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May 15, 2024

Cherry Blossom Festival Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Cherry Blossom Festival Marathon Information & Reviews

Course 3.6

Organization 3.5

Spectators 2.4

Number of comments: 50 [displaying comments 1 to 11]

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

Rick Kimball from Atlanta, GA (12/7/2006) "Went from top ten to middle of the pack with foul " (about: 2006) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Cherry Blossom Festival Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 2 Beautiful course with the cherry blossoms in bloom. But, it was a mental challenge after being told by a police officer to go down the road until it dead-ends, then turn around. Sounds easy enough, so as I ran past an aid station (unattended) I just kept on going like everyone else. By the time I turned around and saw the aid station again, everyone else that was behind me was now in front, turning around at that point. And, to add insult to injury, there was now a sign flipped up that read "Turn Around." Ha! Well, no personal best, but it was a great mental workout.
D. S. from Atlanta, GA (3/24/2006) "Terrible" (about: 2006) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Cherry Blossom Festival Marathon COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 Not well organized, and the pace car did not know where to go, so we ran about 2 miles farther than we were supposed to. The course was very hilly and sometimes you had to get your own water. There were no porta-potties along the course and it was easy to get lost on the course because it was not well marked.
B. C. from Tuscaloosa, AL (3/23/2006) "I enjoyed it (my other comment hasn't showed&#" (about: 2006) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Cherry Blossom Festival Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Well marked, more than enough police presence, and plenty of aid stations manned by friendly volunteers. Sure, it had hills, but that can't be avoided. I didn't have any problems with course direction, and I was by myself a lot. There was no "crowd support," but I don't run marathons for the crowds, I run them for me. This was one of the best supported marathons I've attended.
B. C. from Tuscaloosa, AL (3/20/2006) "This is a gem among Southern marathons." (about: 2006) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Cherry Blossom Festival Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I was totally impressed with the start-line volunteers, how smoothly everything ran, the hospitality of the crew. Very nice. After the start (a few minutes late) I couldn't believe the police presence; there must have been more cops on the course than marathoners! I followed the signs for a well-marked course - no problems there. The aid station workers were no less than perfect, even for us back-of-the-packers. As I continued through the miles and aid stations (they did a wonderful job), I was impressed with the traffic control, even on the side roads with little vehicular traffic - truly the runners had right-of-way. Coming back into town, it was nothing less than even better traffic control - every intersection had authorities to manage cars, and, once again, the runners were first priority. Safety for the runners was obviously the number one concern. Available at the finish: Showers, food, the locker you used at the start, very helpful crew members. Parking was no problem. I thoroughly enjoyed the race. A first-class event. I'll run it again.
B. M. from Dacula, Georgia (3/20/2006) "Wonderful Small Marathon" (about: 2006) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Cherry Blossom Festival Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I decided to run the Cherry Blossom Marathon as a part of Boston training. I was aware of the challenging course and lack of spectators so that never bothered me. The course was actually perfect in my opinion. The hills were rolling and challenging at times but the last six miles were either flat or downhill. I was able to run a negative split, in fact. The course was absolutely beautiful. I enjoyed the winding country roads, woods, pretty houses, both large and small, and donkeys staring at us! The volunteers were wonderful and provided everything that we needed including GU, which came in handy when I was too tired to unzip my back pocket to pull one out. I hope that more and more people find out about this marathon. It really was very pleasant and I would definitely recommend it to anyone.
S. B. from Macon, GA (3/20/2006) "Huge error" (about: 2006) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Cherry Blossom Festival Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 The course is beautiful, but quite hilly. Fan support was pretty light and scattered. As others have mentioned, cars were not well contained and they drove past runners too fast and impatiently. Overall number of marathon runners was probably around 100. The biggest problem, though, was poor organization on the course between miles 6 & 7. We were all supposed to turn down a side road and quickly turn around at an aid station. But, there were no signs and no officials at the aid station to tell us where to turn. So, 15-20 of the fastest runners all ran to the end of the road. When we got back to see mile marker 7, we had added 10 extra minutes onto our times. What an awful feeling to deal with on the course, and what a HUGE screw-up by the organizers. No doubt this took medals away from a number of runners. Very disappointing to have 1.5 miles added on to my first marathon.
A. B. from Arlington, VA (3/19/2006) "Pretty, hilly, lonely course; needs better signage" (about: 2006) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Cherry Blossom Festival Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 This was my sixth marathon. It was by far the most mentally and physically challenging one. Good news: I achieved a personal best time, despite the rolling hills, which probably added up to a total of about 3-4 miles. I came in first in my age group. Also, the course is very scenic, especially towards the beginning. Most of the course is on wide country roads, so there's lots of space to move. BAD NEWS: At least 10 people I know (including me) missed the turn around near miles 8-9, which meant we ran roughly an extra 1.5-2 miles. NO ONE WAS MANNING THE TABLE AT THE TURN-AROUND. THERE WAS NO VISIBLE SIGN. You can imagine how frustrating this was for all of us, but we all hustled until the end and made the best of it. Also, I was disappointed that the Macon Telegraph did not run any story in today's paper about the event. This was an amazing accomplishment for all entrants and it would have been great to get some coverage/recognition.
H. C. from Macon, GA (3/19/2006) "Disappointing" (about: 2006) 4-5 previous marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 1 The start times were in question as the print and internet materials did not match. The staggered start for the full and half marathons were confusing and led to the race being less of a "social" event - i.e., you wound up running by yourself much of the time. Parking at the event was not well marked. The worst offense was that long stretches of the course were on public roads without cones set to create a lane for the runners - cars often just whizzed right by runners, mirrors just inches away!
M. N. from Loganville, Georgia (2/5/2006) "Pretty course w/ potential; improvement needed" (about: 2005) 11-50 previous marathons \| 2 Cherry Blossom Festival Marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 There are few marathons in Georgia, so it's nice not to have the expense of travel. Cherry Blossom is a beautiful but challenging course with lots of potential. It becomes quite obvious how important and needed the volunteers are in a race; especially in a marathon. I was competing in the top positions in the race and my first concern was to keep the police escort vehicle in sight, to keep from getting lost, since there were no volunteers at the many turns throughout the subdivisions - only small white signs in people's yards with arrows pointing which way to turn. This is really insufficient for those of us who become "directionally challenged" while running, especially a marathon. I was also really disappointed not to have any fluids for the first 8-10 miles, when early hydration is really important. Larger crowd support was missed, but the small, enthusiastic crowds were appreciated! It was great to take a shower afterwards, awards were fantastic, healthy snacks were nice, and it was a nice place to bring my family while they waited patiently for the finishers. Again, this is a beautiful marathon with lots of potential, and I will always appreciate volunteers - more now than ever before.
S. G. from St. Cloud, MN (3/26/2005) "Very pretty course. Organization could improve." (about: 2005) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Cherry Blossom Festival Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 First of all,the event is worth it, and I will run it again. The course is very pretty. The hills are challenging, but not impossible, and the organizers did their best, but it is obvious some volunteers let them down. Case in point, up to mile 10, only one water stop was manned. The other two were staged, but no one was there! On the flip side, traffic control was excellent. Law enforcement folks were all over the course, and ensured everyone was safe. Good job! A suggestion, maybe organizations such as 4H, Boy/Girl Scouts can volunteer. That way there is some reasonable assurance they will show up. Again, many more pluses than negatives, but the comments are meant to promote improvement, not to put the organizers down. I'm sure next year will be better.

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