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May 10, 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 31 to 41]

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

A. M. from Salt Lake City, Utah (10/28/2008) "Improve Aid Stations" (about: 2008) 1 previous marathon \| 1 City of Trees Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This was my first marathon. The course provided a nice tour of Boise, and was mostly flat. The stretch along Americana is a bit rough, especially with the traffic. The volunteers and spectators were great! There were many stretches where I was completely alone - no fans, runners or volunteers in sight. My next marathon will definitely be a bigger one, with more than 160 runners. My biggest complaint was that there were not any sports drinks until mile 17 - that really threw me off and was a disappointment!
K. L. from St. Anthony, Idaho (10/26/2008) "A great PR course in Idaho" (about: 2008) 2 previous marathons \| 1 City of Trees Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 Since this was only my 2nd marathon, I can only compare it to Mesa Falls (my 1st). This course was virtually without hills. I ran it 28 minutes faster than Mesa Falls. While I have only run 2 marathons, I have, however, run 20+ 1/2-marathons and am always appreciative of all the volunteers and their parts they happily play to give us a great running experience. This was true of the volunteers at the City of Trees. I'm used to very few fans, so no surprises there. Those that were there along the course were needed and appreciated! I too went off course at mile "twenty-something" (it got a little mentally muddy) but not by much. I too won my division in spite of the flub. Beautiful trees! Beautiful homes! A little creepy running on the right side of the road... whose idea was that, I wonder, and why? We stayed downtown because of a free room opportunity and when talking with the locals, no one knew there even WAS a marathon that day. More PR would help. Bread and broth with a banana were not really enough, but we went to eat soon after anyway. I had a great time and will probably be back as Boise is close enough to home to be do-able and is on a weekend when I'm not running anywhere else.
Paul Timm from Utah (10/12/2008) "So-so experience" (about: 2008) 3 previous marathons \| 1 City of Trees Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 This was my third marathon and by far the smallest. I get that lower-budget races are different, but this, frankly, was less fun than the mid-size races (Salt Lake, Carlsbad, CA) I have run recently. I guess the bottom line is that the effort expended is the same, so I'll opt for a bigger race with more company/support in the future. That said, the limited number of Boise "fans" were really nice people. The aid stations were inadequate - mostly just water, only one with GU that I recall. (I did carry my own, fortunately.) There is no entertainment on the route, and with just 157 marathoners, we got spread out real thin. I missed one turn about 23 miles into it and added another 100 yards or so - not that big a deal, but frustrating. The painted arrow pointed straight where I should have turned. I missed the camaraderie of the larger races - I guess I'm a social animal. I was pleased with my result (cut 20 minutes off my last marathon and won my age), but again, I guess it just wasn't quite as much fun. Food at finish was pretty sparse. Awards ceremony took a long time, and seemed disorganized. Proximity to hotels was excellent! Course was pretty and varied, although sharing some narrow streets with traffic felt a little dicey at times. I won't run this one again, but did chalk off Idaho (now just 46 states to go!!). I love marathoning and hope to do more next year, especially since most of my 65+ age competition is dying off and I actually get to win! Thanks, MarathonGuide.com for all the good info. Next stop: Maui in January.
J. S. from Boise, Idaho (10/8/2008) "Good, but room for improvement" (about: 2008) 1 previous marathon \| 1 City of Trees Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 Let me start by saying that this was my first marathon, so take my comments with a grain of salt. The course for the marathon was great and showed the best of Boise. It could have been marked better, but given the race's low budget, I think the safety was adequate. Boise PD and volunteers were out in force and did an excellent job. My main complaint was the lack of replenishment along the course. The website led me to believe that there would be sports drinks and gels, bars, etc. every four miles. The announcement was made 10 minutes before the race that there would only be gels at mile 19. Luckily I packed my own gels. I don't want this to overshadow the overall good experience in the race, but this was unacceptable, in my opinion. I would run this race again, but if I were looking for a premier event, I'd go elsewhere. The event is low-key, with small but spirited crowds along the course.
