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Apr 29, 2024

Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon (formerly the National Marathon) Runner Comments

Back to Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon (formerly the National Marathon) Information & Reviews

Course 3.9

Organization 3.5

Spectators 3.4

Number of comments: 286 [displaying comments 51 to 61]

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H. M. from Easton, Pennsylvania (3/23/2012) "Should not have switched to a Rock n Roll series" (about: 2012) 4-5 previous marathons \| 2 Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon (formerly the National Marathon)s COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 I ran this race in 2011 and was extremely satisfied. I was hoping to run this race every year, but after the 2012 addition, I do not think I would run it again, or any other Rock n Roll series event. They encouraged everyone to take the metro, but there was not enough trams to fit all the spectators and participants. It was HORRENDOUS! I should have reached the start line at 7:20, however, after issues with the metro doors, we were kicked off our tram and I never reached the start line until 8:15; 15 minutes AFTER the race had started. If you are recommending people to take the metro, then there should be enough trams to accommodate all participants and spectators in order for them to reach the start line BEFORE the race actually starts. Also, there should be a limit on how many half marathoners can participate. I ran the full marathon and the first half of the course was atrocious!! Way too many people! Next time, they should try starting the half at a different time than the full. I felt those runners were not taking the event seriously, and after training for 4 months, I was very disgusted at the lack of room to run on those streets and perform my best. Also, when it is 80 degrees out, you need more water stations than every 2-2.5 miles. I was very dehydrated after the race, even after drinking 2-3 cups of water at each and every station. We were not used to the heat in March and more water should have been supplied. Finally, when I finished the marathon, all that was left in terms of food was chocolate milk, apples, fruit cups, and bagels. For the $110+ I paid for this race, a better selection of food and drinks should have been made available. It was a more worse event than last year. I would not recommend this event to other runners unless changes are made for 2013.
N. A. from Newport News, VA (3/22/2012) "Improved over the prior year" (about: 2012) First Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I ran the 1/2 marathon in 2011 and enjoyed the course so much I decided to run the full this year (my first full). The RnR folks fixed a lot of the logistical problems which had been present the prior year. Expo was good, start went smoothly, volunteers at the water stops were great. Weather in the 2nd half of the course was really tough (70 degrees, not a cloud in the sky and no shade) - quite a change from the mid-30s we had in 2011. Three complaints: 1) not enough porta potties for 25,000 runners on the course. 2) as a middle of the pack marathoner, Switchfoot was over long before I finished. The finish line festival is clearly geared to the 1/2 marathoners. 3) the medals were a big disappointment compared to the beautiful medals received in prior years. But overall a fun and well done race.
L. C. from Chicago (3/22/2012) "RNR ruins another" (about: 2012) 6-10 previous marathons \| 2 Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon (formerly the National Marathon)s COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 5 I ran this also in 2009 when it was still the National Marathon. One again, RNR has oversold an event and neglected the basics. In a nutshell: 1) The metro was open an hour early and that was great for getting to the expo/start 2) The event was oversold. I was in the first few corrals, but it was still too crowded to move. This seems to be a theme with RNR 3) Not nearly enough aid stations. In all other races, there are aid stations every 1-1.5 miles. These ones were at odd intervals and not reliable. 4) The medal is lame. Perhaps it is an eagle? Not clear at all. Previous medals were more relevant. The one in 2009 had the Washington Monument I believe. This was just random, all about RNR and nothing about DC 5) $20 if my plane is late and my friend needs to get my packet for me? There's zero additional work for them, clearly just another opportunity for a money-grab 6) Apparently it's cool to cheat now. If you're unable to make the course limits, RNR will happily drive you closer to the finish AND give you a medal/time! Just...meh.
S. g. from Phoenixville PA (3/22/2012) "8am start turned out too late for Marathon" (about: 2012) 6-10 previous marathons \| 2 Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon (formerly the National Marathon)s COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I did the full Marathon. This is my second time here. Last time (National Marathon), in 2010, the race started at 7am and this time it started at 8am. Shouldn't be a big deal as I did most of the long training runs around 8am. But, on race day, I felt like it was hot and humid from around 10am or so. So, the second half was not fun. Pros: 1. Expo 2. Race course Cons: 1. I think RnR oversold this race as I felt there were too many runners until 12th mile at which Marathoners split. 2. Race start of 8am turned out to be too late as it was a hot day. This race always used to start at 7am and I think RnR should stick with 7am start time 3. Very very bad planning of Metro. Metros started at 6am. Metros should have started around 5am or so and more frequently. All the Metros are jam packed and the Metro I rode was evacuated because of a problem with one of its door not closing.
J. L. from USA (3/20/2012) "Worst Race I have run" (about: 2012) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon (formerly the National Marathon) COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 I am not sure where to begin. The fact that the race ended at 26.5 miles, there were hills in the entire course when portrayed as flat, or that there was no transportation available to get out of the event. I had to walk 2.5 miles after running 26.5 to get back to the hotel. Metro was blocked full, taxi cabs were blocked out, and the bus system was an hour behind. DC simply can not handle an event this size. This is truly a 1/2 marathon event. There is no scenery on the second half and running under urine smelling under passes is not my idea of fun.
