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Apr 28, 2024

Five Points of Life Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Five Points of Life Marathon Information & Reviews

Course 4.2

Organization 4.4

Spectators 3.3

Number of comments: 51 [displaying comments 11 to 21]

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

G. G. from USA (2/19/2012) "A tale of two halves" (about: 2012) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Five Points of Life Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 The title says it all. The first half of this race is fantastic. It's one of the best half marathons you will find. You get such a wonderful tour of UF and the surrounding area. However, once the half and full runners split at mile 13, the story totally changes. Many of the late miles for the full marathon are run on a 4 lane road with cars zipping past. I don't want to lead you to think that the course isn't safe. Runners have a very wide area to run plus the sidewalk. However, this part of the route stinks! Who wants to be surrounded by a ton of traffic? Plus, this part of Gainesville is not very scenic. The race directors need to put in the effort to be more creative with this portion of the course. The potential for improvement is there. Also, upon reaching the finish line, there was NO FOOD remaining. Just water and Gatorade. Horrible! I know the half is the bread and butter of the day, but as long as the RD continues to include the full distance, those runners must be considered. On the plus side, the traffic control was outstanding. There were not too many spectators but the ones that came out were enthusiastic. Getting to the start is hassle-free. These are all great pluses. My recommendation is to do the half. It's worth the trip for 13.1. I don't recommend the marathon until the route undergoes revision.
M. L. from Wisconsin (2/19/2012) "1st half great, 2nd half not so great." (about: 2012) 3 previous marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Half marathon course, spectators, and organization were super. After the split, very few runners which made it a mental challenge. Big head winds (no ones fault) made it a physical challenge. All in all - a good day. Set PR. Very happy with # of water stations.
n. s. from Florida (2/21/2011) "Can be good but needs work." (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Five Points of Life Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 I did the full and had 26.59 on my GPS in spite of running tangents and tight corners. My husband did the half and had 13.4 on his. I am sure the course is mis-measured. No shirts of our size when we arrived Saturday afternoon. Information runners get is weak as is communication from the race. Course is challenging and only slows you in a couple of hills (it's still fast); I ran a PR in spite of it. Start was well organized, with plenty of port-o-lets and aid stations; and spectators and volunteers were wonderful (unless you need hordes of spectators). Warm weather this year. Has potential.
D. I. from Gainesville, FL (2/21/2011) "Well done, Gainesville!" (about: 2011) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Five Points of Life Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I live here in Gainesville and enjoy this annual event. I have only the done the half-marathon previously, but this year I did the full. The weather was warm, and parts of the course in the latter half of the marathon were without shade...so it was tough! BUT, I found the race to be very well organized and very well supported. I am slow, but had full support throughout the event. The course was well marked. The police and volunteers on bicycles assisted me with traffic and staying on the course. Water, Gatorade, and porta-potties were plentiful. Thanks to all the encouraging volunteers, especially Jim E. on his bike! AND, the tech shirt and medal are both great! Thanks again, Gainesville, for a great marathon experience!
M. W. from Florida (2/22/2010) "Do the half, not the full, to enjoy this race" (about: 2010) 50+ previous marathons \| 2 Five Points of Life Marathons COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 I've done the half marathon here twice and the full twice. The course for the half is terrific, with varied scenery, the university and stadium, and downtown areas, but once you begin the second half of the course, you are on roads with traffic whizzing by. It is coned off, but I had a headache for hours afterwards as a result of the traffic noise. No spectators in this part of the course, aid stations were far apart, and at the finish line, all that was left was water and bananas. All the pizza was gone, and when I asked about age group awards (since I won my age group), I was told I had to send $8 and it would be mailed. Now, I live in town, so there should be no reason to mail an award, but there was no place locally for me to pick it up. Very few folks did the full this year and I suspect strongly that it will not be long before the sponsors concentrate on the 5K and the half and omit the full entirely. And that may be a good idea. On the plus side, kudos to the volunteers who braved the cold to help us out with water and to the policemen and policewomen who were kind and did their best to control traffic. They were wonderful.
S. N. from Colorado (2/20/2010) "Fun Marathon to Run" (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Five Points of Life Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Weather was fine, though some thought it was too cold (30 at the start and 40-45 degrees at the finish). The course is rolling but not too bad - almost all on roads. There was traffic at times, but it never interfered, and aid stations were frequent. During the second half I only saw one other runner, so if you don't mind running without a lot of runners near you, this could be the race for you.
W. Y. from USA (2/20/2010) "Well Organized Local Race" (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Five Points of Life Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 If your looking for a Florida race in February that's not too big or too small, then this is it. Good value for the price, adequate expo, excellent aid stations, and a nice finish line set up. Traffic support and encouragement by the local PD was awesome. Weather was a little cool at the beginning but awesome once the sun came up. Try it; you will not be disappointed!
J. W. from Oviedo, Florida (2/15/2010) "Nice race, even for a newbie" (about: 2010) First Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 When I asked seasoned marathoners where I should run my first race, the FPOL came highly recommended - and I'm grateful. Although I don't have any others to compare against, I'll say that this was as hassle-free as I guess one could hope for. My only negative was the paucity of porta-potties on the course, but that's far outweighed by the positives. Challenging course but not too much so, plenty of hydration stations, and it was very safe (with police or volunteers even at minor intersections). Now, being a first-timer, I may be off-base, but according to my Garmin, the distance between markers 11 and 12 was 1.35 miles! Yes, I get that GPS is less accurate than measuring the tangents, but seriously... did that particular tangent cut through a building? Anyhow, I'm not complaining, since we all ran the same course, and I will definitely be back!
A. S. from Albuquerque, NM (4/23/2009) "Fun race - half entry" (about: 2009) 1 previous marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 What a fun race this was! I only ran the half, but it was a great course through the UF neighborhoods and campus, including the football stadium. The technical shirt was a nice surprise, and there was a cool alligator on the finisher medal. Oh, they had people giving away beer on the course, too. Only problems were that the GU stop volunteers weren't advertising the GU (so I missed the last girl who had it) and my Garmin read "13.26 miles" instead of "13.1" at the end, which I hear is a common problem with this race. That's a bummer because I would go back for the full marathon if I could for sure get a 26.2-mile course. The after-party was great and well-stocked, but I couldn't get age group awards until about 3 hours after the half-finish, and so they had to mail it to me (a pint glass!).
D. G. from Florida (3/7/2009) "great venue, but long" (about: 2009) 3 previous marathons \| 2 Five Points of Life Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Although this is a small marathon, the organization is top-notch, and the on-course safety is first-rate. Since I carried my own fluids, I cannot comment about the fuel/water stops, but the volunteers were enthusiastic. My only gripe is that, having now run this marathon twice, I am convinced that the course is significantly long. Yeah, say what you want about being certified and running the tangents.... I know all that. But after my first experience, I was focused on running the tangents, and I still showed the course at 26.56. I am convinced that the runners cannot run the tangents as measured and remain on the marked course. Nonetheless, I enjoy the venue, and it's a challenging route with just enough hills to make it so.

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