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May 9, 2024

City of Trees Marathon Runner Comments

Back to City of Trees Marathon Information & Reviews

Course 4.1

Organization 4.1

Spectators 3.2

Number of comments: 112 [displaying comments 21 to 31]

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 .. 12 > ]

K. P. from Colorado (10/18/2010) "Awful course marking/monitoring" (about: 2010) 50+ previous marathons \| 2 City of Trees Marathons COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 This has to be one of the worst marked/monitored road courses I have ever run. Because of the limited number of marathon runners, you had to concentrate on looking for course markings to guide you through parking lots, paved trails, etc. Unfortunately I veered off-course, costing me about two minutes. this could have easily been avoided with a 50-cent orange cone or a volunteer. Upon finishing the race, I spoke with at least 6 other runners who had gone off-course at different points between miles 18 - 24. There were also a number of places on the course that could have easily been "shortcut" by runners and more timing checkpoints/mats should have been strategically placed (or there should've been better monitoring). I had run this race previously in 2005, which was a much better/different course. Boise is a great small town and deserves a marathon to match!
Wijnand Rijkenberg from Krommenie, the Netherlands (10/12/2010) "Beautiful marathon in friendly city" (about: 2010) 1 previous marathon \| 1 City of Trees Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 It's a small marathon, but I think it has lots of potential. The course is beautiful and the people and volunteers are very friendly. The weather helped this year as well. If this marathon wants to grow and improve, it will need to be a bit more professional overall. Canceling the bus course tour on Saturday was a big bummer! I feel like there should have been more aid stations with energy gels (there were only 2, right? At 6 and 20?). Some spots on the course needed more volunteers to point runners in the right direction. I had no issues because I know Boise, but I noticed runners getting confused here and there. For example, some full-marathonners were turning left towards Warm Springs on the greenbelt (onto Marden St.) with less than a mile to go!! There were no volunteers there. The post-race refreshments were just so-so. But like I said, great atmosphere. I'm glad I ran my first marathon in the City of Trees!
J. S. from Idaho (10/10/2010) "Half-marathon course disappointing until the end" (about: 2010) 2 previous marathons \| 1 City of Trees Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 Won't do this half again unless they change the course. Federal Way is just plain ugly. Preferred the old route through north end. First 3 miles we were running straight into the rising sun. Volunteers were nice.
S. W. from UAA (8/31/2010) "Good race" (about: 2009) 11-50 previous marathons \| 2 City of Trees Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 This is a small race, but a good course. Last year it rained hard the whole day... but that sure wasn't the organizers' fault. After mile 10 or so the half and full separate. Five mile are out and back for the full, but I enjoyed it. For a small race, it is fun.
J. S. from USA (7/31/2010) "Good Race - Better Next Year" (about: 2009) 11-50 previous marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 A great race! Hard to control Mother Nature. Good organization with attention to detail. Appreciate Jeff and the team. Like having this race on Sunday; they should continue that - it gives ample time to get family here to have some vacation time prior to the race.
P. M. from Oklahoma, USA (10/7/2009) "This city has so much more to offer!" (about: 2009) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 City of Trees Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 This was my first trip to Idaho. I have run six marathons and four half-marathons - and this was my fifth. This city is awesome, but the half-marathon course left SO much of it out: Historical neighborhoods, campus, downtown, etc. I can't speak for the full marathon course. Other than that, I thought it was a good race. It was nice to have some hot soup at the finish line. :) I can't find my name in the results, but I'm pretty sure I was there.
g. b. from clinton,il (10/6/2009) "The race director did a great job" (about: 2009) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 City of Trees Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 I had a good marathon, and the race director did a great job of planning for the marathon. I had a problem with the media coverage of the marathon. There was none. The town of Boise owes the race director and volunteers a big "thank you."
K. E. from Minneapolis, Minnesota (10/6/2009) "Bad Luck Weather" (about: 2009) 50+ previous marathons \| 3 City of Trees Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Boise usually doesn't get a lot of rain, but at the start of this race, it was around 37 degrees and raining steadily. Luckily, it changed to a race-long drizzle and continued all day. I think this is why the number of spectators was smaller than normal. Cold and rainy is not ideal for folks who only get to stand and watch. Jeff always organizes these races very well. I'm sure that the number of participants would double if this race were held on a Saturday morning, as many of the LDS runners in Boise won't run on Sunday. However, the number of runners was ideal. The race was neither small nor big. My only complaint on the course would be the downhill from Federal Way towards the green belt. It's downhill on concrete. There are some concrete stretches in other areas. It would be nice to find a way to eliminate these stretches. It's a little jarring on the joints. All in all, Boise is awesome, and very peaceful and nice on a Sunday morning. Thanks, Jeff and volunteers. Your team is better than what I've seen in most races. I'll fly in from Minneapolis every year to enjoy the City of Trees Marathon. - Kevin
Rebecka Thoms from Mountain Home, Idaho (10/6/2009) "Nice little race" (about: 2009) 1 previous marathon \| 1 City of Trees Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was only my second full marathon, and my previous marathon and halfs have been at some huge ones, so this was actually kind of a nice change. There were virtually no spectators along the course except for the few groups that were driving around to support their respective runners. My husband and kids were able to meet me at several points in the race, which was awesome! All of the volunteers were great! The course was also very nice, although the area somewhere in the late teens was a bit too scary with traffic; but again, the volunteers were amazing. There were plenty of water stations, but the sports drink was Heed and I have never used that so I wasn't going to try it out mid-marathon. I have to agree with the below post about the medal. It would be really nice to have a year at least on there. One thing I would recommend would be more upright signs. Again, in the late teens and early 20's it was mostly chalk arrows on the ground so you can't really see it until your on top of it, and the field was so sparse that there were times when I could barely see anyone in front of me to follow. Overall I thought it was a good race, and I'll do it again next year.
j. h. from Salt Lake City, UT (10/5/2009) "Feel of a small race needed more on-course support" (about: 2009) 11-50 previous marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 The course was not a bad course and was the best part of the race. It was not a closed course but there were volunteers to stop traffic at most intersections. I was impressed with the number of volunteers to help with directing runners. There were very few spots with spectators. There were aid stations spaced nicely, but half of them only offered water and the other half offered Heed. On the website they said that there would be sports drink, which I assumed to be PowerAde or Gatorade. This was not true. The only other thing offered was at mile 19; they had Hammer Gel, but other than that, there were no other options. The medal was alright; it was silver with no color, but the real issue I had with the medal is that it did not have a date or even a year on the medal or ribbon.

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 .. 12 > ]

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