C. L. from Washington, DC (3/19/2012) "Rock n Roll in DC" (about: 2012) 11-50 previous marathons \| 4-5 Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon (formerly the National Marathon)s COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This was the first year that the race was managed by Competitor group and was billed as Rock n Roll USA. I ran the full marathon. I have previously run the National Half in '07, '08 and '09. The Good: Expo is at the armory, so metro accessible. Being a rock n roll race, the expo was much more impressive than in years past, but not as nice as other RnR expos I have visited. I think most of the better vendors were in VA beach for the Shamrock marathon. Great course support throughout the race, even after the half marathon split off. Plenty of water, gatorade, gu, and treats along the way. Nice tech shirt, we had a choice of blue or white. Great medal. I even like the course; much better than MCM, this shows you DC, the neighborhoods were very supportive adn out there giving high fives and encouraging us to keep going. The fantastic weather this year was a plus. Metro opened an hour early and the race started at 8 am, so that cut down on traffic congestion. Cons: This event was definitely geared more towards the half marathoners. The headliner concert was over well before most of the full runners finished. When I got to the finish area, a few of the booths were already packing up. The time limit for this one is much tougher than most RnR events, 5:30. There is talk that they started diverting runners or picking them up in the sag wagon earlier than they should have, not cool! I hope that they can work with the city to extend the time limit a bit for the full marathon and don't just eliminate it. DC is a very scenic city and it deserves a full marathon to call its own.
Jim cummings from West Virginia (3/19/2012) "Pretty Good for a marathon with a bad rep" (about: 2012) 6-10 previous marathons \| 2 Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon (formerly the National Marathon)s COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The weather was a little warm for my liking, but everything else was near perfect. This was a well organized race. The course was hilly, but all of the hills were small by West Virginia standards.There was good music and great crowd support during most of the race. The water stops were well stocked and they had plenty of helpful volunteers (Thanks!) I would definitely recommend this race.
A. D. from New York (3/19/2012) "RockNRoll did good job in first year" (about: 2012) 50+ previous marathons \| 2 Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon (formerly the National Marathon)s COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I've done this race twice. RNR almost doubled the size of the half, while growing the full about 10%. They should think about getting rid of the half relay. What they did right: It was a pretty hot day and many of the water stops had ice cups or put ice in the water/ade cups. They did only a minor tweak on what was already a good course and successful marathon. They got the Metro system to open early on Sat morning and this made it easier to use public transport to get to the starting line. RNR seems to have modified its bib pickup policy and you can now pick up for other people, but with strong restrictions. Finally, the expo center continues to remain open before and after the race and this helps when the early morning temperature is cold. What can be improved: RNR allowed runners to register for this race months before deciding it had a 5.5 hour limit. Not cool, even though they did keep the finish line open until 6:05. Water stops were about 2.2 miles apart. A little too long on a hot day. All water stops should have sports drinks instead of every other one. The baggage drop bag keeps getting smaller with each RNR marathon I do. I traveled as light as I could and could barely fit it into the official bag drop bag. Finally, RNR should stop calling their marathons inaugural in cases such as DC and Denver when they take over successful marathons and do minimum course changes. Runners should be aware that this course is relatively flat, but challenging. There are 5 moderate hills between miles 23 and 25. Most of the 'scenic' part of the course is in the first 15.4 miles.
K. S. from Takoma Park, MD, US (12/5/2011) "it's a good course, but MILE MARKERS please" (about: 2011) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon (formerly the National Marathon) COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 This was my first marathon, after running the half here in 2010. The time of year is good, and in 2011 the weather was perfect (IMO), with temps in the low to mid-40s, and slightly cloudy skies. And the 7am start was perfectly synchronized with sunrise. The course is good, especially the first half, which goes through more scenic parts of DC and has more crowd support. My biggest complaint in 2011 is mile markers. There were hardly any the first half, and a lot of them on the second half had to be in the wrong places. There's no way mile 17 took me 9:45, and I'm even more sure that I didn't do mile 19 in 5:50! The organizers acknowledged afterwards that they screwed up by not getting markers in place in time in the first half, but it's worrying that they seem unaware that mile markers were really a problem on the whole course. Metro opening only one hour before the start is too short to be useful to anyone. They should negotiate again with Metro, which they no doubt will, especially now that the National Marathon will be in the Rock-and-Roll series. After running into a nightmare traffic jam when I drove in 2010 I wised up this year and took a cab. It could only get me within 4-5 blocks, but that's fine. It is very nice to have the armory available for warming up, stretching, peeing, etc. It sure beats being outdoors in the dark. All in all a great experience, and one I hope to repeat.
M. S. from Cleveland, Ohio (4/20/2011) "Organizational disaster" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon (formerly the National Marathon) COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 4 This event could and should be great. Ran the half in 2010 decided to do full this year thinking the event would improve. It did not. Opening the Metro only one hour before start after advertising as transit friendly was a disaster. Facing a 45-minute Metro trip, I decided to drive as did many potential Metro riders. Due to gridlock, I missed the start by 12 minutes. Course was not marked with a mile marker until mile 10, and there were few after that. I was prepared for long hill in the first half, but the second half of the course was hillier than advertised with no crowd support. The finish line was crammed, with only one line for food and water, and empty tables on other side. Got my big toe crushed by an inattentive 300-pound volunteer in the finishing chute. So much for that nail.

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