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Colorado Marathon (prev. Fort Collins Old Town Marathon) Runner Comments
Back to Colorado Marathon (prev. Fort Collins Old Town Marathon) Information & Reviews
Course 4.4 
Organization 4.4 
Spectators 3.1
Number of comments: 118 [displaying comments 111 to 116]
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G. H. from Lakewood, CO
(5/12/2003)
 "Not Your Typical Colorado Race" (about: 2003)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Fantastic organization and volunteers. Sporadic, small pockets of fans along the course (great at the end). I'd give the course 5 stars, except for the stretch along the highway. After-race party was lots of fun. Race T-shirts, for once, were more than a race logo silk screened onto a lightweight Fruit-of-the-Loom undershirt. I've never felt a finer material for a race shirt. Now for the highest of the highs and the lowest of the lows: Low: Printed race information seemed to assume all participants were local to the area. The offical course map was not a map, per se, but a not-to-scale generalization of where the race started and finished. Because of this, we were unable to scout out the course the day before, and my wife was not able to venture out onto the course to watch on race day since the map left her with no sense of how she would get from here to there, or back again. It took her almost an hour to find the finish, which was within a half mile of the bus pickup. The race brochure only stated on which side of Old Downtown the finish would be. And speaking of buses to the start: Instructions as to where to meet the buses for the ride to the start had the same vague local flavor, omitting an address or cross street, referring to the pickup point by a name not found in any phone book or map. High side: It's about time a race in Colorado shed the notion that awards are limited by some law of nature to only go three deep. It's about time a race in Colorado realized that 10-year age brackets are both unfair and irrational. This race is not greedy with is appreciation of its participants. 1) Great looking awards (especially for overall winners)! 2) Five year age brackets. 3) In most cases, awards went four deep, and as many as seven or more deep (depending on the number of entrants per bracket). 4) Top ten overall category (men and women). 5) Top three - four overall for Masters and Senior Masters (men and women). The course was a gradual downhill. The weather showed no sign of the heavy, unexpected snowfall the day before. Race organizers really gave the impression that they were glad you were there to run their race (even us out-of-towners who didn't know the local landmarks). Like two or three other new (above 10 K) races that have hit the the front range in recent years, race directors of other, shorter-distance, longer-standing races could learn a lot from how races are being run in Fort Collins and Loveland/Georgetown. | |
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Scott N from Co. Springs, CO
(9/22/2002)
 "Pretty, Fast Course!" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 A very scenic course with a subtle downhill grade that won't beat you up too bad. Ran a PR by 11 minutes. One recommendation would be more frequent aid stations. | |
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Steve Cathcart Race Director from Ft. Collins, CO
(7/29/2002)
 "Comments from Race Director" (General Comments)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 Information for those out there: -Fastest/easiest course in Colorado, few turns, subtle net downhill, 26% of finishers qualified for Boston -Course will lack spectators always, small town-travel restricted 1st 17 Miles -Course and events done by experienced runners and Marathoners (Co-Founders Jon Sinclair and Steve Cathcart) -Poudre River is only undammed River in Colorado. -Coolmax Shirts for entrants, over 350 awards given. -Luxury bus ride to starts. -Race benefits non-profit running organization in Northern Colorado. -Race has a cap expected to be full by March 1st, 2003 | |
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A Runner from Fort Collins, CO
(6/11/2002)
"Special - one of a kind" (General Comments)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 Course: Wonderful run down the deep canyon with the sights and sounds of the Poudre river to lead the way. Last part on bike trails was nice too. Not running on streets was a plus to me. A big unexpected advantage of running the canyon was cool shade for much of the race. Organization: Outstanding for the first-time. Only downside was having to wait at the start for an hour . . . seemed a bit long to wait around given the early start (6:00 a. m.). Spectators: Slim due to first time and the limitations of no access to the 16 mile canyon portion. This was mostly a 'locals' race this first year. I hope it can be expanded and promoted to bring in more out-of-town/state participants. ANY sort of medal would be nice to add to personal collections. Though the low race cost + free pasta dinner this year for marathon participants must have made this race a major budget-challenge for organizers. This race probably rates as the 'Best Buy' of 2002 U. S. marathons! | |
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A Runner from Albuquerque, NM
(6/5/2002)
"Beautiful city, excellent race, good post-race" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 For some unknown reason, I chose to begin my marathon career at 6000+ feet, but it ended up being an outstanding experience. There were not a lot of fans until the last few miles, because the first half was limited access. But the scenic beauty made up for it. While the entire race was on the street or a paved bike path, it still had the feel of trail running while in the canyon. The finish in Old Town was great! There was plenty of food and drink, and all the warmup clothing made it to the finish and was sorted by bib number. This is a small race - about 250 Marathon finishers (400 1/2M finishers), but it had the professional, organized features of a major event. I will surely enter it again someday | |
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A Runner from Colorado Springs
(5/20/2002)
"Pleasant, scenic course" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Course: Starting 16 miles up the Cache la Poudre Canyon, the venue couldn't be more scenic. However, the tight canyon turns results in banked roads and the runners stayed in a 4-6 foot wide ad hoc bike lane that took the brunt of the embankment. For me this translated to shin splints throught the first 6 miles. Also, in lieu of the 1/2 mile detour on CR54 I would have loved to have seen a little more of Ft. Collins and picked up some additional spectator support. Organization: At least 2 more aid stations next year please! Spectators: For a middle-of-the pack person, the spectators were thin but enthusiastic. There may have been more for the leaders. Overall: I'll be back next year with a better plan. Everyone that I spoke with said that it was a deceptively challenging course, and I agree. |
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