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Marathon de Marrakech Runner Comments
Back to Marathon de Marrakech Information & Reviews
Course 3.9 
Organization 2.8 
Spectators 3.6
Number of comments: 45 [displaying comments 11 to 21]
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C. C. from Boston, MA
(1/29/2014)
 "Exotic location, great crowd support, disorganized" (about: 2014)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Marathon de Marrakech
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 5 PROS: Excellent crowd support - so sincere and enthusiastic. Hundreds of children lined up to give high-5s, dozens of women in Burkhas cheering. Great location, exotic. They had bottled water. Scenic - ran through date fields, in the shadow of the Atlas mountains CONS: Disorganized. Difficult to figure out locations, website wasn't very good. I ended up running 27.5 miles according to the GPS. No professional photos or results. Didn't get to see the King. Mainly European runners (French, Germany, Spain). | |
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m. C. from Albany, NY
(4/2/2013)
 "Wonderful experience, don't hesitate to run it!!!" (about: 2013)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Marathon de Marrakech
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I wanted a January marathon and wanted to visit Morocco. But having read the comments from previous years I really hesitated. I have run 15 US marathons but only one International one ( Reykjavik) and worried about course support etc. What a pleasant surprise! This is as flat as a pancake. The weather was perfect. Though there are no porta potties at the start or along the route, the race starts and finishes right at the cluster of hotels and there are bushes by the plenty for long stretches of the course. No Gatorade but plenty of well equipped water stops, sponges, tangerines, fruits. Sporadic but very enthusiastic crowds and I loved it as the women supporters seemed to cheer really loudly as women went by ( 98% of Moroccans are muslim). Lovely medal. Also, I was recovering from a back injury so was really slow yet the water stations' supply and traffic control were impeccable through the 4:45 mark, (contrary to reports by commentators from previous years). Marrakech is a beautiful city and I see no reason why this would not be a very easy BQ event. | |
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S. N. from Poland
(2/4/2012)
 "Go for it !!!" (about: 2012)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Marathon de Marrakech
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 Marrakech marathon is an exotic race. There are no bathrooms at the start or along the course. No place to leave your stuff at the start. No electrolyte drinks. But the course is great - flat and interesting around the city. It goes thru groves of olive trees, corner of the Medina, passing orange trees and camels at the roadside. For a few kilometers it has a nice, front view of snow-covered Atlas Mountains, one of the most memorable moments. Very convenient location of expo, start and finish. But expo is too much said it was more like bib picking location. Every 200 meters a police officer or someone from the army to watch the course. Crowds of kids on the course for high-five's. It was such an experience that I caught myself smiling after the 21st kilometer when we were running for about 2 kilometers in a regular street traffic not so far from Marrakech Square and I was racing with donkey-drawn carriage. I don't recommend it for slower, much over 4 hours runners. | |
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C. S. from Casablanca, Morocco
(1/30/2012)
 "No improvement with organization" (about: 2012)
11-50 previous marathons
| 4-5 Marathon de Marrakechs
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 I have run the marathon twice and the half marathon 3 times including yesterday. It is still poorly organized. Pathetic expo, if you're a slow runner they run out of water so bring your own and they still let the traffic cross at the intersections once the elite group have passed. Yes Marrakech is an exotic and interesting city but I will stop running races here and just visit. | |
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C. S. from Philadelphia, PA
(12/1/2011)
"Pretty good experience!" (about: 2011)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Marathon de Marrakech
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I agree with a lot of what others have said - not many 'frills' to this race, no port-a-johns, no Gatorade/electrolyte drinks, the shirt is mediocre and cut for men. However, as a destination race in a foreign country where we did not speak the language, I really have to commend them on the organization and general experience. Communications with organizers were helpful and timely. The expo was an easy walk from the many hotel options near the start and finish. The spectators were enthusiastic and most of the course is gorgeous! Also, Marrakech is a great base for day trips or starting point to travel through Morocco. My one complaint is the air pollution. Toward the end when you are already suffering, it was brutal. You run through a busy city area and have to dodge traffic. There are police to help, but drivers in Marrakech are CRAZY!!! Considering many of the African races are ultras, this is a great choice - shorter flight and you can even spend a few days in Spain if you're lucky! | |
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Mark Broos from Haarlem, Netherlands
(2/7/2011)
"Great experience" (about: 2011)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Marathon de Marrakech
