a house on Mutiny Bay that had incomparable views of Puget Sound and the mountains. Breathtaking! We found it through a link on the web site. It was the best part of the trip. Shirts were ok, kind of disappointing; medals made of recycled glass are gorgeous. I've run 15 marathons, and this is my favorite medal. Lots of food, Gu, Gatorade on the course and no waiting at the port-a-potties. Great volunteers, few spectators. The weather was perfect, cloudy, 52 degrees, no wind, just a few sprinkles. I probably wouldn't do the race again, just because I've done it already. And if I have to travel 2,000 miles to do a race, I'd probably do a different one. That said, I would do Big Sur again. |
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