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May 14, 2024

Ft. Lauderdale A1A Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Ft. Lauderdale A1A Marathon Information & Reviews

Course 4.0

Organization 3.5

Spectators 2.7

Number of comments: 121 [displaying comments 101 to 111]

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Ta'Shar Cuccurullo from Freeport, Grand Bahama (2/23/2006) "I felt like a million bucks after the run!" (about: 2006) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Ft. Lauderdale A1A Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 My morning started off with a bang - I never thought I would make it up that high overpass, but I did. Just watching the other runners gave me the confidence I needed to complete the race! Although I walked most of it, I was still able to finish around 3 hours. Congratulations to the organizers, despite that fact that some have said that there was not sufficient water stations, they did a great job! Show me a perfect event and I will show you one made in heaven! I am looking forward to your Grand Bahama event and I hope you will call on some of the local runners to give you a hand. Perhaps you can also present us with our medals since we did not get them while we were in Ft. Lauderdale last week. I had a ball!
s. j. from Nyack, NY (2/22/2006) "I may make this an annual event!!" (about: 2006) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Ft. Lauderdale A1A Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 While it was not perfect, these guys did an awesome job for a first marathon. The start was fabulous. There were hotel bathrooms, porto-potties, lots of places to park and lots of room to stretch out. The problems came toward the end. Yes, the sun made it hot, and there was no shade during the last 13 miles, but the big problem was that there was no water from mile 24 to mile 26. That meant the last water station was at mile 23, and there was finally a water stop at mile 25.8, just before the end. Also, I walked a mile and half to my car since there were no advertised bus shuttles to be found. I did get a medal but I can understand those people being upset who didn't. Overall, this was my 16th marathon, and I ran a PR time. I was down visiting my parents, so this was great preparation - a marathon before the family. I loved the run along the ocean. There was a lot of encouragement along the course. Birch Park was great (though no shade). Overall, the plusses clearly outweigh any minuses, and any problems they had are easily solvable to make this an even better event.
F. L. from New Jersey (2/22/2006) "Perfect - with one exception" (about: 2006) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Ft. Lauderdale A1A Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 This was a great marathon. The organizers, volunteers, traffic patrol and few spectators are all to be congratulated! The event was well planned, the course (AMAZING, but NO SHADE), the water tables and PowerAde were plentiful (but the volunteers were clueless if it was PowerAde or Gatorade). The port-a-potties were well spaced and there was plenty of food at the finish line. Usually a marathon will feature a specific flavor of PowerAde/Gatorade, but they actually had different flavors along the course. It actually helped me to pass the time: hmmmm... what color will be at the next station? The course description was exactly correct. Only one hill, the causeway very early in the race. I was a bit disappointed when I entered the park at mile 22 however, because I was expecting a tree-lined park to have shade - IT DID NOT (it was probably 10:30 a.m. when I entered that area - I'm slow). My only criticism is very fixable but difficult to understand. As mentioned in other comments, they ran out of medals! I think the organizers were also struggling with it since I heard several different versions of what happened. "Either we didn't order enough, or a box was sitting in someone's car." Regardless, it is a major disappointment. After I am out there for 5:15 I truly look forward to finishing and getting the medal draped around my neck, and then... the finish photo. (They did have a medal for us slowpokes to borrow for the photo!). I believe I've taken the disappointment in a mature manner, but it just doesn't feel "real" without that medal. I've already sent in my yellow order form so I'll be standing by my mailbox daily waiting to receive it. This was a great experience. I would recommend it and consider running it again. It will only improve with time.
P. H. from West Palm Beach, Florida (2/22/2006) "Many inaugural glitches, nice course" (about: 2006) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Ft. Lauderdale A1A Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 1 Nice course but many glitches for a first-time marathon, Drove all the way to Ft. Lauderdale (90 miles) on Saturday only to find that we could pick up the number and chip at the starting line on race morning. No medium and small T-shirts were available. Start line was 2 miles from the finish, hated having to walk back to my car 2 miles away, no shuttle bus. Really, really disappointed not to get my medal at the finish; do not take registrations over medal amount. Some water stops ran out of cups, and the finish line ran out of bottled water. Loved the water stop from the Stork Cafe with cookies - great idea!!!! Won't do this marathon again, too many disappointments, especially the medal issue.
K. K. from Miami (2/22/2006) "Very disappointed about the medals" (about: 2006) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Ft. Lauderdale A1A Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 2 I coach a group of runners and walkers in Miami. I was VERY upset that some of my runners who were running their first marathon at the A1A crossed the finish line only to find out they had run out of medals. There were only around 300 full marathon runners. If the race was open to 4,000 people how could you run out of medals? Our half marathon runners and walkers who finished after 2:15 or so didn't get a medal either. You would think with a three-month delay they'd have time to anticipate and order the exact number of medals they needed. I would think it'd be better to have ordered too many medals than to risk losing registrants for 2007 because of this race's apparent lack of organization. We loved the course, but they need to do a better job for next year in planning the number of medals to pre-order.