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I found the organization not bad at all. Every 5K they had enough water in bottles and every 5K there were sponges for refreshment and oranges and dates. So every 2.5K there was something to look out for. I did a marathon in Holland with lot less. Every 200 meters a police officer or someone from the army was there to to watch the track. A lot of people were on the side of the road watching and giving applause to all runners. That did motivate me and I ran a PR by more than 30 minutes! I had problems with the air pollution. That was a bad thing about this marathon. Too many very old cars were on the road; air pollution stood still at every intersection with all of the motors running. | |
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J. w. from england
(2/3/2011)
"Amazing race with poor organization" (about: 2011)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Marathon de Marrakech
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 Marrakech is an amazing city and the race gives you so many sights and sounds of the city and the country. The race is entirely flat and most is outside and around the city. I ran past the walls of the old city, through orange groves and past camels. That's the good. The bad is that you shouldn't expect a whole lot else. The amenities you expect from a race - port-a-johns, race corrals, a decent number of water stations - were nonexistent. The race was a mass of people and runners, with a healthy dose of spectators mingled into the crowd. There were no corrals to correspond with times - just a jumbled gathering. There are no bathrooms at the start or along the course, so feel free to use nearby shrubbery and trees as I and many fellow racers did. The oranges, sugar cubes and dates being offered at stations were nice, except the stations were 4 miles apart. All in all, Marrakech and Morocco are amazing, and if you want to do a destination race for fun, i highly recommend this one. if you're trying for a PR, skip this one. | |
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M. P. from Windsor, England
(1/31/2011)
"Fantastic Experience!!!" (about: 2011)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Marathon de Marrakech
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I just loved every minute of this marathon... and it was such an experience that we caught ourselves smiling at each other far too much given the distance we were running. The course was great - flat and interesting around the outskirts of the city, through various little groups of houses and shops, past farmland, and past camels that always cheer you up. The spectators were brilliant. They had made a real effort to get school kids out on the course for high-five's aplenty, and there was plenty of encouragement all the way around. The kids really wanted our caps, but given it was getting sunnier, they had to do with our leftover water bottles! Reading the reviews, I got the impression that they had learned from previous years and organization was actually very good, given basic expectations. There was plenty of water all the way through - and we were running for fun, just inside 5 hours. So all in all, I would thoroughly recommend the experience!!! | |
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05 toes from Tokyo
(2/24/2010)
 "Better than expected" (about: 2010)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Marathon de Marrakech
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I fully agree with N.P.'s message. I run 4:00 and my wife runs in 4:32. Let me add some details. Yes, water was lacking at one station (at about 28K), but I was not affected at all because I have my own belt. But my wife was affected at more than three stations, though she told me that one restaurant provided her with a small bottle - excellent!!! Spectators were there more curious than interested in cheering, but they were there. Great! Organization should be better for 50 euros; and the t-shirt wasn't great. Do i recommend the race? YES ! As an exotic one!!! | |
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N. P. from London, England
(2/17/2010)
"Memorable race for my 50th marathon" (about: 2010)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Marathon de Marrakech
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I was really impressed by the organisation, particularly of the traffic during the race. Apart from a few inevitable near misses, it felt very safe. It's not the best value for money event - cotton t-shirt (with no ladies' sizes), no bag drop or loos at the start/finish, very little information on the website, and water stations had only water and unpeeled oranges. They looked really tasty but it's a bit tricky to peel an orange while running and clutching a bottle of water! There were a few bits of dried fruit and sugar cubes at the later ones too. The very positive points about the stations were that they were plentiful and the water came in bottles. I heard reports that they ran out later on, but most runners were replacing the caps, either for later runners or local kids to pick up. The route was great - very flat and fast and nicely spread out after the first few k. Nice temperature and very little pollution until the end too. Good for a PB if you wanted it. I wouldn't recommend this race if you're anticipating much over 4 hours, it all starts closing down very early. But it's a great event with wonderful support from the locals, and perfect for a warm weekend away in January. |
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