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Rock 'n' Roll Montreal Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Rock 'n' Roll Montreal Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.0 
Organization 3.5 
Spectators 3.2
Number of comments: 74 [displaying comments 51 to 61]
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Z. G. from Vermont
(9/21/2006)
 "My first, and I loved it!" (about: 2006)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Montreal Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 This was my first marathon and while I agree that more spectator support would have been nice, overall it was a great race. The aid stations were well placed, the course had a little bit of everything (not boring at all, in my opinion), and I loved running into the stadium. I never even saw the food at the end, and found no reason to stick around - I guess that's my one criticism. Overall, fabulous! | |
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Cam Dickson from Milton, Canada
(9/13/2006)
 "Nice course, terrible fan support" (about: 2006)
4-5 previous marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 1 Only ran the half but was very disappointed by the lack of fan support along the course and in Olympic Stadium. The course was nice and I like the staggered start time (the marathon started half an hour later). Expo was brutal! | |
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S. D. from Ottawa, Canada
(9/12/2006)
 "Horrible organization" (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Montreal Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 2 I was looking forward to finishing the race in the same stadium that Olympic marathoners finished in back in 1976. Too bad the finish area was so poorly organized. Instead of getting food (which they ran out of) I stood in line for an hour and 15 minutes trying to get my checked bag of sweats. There were virtually no spectators and although the course started scenic and finished in the stadium, the rest was boring. This was not a well organized event. How appropriate that it finished in the Olympic stadium which itself is a monument to the poorly organized city! | |
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C. B. from Montreal
(9/11/2006)
 "100% improvement in 2006!" (about: 2006)
6-10 previous marathons
| 2 Rock 'n' Roll Montreal Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I think the organizers read comments from the last two years on MarathonGuide.com! This is my second Montreal Marathon. It was a perfect day, in a beautiful city (and a PB to boot), with a really great course - and the organization has improved 100%. The expo was much better than last year (although it would be great to have more running specialty stores in there, just like Ottawa.... Maybe Sport Expert - main sponsor - is afraid of competition?). They now give water in paper cups instead of bottles. Arriving in the stadium was awesome. Maybe they need more volunteers at aid stations Overall, a great destination. Unique ambiance, with cyclists riding alongside the runners (not interfering at all with the running course). I will return next year for sure. | |
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A. H. from Val-d'Or,Quebec
(1/16/2006)
"Good marathon for a first one" (about: 2005)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Montreal Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I actually appreciated the Montreal Marathon. It was my first one and not my last one. I really like the first 14K, the start from the bridge, and the run into the attraction park island; Formula 1 course I think is the best part on that course. The end in the stadium wasn't so good. I was a slow runner, finishing in 4:44 and almost nobody was there to acclaim us except maybe my dad. :-0 The food was disappointing at the end. Top 5 good points: 1 - Start and first 14K of running. 2 - Spectators along the first half of the course. 3 - Friendly runners. 4 - Finishing medals. 5 - Weather was excellent. Top 3 bad points: 1 - No power gel at aid stations. 2 - No orange juice and lack of food. 3 - Arrival at stadium maybe next year will be better. :-0 | |
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K. L. from Montreal, quebec
(1/6/2006)
"Pathetic organization" (about: 2005)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Montreal Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 1 While I only ran the half in preparation for a full in Vegas, I was extremely disappointed. The water stations gave out half-liter bottles of water (I only need a couple of gulps) which resulted in hundreds of nearly full bottles all over the course (careful you don't sprain/break an ankle). Congestion near the end as you share with walkers and 10K runners ensure that you will be challenged for a PB. Organization at the end was terrible, food poor (both set-up and quality/variety) and to add insult to it all, the most hideous t-shirts I have ever received at a full or half marathon. I live in Montreal, but will never race this one again. The organizers may need to visit or run a marathon almost anywhere else to see how it should be done. | |
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D. H. from North Carolina
(9/28/2005)
 "Great" (about: 2005)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Montreal Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Great race. Great city, beautiful course, and friendly spectators. I loved the finish in the Olympic Stadium. | |
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S. M. from Ottawa
(9/13/2005)
