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☰
Newport Marathon (RI) Runner Comments
Back to Newport Marathon (RI) Information & Reviews
Course 4.2 
Organization 3.6 
Spectators 3.1
Number of comments: 138 [displaying comments 131 to 137]
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charlie gregory from Marietta Georgia
(10/26/2005)
 "excellent for first time" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 Arrived in time to take the tour of the Breakers Mansion, which I enjoyed very much. Pasta dinner was arranged at a local restaurant and was excellent compared to most race pasta dinners. We were allowed to wait in the school gym until the start. The weather was heavy overcast with a temp. of 44 degrees (with light rain later on). Temp. at the finish was 50 degrees. Doesn't get any better than that. Course was scenic compared with most and had some hills, but not bad. I was dreading doing 3 loops, but it went much better than I thought it would. Only glitch I found was at the finish I crossed the finish line and no one was there. I kept looking around for the medal and someone to direct me which way to go. Finally someone saw me and directed me to the school cafeteria for the medal and food. I came in near 5 hours and the food was mostly gone. They said there would be more in 45 minutes, but I could not wait as I had to check out of my motel and head for the Boston airport for an afternoon flight. Overall I enjoyed the race more than a lot of the others I have run recently. | |
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D. H. from Chevy Chase, Maryland
(10/25/2005)
"Beautiful course - well managed race" (about: 2005)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Newport Marathon (RI)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 The course was well marked and well attended and was laid out on beautiful back roads and shorelines in the Newport area. It was rolling terrain but there were no long or steep hills and I found the course only moderately challenging. The marathon had probably the largest percentage of older runners of any of the over 100 that I have run, which suited me fine since I am in that category as well. They were mostly 50 Staters, I assume, since this is Rhode Island's only marathon. As it was an overcast and drizzly day, there were not many spectators, but the aid stations were well attended by friendly volunteers. There was nice warm soup and pizza indoors after the race. | |
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T. M. from Kansas City, MO
(10/25/2005)
 "Nice first-time marathon" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 1 I agree with most of the comments written by the others on this site. For a multi-loop marathon, it was scenic and had just enough rolling hills to keep it interesting. The few spectators that were out were enthusiastic. The only improvements I would suggest are 1) Mark the course mile markers a little more clearly. I invariably found the wrong loop's numbers as I ran. Sometimes they were marked on the left, sometimes the right, sometimes going in the opposite direction, and 2) Space out the water stops (or even add one more) a little more evenly. Especially on the first loop, it was a long haul between the stop at the split till the next one at mile 6ish. Then, the ones at the school and at the one-mile mark seemed too close together. Otherwise, I enjoyed it. I especially appreciate you holding off the rain until I could finish! ;) | |
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J. W. from Ohio
(10/24/2005)
"Very enjoyable marathon" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Newport Marathon (RI)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 1 Even though there was a little rain, the course was scenic. The course was fair with descents to offset the ascents. While the traffic on the course increased as the morning grew later, it was managed well enough, except at the intersection for the turn down the home stretch, which seem relatively dangerous. (It would have helped if the walkers had been more considerate and not walked side-by-side on the course, at least in the higher traffic areas.) The race started a little late, which was irritating. Nice awards ceremony and awards. Good post-race food for relatively small marathon. The organizer(s) should be congratulated for organizing an event in Rhode Island. | |
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T. P. from Suburb of Minneapolis, MN
(10/24/2005)
"Very Good With a Few Kinks to Work Out" (General Comments)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Newport Marathon (RI)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 A first-year marathon is always a crapshoot as far as organization and ability to pull off the event. Things went mostly pretty well considering that. Pre-race info was alright, except a few items (more-detailed course map, overflow parking, etc.) could have been included. But by packet pickup, most essential information was covered. Points off for a late start. I liked the scenic course; trees, turns, shore, and country estates reduced boredom. Such a course has plusses and minuses for motivation, as faster runners have to be alert for slower participants (often in pairs/groups) and it's not always easy to distinguish faltering comparable-time runners with those being lapped. Second aid station on loop (@ start of spur) was improperly placed for the first lap, so many (all?) had no aid for appx. 5 miles. (Good thing conditions were near-ideal temp wise). Otherwise basics and amenities reflected forethought and experience of marathoners. Having school for pre-/post-race shelter and clean-up was nice. Massage tables were not set up right away, so quickly departing sub-4 finishers might have missed that perk. There were some nice raffle prizes @ the awards ceremony. Volunteers were friendly and mostly helpful, but one aid station (the misplaced one) was too sparsely manned. The small numbers of spectators were decent cheerers. Will concur that the narrow, shoulder-less roads required attention and were likely borderline scary for the slower and ultra-distance finishers. Painted mile markers on road were easy enough for me to see; did like the clock at the halfway (and other distances) point. | |
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D. E. from crystal river florida
(10/23/2005)
 "great race" (about: 2005)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Newport Marathon (RI)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I really enjoyed the 3-loop course. The weather was perfect, especially for someone who is used to running in Florida. | |
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Desmond Duncker from New Jersey
(10/23/2005)
 "Good 1st-Year Marathon" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Newport Marathon (RI)
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 Good 1st year marathon. Pluses: - Good route; no major hills and no feet pounding down hills. - Course mile markers well marked for every mile, plus clock at the 1/2-marathon point. - Nice track loop finish. - Nice date picked (Saturday), so as to offer a double marathon weekend for the 50-staters (with the Mystic Places Marathon in CT). Areas for improvement: - Need signs/arrows on the course. Almost made a wrong turn on a sparsely attended turn. - Pick up your finisher's medal by walking 200 yards to the auditorium? Is that the way to keep you moving? - More water stations on the back side of the course (Indian Ave.). - Lots of traffic after 9am!! For a small marathon, I can understand the roads cannot be closed, but it made for quite a bit of car dodging!! Some roads were 2 small lanes wide, and with packs of runners competing with cars going BOTH ways, it was tight! - Parking. Too many cars, too few spots. - Overall winners don't need the age-group trophies. Eliminate duplication of awards. Saw a 3rd-place age-group woman become bitterly disappointed because she thought she won 3rd in her age group only to come out with nothing because the 1st place female was also in her age group (so that put her 4th in her age group). - Man/ration the food counter. First finishers had the pick of the food. Late finishers got lean pickings. Overall a good marathon but, as with many small marathons, could use some more volunteers. |
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