J. R. from Tampa, Florida (2/22/2006) "What a mess!!!!" (about: 2006) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Ft. Lauderdale A1A Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 This marathon was a complete mess, the lowlights follow: Registration was very confusing, packets were not prepared, and they ran out of the chips. At registration I registered my personal Champion Chip, but they didn't enter it correctly! They gave the chip that was assigned to me to a person who ran the half marathon. When I tried to correct the mistake, they changed the name on the chip, moved it to the full marathon, but kept the original time. Hence, I am currently the 3rd place overall in the marathon with a time of 3:28! RIGHT! I wish! That 3:28 belongs to whoever ran with that chip in the half marathon, not the full. The course was open to rollerbladers, bikers, strollers, walkers, runners, joggers, basically anyone who wandered into the course. Several cars also crossed the cones, and in fact one runner was hit by a car. (A triathlete was hit by a car in an event organized by the same company a few years back.) The course had nutritional suppliments in the form of GU at mile 13 and cookies at mile 20, and that was it! Way too few for a full marathon. The medical tents had no Biofreeze and no painkillers. I was among the several people who did not get a medal on finishing because they ran out, although I am not so sure that is a bad thing, as those who did get the medals saw that the date on them is Nov. 12, 2005, not Feb 19, 2006 - when the race was actually run. I have contacted the company regarding the mistake in the time and have yet to receive a response! I would NOT recommend this race to anyone; run Miami or Tampa, as they are far better organized.
M. C. from Coral Springs, Florida (2/21/2006) "Excellent Inaugural Event" (about: 2006) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Ft. Lauderdale A1A Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Great race. Organization was top-notch. The course was beautiful and there were a decent number of spectators. Only one hill and that was the bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway about a 1/2-mile into the race. The rest was pancake-flat. The beer at mile 20 was great. You need the carbs - right? My complaints are minor. Courtesy corraling does not work. Lots of slow people thought they needed to be at the front of the pack and the corral was wider than the start line, which added to the initial congestion. The water station at mile 24 in the park only had one volunteer, so it was basically stop and help yourself. It was unfortunate that there were not enough medals for all the finishers but I have to take up for the race director, Steven Tebon. If you go to the results page of the A1A website you can read his explanation that basically says the decision was made to allow late registration on the day before the race. The alternative would have been to turn away runners. I think he made the right call. The refreshments at the end were fine. The weather was hot but that is uncontrollable and the week before the race it was in the upper 30's. I'll be back next year.
S. S. from Fort Lauderdale (2/21/2006) "Not enough water, medals or ice" (about: 2006) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Ft. Lauderdale A1A Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 Great course, great volunteers and great potential - but not this time. The organizers ran out of both half and full marathon medals. I was served warm water more than once as the aid stations did not seem to have enough ice, and when asking for a second water bottle in the finish area, I got a cup of warm water since they were saving the bottles as they were running out. When I complained to a race director I was told that he was sure I did not have water on my training runs either. That is correct; however, I do not pay for my training runs. They need to make sure that enough supplies are there and that the race directors are more friendly to runners. What's up?
C. H. from West Palm Beach, Florida (2/20/2006) "Fast, and Flat course" (about: 2006) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Ft. Lauderdale A1A Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 1 Organizers in south Florida need to supply ice and sponges to marathon runners. This is a common problem in all the south Florida marathons I have run including Palm Beach and Miami. In the heat, runners like to put ice in their hats and even suck on the ice. Sponges soaked in ice water would have been awesome. Also, it would be nice to have had just one flavor of Gatorade. I don't know whether I got Gatorade or PowerAde, but it should be uniform throughout the course. Great organization. Great attendance for a first-run event. The awards ceremony was too far for us to walk at the finish.
J. L. from Miami, FL (2/20/2006) "Quick course but not organized" (about: 2006) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Ft. Lauderdale A1A Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 Going into it, I knew this would be a quick course because of the elevation (or lack thereof), the limited number of entrants, and the weather. The course was great and scenic, with the exception of the stillness for 2 miles while in the public park near the end of the course. However, and it's been said before, how can a race run out of medals? It didn't apply to me, but a friend that was in my group did not finish the half before they ran out and got to carry around a yellow slip of paper after the race. She was a first-timer, and I can't imagine how she was feeling after completing such a great achievement. Also, the "shuttle" to take runners back to the start line from the finish line was pathetic. There were only two 12-passenger vans that came around every 15 minutes. I actually saw runners hailing cabs to go back. I ended up sitting in the luggage area of one of the vans with 4 other runners. Great way to end a race. That aside, great course, and it being local for me, one I really couldn't miss.

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