"Not that spectacular" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Montreal Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 2 This marathon still has a long way to go. The start on the bridge is great. The course is not that impressive and the water stations are much disorganized. There are only a few volunteers (4 or 5) to hand you a bottle of water. I had to slow down considerably and actually had to stop at the last two stations. I was stuck with the walkers who were taking all the space. With all the walkers and the cyclists on the same course, this is definitely not an event for runners. The finish in the stadium was mayhem. I was expecting so much and was soooo disappointed. Because of the way it was set up, there was almost no one to cheer you on once you got in the stadium. Just a few feet after crossing the finish line, there were volunteers handing out medals. No medical in sight; the guy next to me held me for a while. I needed space but there was none. It took what seems hours to get the chip removed. After finally getting out of there and getting some water, there was a huge line up for food. When I eventually got there, there were trays of cantaloupes and grapes filled up by volunteers with no gloves on. Dripping sweat runners were serving themselves. I saw this guy touching just about every piece of cantaloupe to get the biggest one. I almost threw up and got out of there. It was all they had anyway: grapes, cantaloupe and a little cup of apple sauce. The sound in the stadium was just too much, I just wanted to get out of there. Sorry Montreal, I will stick with Ottawa and Quebec City. | |
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S. M. from Ottawa
(9/13/2005)
"Not that spectacular" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Montreal Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 2 This marathon still has a long way to go. The start on the bridge is great. The course is not that impressive and the water stations are much disorganized. There are only a few volunteers (4 or 5) to hand you a bottle of water. I had to slow down considerably and actually had to stop at the last two stations. I was stuck with the walkers who were taking all the space. With all the walkers and the cyclists on the same course, this is definitely not an event for runners. The finish in the stadium was mayhem. I was expecting so much and was soooo disappointed. Because of the way it was set up, there was almost no one to cheer you on once you got in the stadium. Just a few feet after crossing the finish line, there were volunteers handing out medals. No medical in sight, the guy next to me held me for a while. I needed space but there was none. It took what seems hours to get the chip removed. After finally getting out of there and getting some water, there was a huge line up for food. When I eventually got there, there were trays of cantaloupes and grapes filled up by volunteers with no gloves on. Dripping sweat runners were serving themselves. I saw this guy touching just about every piece of cantaloupe to get the biggest one. I almost threw up and got out of there. It was all they had anyway: grapes, cantaloupe and a little cup of apple sauce. The sound in the stadium was just too much, I just wanted to get out of there. Sorry Montreal, I will stick with Ottawa and Quebec City. | |
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J. M. from Barrington, Rhode Island, USA
(9/13/2005)
"Beautiful course in a beautiful city." (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Montreal Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Whatever I may say hereafter is not intended to discourage anybody from running this race, as I had a very positive overall experience. The start of the course goes through the area where the 1967 World's Fair was held and is strikingly beautiful, especially R. Buckminster Fuller's geodesic dome, which was the U.S. Pavillion. The first half of the marathon is essentially flat. While there are bicyclists and rollerbladers following the same course, they are in separate lanes and are not a problem. This is a metric race, so you would do yourself a service to figure out your pace in km/hr beforehand. I had run about 10k before I figured out how fast I was going. The fans are somewhat sparse, but what they lack in numbers they more than make up for in friendliness and enthusiasm. There were no sections of cobblestone, as I had heard about back in the '80's, and the pavement was predominantly good and even with few sections cambered to a noticeable degree. While there are some uphill climbs in the latter half of the race they are not so hideously steep that they break your heart. While this is definitely a destination race, with fantastic restaurants, entertainment and shopping, it is also a decent course to run, and I was able to turn in my second best time ever. It would be helpful to brush up on your high school French before going, as the race instructions at the start, with the exception of the Mayor of Montreal's welcome to international runners, were in French. In those instances where I was not able to understand particular instructions there was always somebody local ready, willing and able to translate the essentials. The start is a bit of a hike from the Metro station where the bag drop off was located, so I would definitely suggest that you bring a plastic bag or throwaway shirt to keep you warm while you are waiting for the start. There were plenty of water stops, and sponges were a nice touch through the latter parts of the race. Where else will the spectators shout 'Bravo!' for you? |
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