E. F. from Los Altos Hills, CA (10/6/2008) "Not Quite Ready for Prime Time" (about: 2008) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 City of Trees Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 I think this race has lots of potential. It's quite small and could use a dose of PR. No reason why the local paper shouldn't run a story; none of the locals seem to know about this event. The biggest need for change is the course design. The parts along the busy road are pretty treacherous. I was "buzzed" more than once by an irritated driver who didn't like sharing the road. Plus, I felt unsure that I was on course several times during the parkway portion. Other than that, the course is flat, volunteers were very friendly and the start/finish were quite convenient in relation to the host hotel.
C. P. from Idaho (9/5/2008) "Course comment" (about: 2007) 2 previous marathons \| 2 City of Trees Marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Like everyone else, I enjoyed the flat course, and the volunteers are great. I do have one comment, though. I think you should get rid of the out-and-back to nowhere just prior to going up the hill on Americana. Isn't there a better way to set up the course than to run down one side of the street and then turn around and go right back up the other side? Other than that, I thought it was great.
G. Y. from Baltimore, Maryland (10/19/2007) "A nice Sunday run!" (about: 2007) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 City of Trees Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This race was a great 26.2 mile Sunday run. Pretty much the only spectators were the volunteers at the aid stations, which was refreshing. It was great weather and a nice low key course. The volunteers were great. Aside from the shirt, also got a duffle bag and a local PT place was handing out free track bags and gloves. Everyone around town was nice. I agree that the chip needs to go to a tie on the shoe model, I also am dealing with sores from the band being around my ankle. I PRed so I recommend this course for a flat fast time. Host hotel was very accomodating. More food/drink outside at the finish line would be better, maybe some bananas, gatorade, cookies, bagels. And thanks to the family that rode around the entire course with the doors to their van open cheering for us all!
Leonard Braun from Austin. Texas (10/12/2007) "Small, friendly, very well done event." (about: 2007) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 City of Trees Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 I have done 69 marathons now and City of Trees was my 69th. As I accumulate more marathons and as I age, I appreciate the simple aspects of running and enjoy the smaller events more and more. No need for a fancy expo, a list of so called elite athletes, etc. The City of Trees was just that kind of event where you just had an enjoyable time. With the weather as perfect as can be, the volunteers were superb. I thought Jeff did a fantastic job, all things considered, with the Boise St. football team getting all the headlines. Overall. if you're looking for flat, fast, cool and spectator-free event, then this is the one. If you need spectators to run, then you probably need to take up another sport. This is what marathoning is all about - having fun and digging down and finishing. Great job and I will try to be back next year.
j. j. from elko, nv (10/12/2007) "Quiet amble through the trees" (about: 2007) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 City of Trees Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 1 A quiet Sunday a.m. marathon that I ran to enjoy the journey on this figure-8 course that mostly meanders along tree-lined residential streets. This was my 14th marathon, and my second easiest because I took my time to stretch and drink. I only saw the clock once - at the finish line. I only ran two miles with other runners. Thanks to the young man who told me, "Well done," at mile 20. Simple and memorable. The dozen bagpipers at mile 24 were awesome... thanks for pushing me through the final two miles. Well organized for a city marathon; good traffic control with two loops through central Boise. Nice yellow T-shirt and the chicken noodle soup was great. Thank you to all the volunteers.
S. S. from Ballston Lake, NY (10/11/2007) "Great, small marathon" (about: 2007) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 City of Trees Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I have done NYC and larger marathons, but I really enjoyed the solitude of this "long lonely jog," guided by the great volunteers and cops managing traffic. Not many spectators, as the race has only about 170 participants and is not advertised locally, but the finish line fans were enough. The mile markers were way off and did frustrate me as I was looking to do splits to qualify for Boston - but I'll take it, as I clocked a PR by 12 minutes. Great Boston qualifier - flat, fast course.

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